Pen Densham
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Pen Densham is a British-Canadian-American film and television writer, producer, director and author, known for writing and producing films such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves[1] television revivals of The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone, as well as writing, producing and directing MGM’s Moll Flanders, starring Morgan Freeman and Robin Wright.
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[edit] Early life
Born in England to parents who both worked in the British film industry,[1] Pen left school at age fifteen and was hired by British TV to photograph the Rolling Stones, selling pictures to national magazines. At nineteen he moved to Canada where he directed commercials and documentaries, working with Marshall McLuhan.
Pen went on to found Insight Productions in Toronto, with John Watson. The company gained recognition for documentaries such as Life Times Nine, one of two Insight films that earned Academy Award nominations. In total, Pen and John received over seventy international awards for their works as well as medals from the Queen of England for their contribution to the Arts of Canada. Pen’s first drama he wrote and directed, If Wishes Were Horses, won fourteen awards, was reviewed by TV guide as “The best film of any length shown on Canadian TV”, and brought Densham’s work to the attention of Norman Jewison who, with Telefilm Canada, sponsored Pen to move to Hollywood.
[edit] Trilogy Entertainment Group
In Hollywood, Pen and John founded Trilogy Entertainment Group.[2] They were employed as creative consultants on films such as Rocky II, and Footloose. In 1988 Pen directed Trilogy’s first studio feature, The Kiss,[3] for Tri-Star. In 1990, Pen re-envisioned the Robin Hood story, creating a new characterization and adding new concepts. Densham and Watson sold their spec script for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and produced the film for Morgan Creek and Warner Brothers. The film became one of Warners’ largest grossing movies ever, spinning off games, toylines and the #1 music single from Bryan Adams (“Everything I Do, I Do It For You”). In the same year, they were producers on Backdraft with Ron Howard directing for Imagine and Universal, which generated one of the longest-lasting attractions at the Universal Studios Tour.
Inspired by the loss of his mother, Pen wrote and directed a personal version of Moll Flanders for MGM and Spelling Entertainment, based loosely on the novel by Daniel Defoe, starring Morgan Freeman & Robin Wright. Pen also wrote and directed Houdini, an $8 million TNT feature for television, which starred Johnathon Schaech, Mark Ruffalo and Emile Hirsch.
In Television, Pen wrote and supervised the re-franchising of The Outer Limits science fiction anthology series, which he Exec produced with his partners for its award winning, seven year run on American Television. In the process, Pen earned the unique distinction of being named number 8 in the 50 most powerful people in Science Fiction by Cinefantastique magazine. In 2003 he re-introduced The Twilight Zone fantasy anthology series to American audiences on UPN.
[edit] Emergence as an author
Pen became a published author with his book, Riding The Alligator: Strategies for a Career in Screenplay Writing (And Not Getting Eaten), about screenplay writing and selling one’s creativity in Hollywood, published by Michael Wiese Productions (January 2011). The title comes from the cover photo of Densham at the age of four astride a live seven-foot alligator in one of his parents theatrical short films. Written with the goal of supporting emerging creative people find their own voice and path through the Hollywood industry as well as artistic endeavors in general, the book includes supportive essays by professional screenwriters Shane Black, Nia Vardalos, Danny McBride, Andrea Berloff, Eric Roth, John Watson, Robin Swicord, Todd Robinson, Alan McElroy, Anthony Peckham, Ron Shelton and Laeta Kalogridis, and the book has garnered positive reviews from Academy Award-winning writer-director-producers like Paul Haggis and Ron Howard, and actors like Jeff Bridges, Morgan Freeman, Robin Wright and Emile Hirsch.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Directing Credits
- If Wishes Were Horses. (half hour drama)[1]
- The Zoo Gang with John Watson- 1985
- The Kiss - 1988
- Moll Flanders - 1996
- Houdini - 1998
[edit] Writing Credits
- If Wishes Were Horses (half hour drama)
- The Zoo Gang – with John Watson 1985
- A Gnome Named Gnorm - with John Watson - 1990
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – Story – Screenplay with John Watson 1991
- Taking Liberty - with John Watson 1993
- Lifepod (TV movie) with Jay Roach - 1993[4]
- Space Rangers (TV Series) Created Series. Pilot with Jay Roach - 1993-1994
- Moll Flanders – based on character created by Dafoe 1996
- Larger Than Life (story) - 1996
- The Magnificent Seven - with John Watson (TV series) - 1998[5]
- Houdini (TV movie) - 1998
- The Outer Limits (revived TV series) - 1995-2001
- The Twilight Zone (revived TV series) - 2002-2003
[edit] Producing Credits
- Multiple films for John Watson and Pen Densham’s Insight Productions.
- Life Times Nine (Oscar nominated short) - 1973
- Don’t Mess with Bill (Oscar nominated short) - 1980 [6]
- The Zoo Gang - 1985
- The Kiss - 1988
- A Gnome Named Gnorm - 1990
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves - 1991
- Backdraft - 1991
- Taking Liberty (executive producer) - 1993
- Space Rangers (TV Series) (executive producer) - 1993
- Lifepod (TV movie) (executive producer) - 1993
- Blown Away - 1994
- Tank Girl - 1995
- Moll Flanders - 1996
- Larger Than Life - 1996
- Fame L.A. (TV Series) (executive producer) - 1997
- Buffalo Soldiers (TV movie) (executive producer) - 1997
- The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (TV movie) (executive producer) - 1998
- Mr. Headmistress (TV movie) (co-producer) - 1998
- The Magnificent Seven (TV series) (executive producer) - 1998
- Creature (TV movie) (executive producer) - 1998
- Houdini (TV movie) (executive producer) - 1998
- Poltergeist: The Legacy (TV series) (executive producer) - 1996-1999
- The Outer Limits (TV series) (executive producer) - 1995-2001
- The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (executive producer) - 2002[7]
- My Brother’s Keeper (TV movie) (executive producer) - 2002
- Breaking News (TV series) (executive producer) - 2002
- Carrie (TV movie) (executive producer) - 2002
- The Twilight Zone (TV series) (executive producer) - 2003
- Just Buried - 2008
[edit] Books
- Why We Write (contribution) - 1999
- Riding The Alligator: Strategies For a Career in Screenplay Writing - 2011
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Kasindorf, Jeanie. "Million Dollar Babies: How a Bunch of Hollywood Screenwriters Struck It Rich." New York Magazine. 23.24 (18 Jun 1990): 40-50.
- ^ Parke, Catherine N. "Adaptation of Defoe's Moll Flanders." In Eighteenth-Century Fiction on Screen. Edited by Robert Mayer. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. 58.
- ^ Puchalski, Steven. Slimetime: A Guide to Sleazy, Mindless Movies. Manchester, UK: Critical Vision, 2002. 174.
- ^ Scott, Tony. "Fox Night at the Movies." In Variety and Daily Variety Television Reviews, 1993-1994. Edited by Howard H. Prouty. new York: Garland, 1996. cxx-cxxi.
- ^ Mirisch, Walter. I Though We Were Making Movies, Not History. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2008. 408.
- ^ Piazza, Jim & Gail Kinn. The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2008. 227.
- ^ Screen World 2003. New York: Applause Theater & Cinema Books, 2003. 72.
