Gerald R. Molen

Last updated

Gerald R. Molen
Gerald R. Molen by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Molen in 2014
Born
Gerald Robert Molen

(1935-01-06) January 6, 1935 (age 89)
OccupationFilm producer
Notable work Jurassic Park
Schindler's List
Various other films of Steven Spielberg or Amblin Entertainment
Awards Academy Award for Best Picture

Gerald Robert "Jerry" Molen (born January 6, 1935) is an American film producer. In 2019, Movicorp announced [1] Molen will be producing Sweet By and By, [2] southern gothic romantic thriller; and in 2021, Molen began initial preparations [3] for the mini-series. Molen is now semi-retired and spends his time alternating between Montana and Las Vegas, Nevada. [4]

Contents

Life and career

Molen was born in Great Falls, Montana, the son of Edith Lorraine (née Meyer) and Gerald Richard Molen. [5] He grew up in North Hollywood, California, after moving from Montana, with a number of younger brothers and sisters. His mother ran a diner, "The Blue Onion", which was located across from one of the major studios. Molen has appeared in supporting roles or cameos in several of the films he has produced, including Rain Man , Days of Thunder , and Jurassic Park .

Molen produced 2016: Obama's America , a documentary critical of American President Barack Obama, during the 2012 presidential campaign. [6] [7] He also produced a later follow-up, Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party , a 2016 documentary that was heavily panned, winning four of the five Golden Raspberry Awards for which it was nominated, including Worst Picture, the first documentary to do so.

In 2016, with a second consecutive year of an all-white Oscar nominee list brought accusations of discrimination in Hollywood and the threat of an Oscar boycott, Molen argued that racism in the film industry was not a matter of concern. "There is no racism except for those who create an issue,” he said. “That is the worst kind. Using such an ugly way of complaining.” [8]

Molen is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is a conservative. [9] [10]

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinesh D'Souza</span> Indian-American political commentator

Dinesh Joseph D'Souza is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. He has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympia Dukakis</span> American actress (1931–2021)

Olympia Dukakis was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not long after her arrival in New York City, she won an Obie Award for Best Actress in 1963 for her off-Broadway performance in Bertolt Brecht's Man Equals Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Katzenberg</span> American film producer and media proprietor (born 1950)

Jeffrey Katzenberg is an American filmmaker, animator, and media executive. He was the chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, overseeing production and business operations for the company's feature films. After departing Disney, he co-founded DreamWorks Animation in 1994, where he served as the company's CEO and producer of its animated franchises such as Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon until stepping down from the title in 2016. He has since founded the venture capital firm WndrCo in 2017, which invests in digital media projects, and launched Quibi the following year, a defunct short-form mobile video platform which lost US$1.35 billion in seven months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Marshall (filmmaker)</span> American film producer and director

Frank Wilton Marshall is an American film producer and director. He often collaborates with his wife, film producer Kathleen Kennedy, with whom he founded the production company Amblin Entertainment, along with Steven Spielberg. In 1991, he founded, with Kennedy, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, a film production company. Since May 2012, with Kennedy taking on the role of President of Lucasfilm, Marshall has been Kennedy/Marshall's sole principal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Bender</span> American film producer

Lawrence Bender is an American film producer. Throughout his career, Bender-produced films have received 36 Academy Award nominations, resulting in eight wins.

Edgar J. Scherick was an American television executive and producer of television miniseries, made-for-television films, and theatrical motion pictures.

Scott Rudin is an American film, television and theatre producer. His films include the Academy Award-winning Best Picture No Country for Old Men, as well as Uncut Gems, Lady Bird, Fences, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, School of Rock, Zoolander, The Truman Show, Clueless, The Addams Family, and eight Wes Anderson films. On Broadway, he has won 17 Tony Awards for shows such as The Book of Mormon, Hello, Dolly!, The Humans, A View from the Bridge, Fences and Passion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Ordesky</span> American film producer

Mark Lowell Ordesky is an American film producer, television producer and studio executive. He is best known for executive producing the Oscar winning The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Jack Binder is an American film producer and television producer and second unit director active since 1985. With older brother Mike Binder, a writer, actor and director. Binder works with the Major Hollywood Studios and independent film companies. Based in Los Angeles and London Binder produces worldwide and is involved in film finance. He formed Michigan Film Production to provide information on the Michigan Film Incentives program, which he helped to enable and created FilmBudget.com, a site that creates a feature film budget & film finance plans for financing and movie production. Binder's production company is Greentrees Films. His family is of Russian-Jewish descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Lazin</span> American filmmaker

Lauren Lazin is an American filmmaker whose documentaries have been nominated for the Emmys multiple times. She directed and produced the 2005 Oscar-nominated documentary film Tupac: Resurrection.

James Morris is an American film producer, production executive and visual effects producer. He is currently general manager and president of Pixar. Previously, he held key positions at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) for 17 years.

George Cooper Stevens Jr. is an American writer, playwright, director, and producer. He is the founder of the American Film Institute, creator of the AFI Life Achievement Award, and co-creator of the Kennedy Center Honors. He has also served as Co-Chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Ted Kurdyla is an American film, television and stage producer.

<i>2016: Obamas America</i> 2012 American film

2016: Obama's America is a 2012 American political documentary film and polemic by right-wing author and political commentator Dinesh D'Souza. The film was produced by Doug Sain and Gerald R. Molen. D'Souza and John Sullivan co-directed and co-wrote the film, which is based on D'Souza's book The Roots of Obama's Rage (2010). Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities of the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama as D'Souza alleges that early influences on Obama were affecting his domestic policy decisions.

<i>America: Imagine the World Without Her</i> 2014 film by Dinesh DSouza

America: Imagine the World Without Her is a 2014 American political documentary film by Dinesh D'Souza based on his book of the same name. It is a follow-up to his film 2016: Obama's America (2012). In the film, D'Souza contends that parts of United States history are improperly and negatively highlighted by liberals, which he seeks to counter with positive highlights. Topics addressed include conquest of Indigenous and Mexican lands, slavery, and matters relating to foreign policy and capitalism. D'Souza collaborated with John Sullivan and Bruce Schooley to adapt his book of the same name into a screenplay. D'Souza produced the film with Gerald R. Molen and directed it with Sullivan. The film combined historical reenactments with interviews with different political figures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">88th Academy Awards</span> Award ceremony for films of 2015

The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2015 and took place on February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. PST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by David Hill and Reginald Hudlin and directed by Glenn Weiss. Actor Chris Rock hosted the show for the second time, having previously hosted the 77th ceremony held in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luca Bercovici</span>

Luca Bercovici is an American filmmaker, writer, producer and actor.

Ronald Louis Schwary was an Academy Award winning American producer and director. Films that he was either producer or executive producer include Ordinary People for which he won an Academy Award for Best Picture, Havana, Scent of a Woman, Sabrina, Meet Joe Black and Random Hearts.

Deborah Oppenheimer is an American film and television producer. She won an Academy Award in 2001 for best documentary feature for producing Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000). Oppenheimer co-authored a companion book for the film with Mark Jonathan Harris, and also produced the film's soundtrack.

<i>Death of a Nation</i> (2018 film) 2018 American film

Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? is a 2018 American political documentary film by Dinesh D'Souza, a US conservative provocateur. In the film D'Souza presents a revisionist history comparing the political climate surrounding the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump to that of the 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. The film argues that the Democratic Party from both eras was critical of the presidents of the time and that the Democrats have similarities to fascist regimes, including the Nazi Party. The film was written and directed by Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley, and produced by Gerald R. Molen. It was produced on a budget of $6 million.

References

  1. Molen Joins 'Sweet By and By' as Exec Producer Newswire.com, Mar 1, 2019
  2. 'Sweet By and By' Limited series Movicorp.com,
  3. 'Sweet By and By' TV Mini series IMDB.com,
  4. Rivera, Jeff (June 6, 2010). "Talking with Oscar Winning Producer, Gerald R. Molen (LISTEN)". Huffington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  5. "Gerald R. Molen Biography (1935–)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  6. Washington Post
  7. [ dead link ] Anti-Obama Doc
  8. Oscar boycott call drives wedge in Hollywood Fox News, Jan 23, 2016
  9. Church News, September 6, 2003.[ full citation needed ]
  10. In liberal Hollywood, a conservative minority faces backlash in the age of Trump LA Times, March 11, 2017