Robert Tapert | |
---|---|
Born | Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S. | May 14, 1955
Alma mater | Michigan State University |
Occupation(s) | Film and television producer, screenwriter, television director |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Robert Gerard Tapert (born May 14, 1955) is an American film and television producer, writer and director, best known for co-creating the television series Xena: Warrior Princess .
He is also one of the founding partners of the film production companies Renaissance Pictures and Ghost House Pictures.
Tapert has two sisters, Dorothy and Mary Beth Tapert. He also has a younger brother, Jeff Tapert. He has been married to actress Lucy Lawless since 28 March 1998; the couple has two sons. Lawless played the title character in Xena: Warrior Princess.
Tapert first became involved with filmmaking while attending Michigan State University where he was studying economics. Through his friend and roommate Ivan Raimi, Tapert would meet future longstanding filmmaking partners Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell.
Tapert and director Sam Raimi experimented on several short films before endeavoring on their first feature-length picture, a graphic horror film titled The Evil Dead , which Tapert produced, Raimi directed, and Bruce Campbell starred. It was a success with the crowd at the Cannes Film Festival in France, and a glowing review from horror author Stephen King saw the film given a cinematic release in the USA, and later internationally. [1]
Although not a favorite of critics at the time, it gained a cult following and was later critically acclaimed as a horror classic. The film spawned a franchise of five films and a television series, of which Tapert has been involved as a producer in all of them.
Tapert continued on to produce numerous other films, typically involving Raimi and/or Campbell in some capacity, such as Crimewave , Easy Wheels , Darkman , Hard Target , Timecop , The Quick and the Dead , A Simple Plan , and The Gift .
Tapert co-founded film production company Ghost House Pictures in 2002. Their first release, The Grudge , grossed nearly $200 million internationally. [2] They followed up that success with Boogeyman , Rise , The Messengers , 30 Days of Night , Drag Me to Hell which Raimi directed, The Possession , [3] and a remake of Tobe Hooper's seminal film Poltergeist . [4]
In 2013, Tapert and Raimi tapped Uruguayan director Fede Álvarez, after seeing his short, Ataque de pánico! , to reimagine The Evil Dead. [5] Diablo Cody contributed a polish to help Americanize the script. [6]
Tapert would re-collaborate with Álvarez and writer Rodo Sayagues in 2016 on the breakout film Don't Breathe that grossed $157 million worldwide. [7] He returned as producer in its 2021 sequel.
In the 1990s, Tapert produced and/or wrote several television series, including Hercules: The Legendary Journeys , M.A.N.T.I.S. , Spy Game , and American Gothic . Tapert also co-created the prequel series Young Hercules that starred Ryan Gosling.
During Hercules, Tapert created the character of Xena which he later spun off into a separate series, Xena: Warrior Princess . The franchise has been referred to as ground-breaking and the character as a feminist and lesbian icon. [8] [9] [10] Xena: Warrior Princess has been credited by many, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, with blazing the trail for a new generation of female action heroes such as Buffy, Max of Dark Angel, Sydney Bristow of Alias, and the Bride in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. [11] After serving as Lucy Lawless's stunt double on Xena, stunt woman Zoë E. Bell was recruited to be Uma Thurman's stunt double in Tarantino's Kill Bill. By helping to pave the way for female action heroes in television and film, Xena also strengthened the stunt woman profession. [12]
In 2008, Tapert produced Legend of the Seeker , the television adaptation of the popular Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind for ABC Studios.
Tapert followed with the Roman epic Spartacus for Starz in 2010, [13] including Spartacus: Blood and Sand , Spartacus: Gods of the Arena , Spartacus: Vengeance , and Spartacus: War of the Damned .
Tapert's most recent television project is Ash vs Evil Dead based on the Evil Dead film franchise that premiered on Starz in 2015. [14]
Producer
| Executive producer
|
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1977 | The Happy Valley Kid | N/A | Short film |
It's Murder! | |||
1980 | The Blind Waiter | The Deaf Manager | Short film |
1981 | The Evil Dead | Local Yokel (uncredited) | |
Torro. Torro. Torro! | N/A | Short film | |
1982 | Cleveland Smith: Bounty Hunter | ||
1984 | Going Back | Man with Glasses in Bar (uncredited) | |
1985 | The Sappy Sap | N/A | Short film |
1986 | Crimewave | Bar patron in Rialto (uncredited) | |
1987 | Evil Dead II | Airport Worker (uncredited) |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1977 | It's Murder! | Sound utility | Uncredited |
1978 | Within the Woods | Presenter | Short film |
Producer
Executive producer
Year(s) | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | Darkman | No | No | Yes | TV movie |
1994–1995 | M.A.N.T.I.S. | No | No | Yes | 23 episodes |
1994–1999 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Yes | Yes | Yes | Wrote and directed episode "Once a Hero" |
1995–1998 | American Gothic | No | No | Yes | 22 episodes |
1995–2001 | Xena: Warrior Princess | Yes | Yes | Yes | Wrote 15 episodes Directed 4 episodes |
1997 | Spy Game | No | No | Yes | 13 episodes |
1997 | Amazon High | No | Story | No | TV movie |
1998–1999 | Young Hercules | No | Yes | Yes | Wrote 3 episodes |
2000 | Jack of All Trades | No | No | Yes | 22 episodes |
2000–2001 | Cleopatra 2525 | No | Yes | Yes | Wrote episode "Quest for Firepower" |
2005 | Alien Apocalypse | No | Uncredited | No | TV movie |
2008–2010 | Legend of the Seeker | No | No | Yes | 44 episodes |
2009 | 13: Fear Is Real | No | No | Yes | 8 episodes |
2010 | Zombie Roadkill | No | No | Yes | 6 episodes |
2010–2013 | Spartacus | No | No | Yes | 39 episodes |
2015–2018 | Ash vs Evil Dead | No | No | Yes | 30 episodes |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Crowd Member (uncredited) | Episode "Gladiator" |
1997 | Xena: Warrior Princess | Himself | Episode "The Xena Scrolls" |
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2005 | Evil Dead: Regeneration | Supervising producer |
Tapert produced the stage musical Pleasuredome as a love story to 1980's New York City incorporating songs from the era. The play, which was based on Tapert's personal experiences, [15] successfully premiered in 2017 to critical acclaim and sold-out crowds in Tapert's home of Auckland, New Zealand and stars Lucy Lawless. [16]
57,000 tickets were sold during its first 13-week run. [17]
Army of Darkness is a 1992 American dark fantasy horror comedy film directed, co-written, and co-edited by Sam Raimi. The film is the third installment in the Evil Dead film series and the sequel to Evil Dead II (1987). Starring Bruce Campbell and Embeth Davidtz, it follows Ash Williams (Campbell) as he is trapped in the Middle Ages and battles the undead in his quest to return to the present.
Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead horror franchise, beginning with the short film Within the Woods (1978). He has also starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave (1985), Maniac Cop (1988), Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989), and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002).
Samuel M. Raimi is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007) and the Evil Dead franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1990 superhero film Darkman, the 1995 revisionist western The Quick and the Dead, the 1998 neo-noir crime-thriller A Simple Plan, the 2000 supernatural thriller film The Gift, the 2009 supernatural horror film Drag Me to Hell, and the 2013 Disney fantasy film Oz the Great and Powerful. His films are known for their highly dynamic visual style, inspired by comic books and slapstick comedy.
Theodore Raimi is an American character actor, director, comedian, and writer. He is known for his roles in the works of his brother Sam Raimi, including a fake Shemp in The Evil Dead, possessed Henrietta in Evil Dead II, and Ted Hoffman in the Spider-Man trilogy. He later reprised his role as Henrietta in the television series Ash vs. Evil Dead, in which he also played the character Chet Kaminski. He is also known for his roles as Lieutenant JG Tim O'Neill in seaQuest DSV and Joxer the Mighty in Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
Xena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's Xena: Warrior Princess franchise, portrayed by New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless and co-created by Tapert and John Schulian. She first appeared as a villain in the 1995–1999 television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys before joining forces with Hercules. Xena was popular with fans, so the producers decided to create a spin-off with the character in the starring role. She later appeared in the subsequent comic book of the same name, as well as the spin-off animated film The Battle for Mount Olympus, and non-canon expanded universe material, such as books and video games.
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American fantasy television series filmed on location in New Zealand. The series aired in first-run syndication from September 4, 1995, to June 18, 2001. Critics have praised the series for its strong female protagonist, and it has acquired a strong cult following, attention in fandom, parody, and academia, and has influenced the direction of other television series.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is an American television series filmed in New Zealand, based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles. Starring Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as Iolaus, it was produced from January 16, 1995, to November 22, 1999. It ran for six seasons, producing action figures and other memorabilia as it became one of the highest-rated syndicated television shows in the world at that time. It has aired on Once Channel, Sky1, five/5, Heroes & Icons, and Horror.
Lucille Frances Lawless is a New Zealand actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, and Lucretia in the television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand and associated series. Since 2019, she has starred as Alexa in the television series My Life Is Murder.
Evelyn Renee O'Connor is an American actress, producer, and director, known for the role of Gabrielle on the television series Xena: Warrior Princess.
Craig Parker is a New Zealand actor, known for his roles as Guy Warner in the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, Haldir in the Lord of the Rings films The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Two Towers (2002), Darken Rahl in the syndicated television series Legend of the Seeker (2008–10), Gaius Claudius Glaber in the starz series Spartacus (2010–12), and Stéphane Narcisse in the CW television series Reign (2014–17).
Stephen Lovatt is a New Zealand actor, best known internationally for his portrayal of character Max Hoyland on the Australian soap Neighbours.
Joseph LoDuca is an American television and film score composer best known for his work writing television scores for the series Spartacus, Leverage, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, Young Hercules, The Librarians TV series, American Gothic and Jack of All Trades. Originally an accomplished jazz guitarist in the Detroit area, LoDuca frequently provides music for producer/director Robert Tapert, producer/director Sam Raimi, producer/director Dean Devlin and actor Bruce Campbell's films and series. Prior to his work on The Evil Dead, his first film, he released a jazz LP titled Glisten.
"The Bitter Suite" is the twelfth episode of the third season of the American-New Zealand fantasy adventure series Xena: Warrior Princess, which premiered on February 2, 1998. The episode, a musical, was written by Chris Manheim and Steven L. Sears and directed by Oley Sassone.
Evil Dead is an American horror film franchise created by Sam Raimi consisting of five feature films and a television series. The series revolves around the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, an ancient Sumerian text that wreaks havoc upon a group of cabin inhabitants in a wooded area in Tennessee.
The first season of the television series Xena: Warrior Princess commenced airing in the United States and Canada on September 4, 1995, concluded on July 29, 1996, and contained 24 episodes. It introduces Gabrielle, the series co-star, beside Xena, previously a secondary character in the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Gabrielle becomes Xena's greatest ally; her initial naiveté helps to balance Xena and assists her in recognizing and pursuing the "greater good."
Charles Knight is a New Zealand filmmaker.
TJ Scott is a Canadian film and television director, screenwriter, producer, and former stuntman and actor. He is primarily known for his work directing television series such as Orphan Black, Xena: Warrior Princess, Gotham, Star Trek: Discovery, Longmire, 12 Monkeys, The Strain, and Spartacus.
Barry Duffield is an Australian actor, producer, scriptwriter and director from Billingham, England. He is mostly known for his portrayal of Lugo in the Starz television series Spartacus.
The following is a list of unproduced Sam Raimi projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director and producer Sam Raimi has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects, are officially cancelled and scrapped or fell in development hell.
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