- Ron Underwood
Ron Underwood is an American
film director .Underwood was born in
Glendale, California but spent some of his teenage years living as an exchange student inSri Lanka . After graduating fromhigh school he briefly attendedmedical school , but dropped out after finding the courses too dull. After this he decided to follow a career in the film industry; film having been a passion of his since childhood. He enrolled atUniversity of Southern California 's prestigious film school, and upon graduation began working as a staff director and cameraman forBarr films , a company specializing in the production of educational films.One of the first motion pictures Underwood worked on was "
Futureworld " (1976) as aProduction Assistant . The film starredBlythe Danner andPeter Fonda , actors he would later direct himself in 2004. During the filming of "Futureworld", one of his tasks was to babysit a youngGwyneth Paltrow . Another early job was acting as anAssistant Director to first-time directorDavid Schmoeller on "Tourist Trap", a low-budget horror film. However, after this he continued to produce educational films for the next seven years. In 1986 Underwood established himself as a director when he won aPeabody Award for his animated special "The Mouse and the Motorcycle ", which was followed two years later by the sequel "Runaway Ralph ", for which he received aDaytime Emmy nomination.Following his critically acclaimed venture into television, Underwood decided to have a go at directing feature films. His first effort was "Tremors" starring
Kevin Bacon ,Fred Ward andReba McEntire in her acting debut. Written by his friendsBrent Maddock &S. S. Wilson , it was released by Universal Studios in 1990. The film was well received by the critics and later established itself as acult classic .Underwood received his first taste of commercial success with
1991 's "City Slickers ", which starredBilly Crystal , Daniel Stern andJack Palance , who won anAcademy Award for his performance. The film made $179m worldwide with a budget of only $27m. It was the tenth most successful film released in 1991 (the fifth most successful in the US). His next film, "Heart and Souls " (1993), was again well-received by critics but struggled at the box office (making a total of $16m). He followed this with "Speechless" (1994), which made just over $20m over theChristmas period.Given the opportunity to direct a big-budget film by
Walt Disney Pictures in 1998, he was asked to direct "Mighty Joe Young", a remake of the 1949 RKO film. The film, starringCharlize Theron in her first lead role, was nominated for theAcademy Award for Visual Effects and featured some of the most sophisticated and expensivespecial effects seen in film up to that point, paving the way for later ape films likePeter Jackson 's "King Kong" (2005). The special effects drove production costs to around $90m, and ultimately global box-office takings fell short by about $20m.Following "Mighty Joe Young", Underwood began work on
Eddie Murphy fronted "The Adventures of Pluto Nash ." The film also starredRosario Dawson and was filmed inMontreal Canada . Unfortunately for Underwood, the film was to prove an even larger box-office failure than "Mighty Joe Young ." The film cost over $120m to produce and market, took only $7m from the global box office and was quickly pulled from theaters.Underwood has recently returned to his roots, directing both low-budget films and television. He has directed "
Stealing Sinatra " (2003) for Showtime, "Back When We Were Grownups " (2004) for Hallmark Hall of Fame which garnered starBlythe Danner nominations for theGolden Globe and theEmmy , and "In the Mix" (2005), starringR&B singer Usher andEmmanuelle Chriqui forLions Gate Entertainment . His past three films have been holiday themed: "Santa Baby ," a TV movie forABC Family Channel , a live-action version of "The Year Without a Santa Claus ," based on the 1974 ABC special, and another TV movie forABC Family , "Holiday In Handcuffs ," which was the most watched show in ABC Family history. He has also ventured intotelevision drama , directing episodes of "Monk," "Boston Legal ," "Reaper ," "Ugly Betty " and "Eli Stone ."External links
*imdb name|id=0881038|name=Ron Underwood
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