Joe Dante

Joe Dante
Joe Dante as member of the jury for the 2009 Venice Film Festival
Born	Joseph Dante, Jr. November 28, 1946 (1946-11-28) Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Director, producer, actor
Years active	1968–present
Influenced by	Chuck Jones Frank Tashlin Roger Corman H. C. Potter James Whale Jean Cocteau

Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. (born November 28, 1946) is an American film director, producer and actor of films generally with humorous and science fiction content.

His films include Piranha (1978) and The Howling (1981), both from scripts by John Sayles; Segment 3 of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983); Gremlins (1984), his first major hit, and its sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990); Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), Amazon Women on the Moon (1987); The 'Burbs (1989), Matinee (1993), Runaway Daughters (1994), The Second Civil War (1997), The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy (1998), Small Soldiers (1998), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), and Homecoming (2005). In 1995–1996, Dante worked on The Phantom, and when he was removed from the film, he chose screen credit (as executive producer) rather than pay. He was creative consultant on Eerie, Indiana (1991–1992) and directed five episodes. He played himself in the series finale.

Early life

Dante was born in Morristown, New Jersey. His father was a professional golf player. Dante began his movie career working for Roger Corman, similar to Francis Ford Coppola and James Cameron. He worked as an editor on films such as Grand Theft Auto before codirecting Hollywood Boulevard with Allan Arkush. His first full feature film, Piranha, was released in 1978. After the release of The Howling, he was noticed by Steven Spielberg for whom he directed the third segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie, wherein a woman is 'adopted' by an omnipotent child. His first really big hit, Gremlins, which was also produced by Steven Spielberg, was released in 1984. He would work with Spielberg again on Innerspace and Gremlins 2. His films are well known for their movie in-jokes and their special visual effects.

Dante's long time friend and business associate, Sylvia, portrays one of the nuns at the concert in Arkush's Rock 'n' Roll High School, which Joe co-wrote and directed five scenes when Arkush was ill. Joe's garage is frequently mentioned in audio commentaries as holding many of the props from his various films, such as the Peltzer Peeler Juicer from Gremlins, and where the mock-pornographic scene in The Howling was shot.

Career

Dante developed a stock company of actors who worked with him over a long period of time, in the Woody Allen mode. Dick Miller, for example, has been in all of Dante's feature films and most of his television work, while Belinda Balaski, Archie Hahn, and Robert Picardo come in at close second, third, and fourth, with one less production each, respectively. Other actors Dante has worked with more than once include John Astin, Paul Bartel, Phoebe Cates, Roger Corman, Cory Danziger, Rick Ducommun, Kevin Dunn, Corey Feldman, Carrie Fisher, Joe Flaherty, Courtney Gains, Zach Galligan, Henry Gibson, Charles S. Haas, Heather Haase, Phil Hartman, Bob Holt, Rance Howard, Chuck Jones, Jackie Joseph, Omri Katz, Denis Leary, Sarah Lilly, Kevin McCarthy, Mark McCracken, Michael McKean, Don McCloud, Cathy Moriarty, Shawn C. Nelson, Ron Perlman, Jason Presson, Kathleen Quinlan, Neil Ross, Diane Sainte-Marie, John Sayles, Wendy Schaal, William Schallert, Michael Scheehaan, Dan Stanton, Don Stanton, Christopher Stone, Meshach Taylor, Kenneth Tobey, Dee Wallace and Alexandra Wilson. His respect for the screenwriter extends to the point where, in order to make sure he can confer with the writer on-set and provide some minor, additional remuneration, he always casts the writer in a small part of the production itself. The studio is normally unwilling to pay to have the writer on-set in any other way.

He has cited among his major influences Roger Corman, Chuck Jones, Frank Tashlin, James Whale, and Jean Cocteau, as well as an admiration for the film, Hellzapoppin', from which he frequently borrows jokes because of how difficult the film is to see in the United States.

In 2007, Dante launched the web series Trailers From Hell,^{[citation needed]} which provides commentary by directors, producers and screenwriters on trailers for classic and cult movies. He is also a contributor to the website.^{[citation needed]}

Dante's 2009 film "The Hole 3D" was awarded the first Premio Persol at the 2009 Venice Film Festival's for the "3-D feature deemed the most creative among those produced globally between September 2008 and August 2009."

Dante produced also alongside Roger Corman the web series Splatter for Netflix, the series stars Corey Feldman.

Filmography

Director

• The Movie Orgy (1968)
• Hollywood Boulevard (with Allan Arkush) (1976)
• Piranha (1978)
• Rock 'n' Roll High School (with Allan Arkush) (1979) (uncredited)
• The Howling (1981)
• Police Squad! (1982) (TV)
• Twilight Zone: The Movie (with Steven Spielberg, George Miller and John Landis) (1983)
• Gremlins (1984)
• Explorers (1985)
• The Twilight Zone (1985) (TV)
• Amazing Stories (1986) (TV)
• Innerspace (1987)
• Amazon Women on the Moon (with John Landis, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Horton & Robert K. Weiss) (1987)
• The 'Burbs (1989)
• Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
• Eerie, Indiana (1991–1992) (TV)
• Matinee (1993)
• Rebel Highway: Runaway Daughters (1994) (TV)
• Picture Windows (1994) (TV)
• The Second Civil War (1997) (TV)
• The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy (1998) (TV)
• Small Soldiers (1998)
• Night Visions (2001) (TV)
• Haunted Lighthouse (2003)
• Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
• Trapped Ashes (2004)
• Masters of Horror (2005–2006)
• The Greatest Show Ever (2007) (TV)
• CSI: NY (2007) (TV)
• The Hole 3D (2010)
• Hawaii Five-0 (2011) (TV)

Producer

• (1994) Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror
• (1996) The Phantom
• (1998) The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy
• (2002) Jeremiah

Actor

• (1975) Japan Sinks - (American version "Tidal Wave" only)
• (1976) Hollywood Boulevard - Party Waiter
• (1976) Cannonball - Kid
• (1978) Piranha - Scuba Diver #2
• (1978) Corvette Summer - Mr. Lucky
• (1984) Gremlins - voices of Gremlins
• (1987) Innerspace - Vectorscope Employee
• (1990) Gremlins 2: The New Batch - Grandpa Fred Director/voices of Beanie Gremlin and Wicked Witch Gremlin
• (1991) Eerie, Indiana - Himself

• Episode 19: "Reality Takes a Holiday"

• (1991) Oscar - Face on the Cutting Room Floor
• (1992) Sleepwalkers - Lab Assistant
• (1994) Beverly Hills Cop III - Jailer
• (1994) Silenzio dei prosciutti, Il - Dying Man

External links

• Interview with Joe Dante, Part 1, MUBI
• Interview with Joe Dante, Part 2, MUBI
• Joe Dante at the Internet Movie Database
• Joe Dante at AllRovi