- Dror Soref
-
Dror Soref 
Photo for the promotion of the film Not ForgottenBorn Dror Soref
IsraelOccupation Writer, Director, and Producer Years active 1983-present Spouse Virginia Pereira (2000-present) Dror Soref (Hebrew: דרור סורף) is a filmmaker who started his career directing music videos for a young "Weird Al" Yankovic in 1983, shortly after attending USC Film School. Soref later directed Platinum Blonde, an inspirational short film that landed him a Housekeeping Deal at Paramount Studios. With the help of Paramount, The Seventh Coin became Soref's debut as a feature film writer/director. Starring Peter O'Toole, The Seventh Coin won two festival awards in 1993, including best first time director. Throughout the following decade Soref directed or executive produced over a hundred commercials and music videos.[1] In 2003, Soref returned to feature films, co-producing Basic for Columbia Pictures, starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. In 2009 Soref wrote, directed and produced the critically acclaimed thriller Not Forgotten starring Simon Baker and Paz Vega.[2]
Contents
Early life and education
Dror Soref was born and raised in Israel and is of Spanish ancestry. He attended the University of Haifa, earning degrees in economics, sociology and anthropology. During his first year at the university, Soref founded a repertory theater, bringing to the stage original material with politically satirical content. His studies were interrupted when as a lieutenant in the elite Golani Brigade of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), Soref was called for service during several military conflicts, including the Yom Kippur War. The unit under Soref's command was cited for excellence by the IDF's Chief-of-Staff.
While a student, Soref wrote frequently on Israeli-Palestinian relations, and during his second year at the university, with fellow IDF retired officers and others, he founded a new national political party which played a key role in the future coalition government of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the early nineties. At the age of 23, while a third year student, Soref was nominated by his party to run for parliament. One of Soref's articles, Envisioning the Israeli-Palestinian Peace, incorporates the same principles as the first peace treaty between the parties, known as the Oslo Accords (1993), but written more than a decade earlier. A number of books have been written about the movement in which Soref did participate during these years. University, State and Society in Israel by Professor Shlomo Swirski, outlines the political consciousness and insight of a movement mainly formed by Latin American and Arabe students and some isralies, in particular Gideon Spiro.[3] In Y. Rubin's semi-autobiographical book, The Hypochondriac, the author portrays Soref as the embodiment of the mythical persona of the 'ideal' Israeli youth.
Soref's introduction to filmmaking came during his last year at the University of Haifa, when he was invited to attend a film workshop conducted by Benjamin Koretsky, Roman Polanski's cinematography teacher back in the Lodz Film School in Poland. To pursue film studies, Soref emigrated to the United States, first attending San Francisco Art Institute, and then the Cinema School of the University of Southern California (USC).
Career
In the mid-eighties, following USC, Soref was hired to direct "I Love Rocky Road," a music video for an unknown rock parodist at the time, "Weird Al" Yankovic.[4] The video helped establish Yankovic as an upcoming star. Success in music video field lead Soref to directing Platinum Blonde, an inspirational short film starring Karen Black and a fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Berkley. As the creative force behind Platinum Blonde, Soref was profiled in the Los Angeles Times, Premiere Magazine, and The Hollywood Reporter. After viewing the short, the president of Paramount Pictures Studio Group offered Soref a housekeeping deal on the famed studio lot.[2][5] With the help of Paramount, The Seventh Coin became Soref's debut as a feature film writer/director.[6] Starring Peter O'Toole, the film won two festival awards including Best First Time Director at the Philadelphia Film Festival and the Silver Awards at Worldfest Houston.[7]
While at Paramount, Soref founded Orbit Productions, serving as one of its commercial directors. Soref executive-produced or directed over one hundred TV commercials or music videos, leading Orbit to become one of the fastest growing commercial production companies at that time. Some of Orbit's spots have been featured on the Super Bowl and Academy Awards telecasts. The directorial roster at Orbit included, in addition to Soref, such acclaimed directors as Wim Wenders, Carroll Ballard, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Bruce Beresford. Soref later parlayed a successful career in commercials into feature films, signing a multiple-picture deal with Mike Medavoy's Phoenix Pictures with one of them for Soref to direct.[8] The first motion picture under this deal was Basic starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, released by Columbia Pictures.
In early 2009, Soref completed Not Forgotten, a film he directed, co-wrote and produced, starring Simon Baker, Paz Vega and Claire Forlani.[9] The film was selected for a Special Screening at the Slamdance Film Festival, where all its screenings were sold out before being picked up for distribution by Anchor Bay Films.[10][11] Both The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety gave the film rave reviews. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the fall of 2009 and on streaming Netflix in early 2010.
The overall success of Not Forgotten led to an invitation to the Paramount Studios lot in October 2009. Soref's production company Skyline Pictures currently resides in the Bob Hope building on avenue A of the studio.[11]
Filmography
Dror Soref has Directed two independent feature films working with actors including Peter O'Toole, Simon Baker, and Paz Vega.
Year Film Credited as Director Producer Writer 1986 Hollywood Zap! Yes 1988 Platinum Blonde (Short) Yes Yes 1993 The Seventh Coin Yes Yes 2003 Basic[12] Yes 2009 Not Forgotten Yes Yes Yes In addition, Soref has directed or executive produced over 100 music videos and commercials mostly through his production company Orbit Entertainment Group.
Year Song Band Notes 1983 "I Love Rocky Road" "Weird Al" Yankovic First Music Video References
- ^ "Award-Winning Writer-Director Dror Soref Joins Big Screen Entertainment Group Board of Directors". Business Wire. 4 April 2005. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_April_4/ai_n13502784/. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Filmmakers". Anchor Bay Entertainment. 5 April 2009. http://www.notforgottenmovie.com/filmmakers.php. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
- ^ Swirski, Shlomo (March 1982). "University, State and Society in Israel: A Study of the Social and Political Consciousness of Isreali Students". Jerusalem, Mifras: Ch. 4. "[1] University of Texas Libraries /All Locations"
- ^ Popson, Tom (12 July 1985). "...And With a Busy, Slightly Bent Weird Al". Chicago Tribune. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/25028736.html?dids=25028736:25028736&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+12%2C+1985&author=Tom+Popson&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=.+.+.AND+WITH+A+BUSY%2C+SLIGHTLY+BENT+%27WEIRD+AL%27&pqatl=google. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
- ^ Voland, John (1 Jan 1988). "A Film Maker's Lesson in Art of Persuasion". Los Angeles Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58193971.html?dids=58193971:58193971&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+01%2C+1988&author=JOHN+VOLAND&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=A+Film+Maker%27s+Lesson+in+Art+of+Persuasion&pqatl=google. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
- ^ "Phoenix Pictures Takes to Orbit With a Five-Picture Deal". Business Wire. 18 January 2000. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-27382965_ITM. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
- ^ "Awards". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0814786/awards. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
- ^ Brodesser, Claude (19 January 2000). "Phoenix orbits TV ads". The Daily Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117761062.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
- ^ "Not Forgotten". Mann Theaters. 6 May 2009. http://manntheatres.com/promo/notforgotten.php. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
- ^ "Not Forgotten by B-side". Slam Dance. 21 February 2009. http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/?SecID=278&ArID=239733. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Anchor Bay picks up US, UK and Australia to Not Forgotten". Screen Daily. 31 January 2009. http://www.screendaily.com/anchor-bay-picks-up-us-uk-and-australia-to-not-forgotten/4042927.article. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
- ^ McCarthy, Todd (22 March 2003). "Basic". The Daily Variety. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117920317.html?categoryid=31&cs=1. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
External links
- Dror Soref at the Internet Movie Database
- Platinum Blonde at the Internet Movie Database
- Not Forgotten at the Internet Movie Database
Categories:- American film directors
- American screenwriters
- English-language film directors
- University of Southern California alumni
- Living people
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