Pen Densham (born 14 October 1947) is a British-Canadian film and television producer, writer, and director, known for writing and producing films such as '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves''Kasindorf, Jeanie. "Million Dollar Babies: How a Bunch of Hollywood Screenwriters Struck It Rich." ''New York Magazine.'' 23.24 (18 Jun 1990): 40–50. and television revivals of '' The Outer Limits'' and ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

'', as well as writing, producing and directing MGM's ''

Moll Flanders ''Moll Flanders'' is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. It purports to be the true account of the life of the eponymous Moll, detailing her exploits from birth until old age. By 1721, Defoe had become a recognised novelist, wi ...

''.

Early life

Born in England in 1947 to Raymond Densham who worked in the British film industry, Pen left school at age 15 and was hired by British TV to photograph

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

to sell to national magazines. At 19 he moved to Canada where he directed commercials and documentaries, working with

Marshall McLuhan Herbert Marshall McLuhan (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his ...

. Densham went on to found

Insight Productions Insight Productions is a Canadian production company based in Toronto, Ontario. It was established in 1970. Insight is led by CEO John Brunton. History Insight Productions was established in 1970 by Penray "Pen" Densham and John Kingsley Wa ...

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, Densham and Watson received over 70 international awards for their works including medals from the Queen of the United Kingdom for their contribution to the Arts of Canada. The first drama Densham wrote and directed, ''If Wishes Were Horses'', won 14 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 Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best ...

. Jewison, with

Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Crown corporation reporting to Canada's federal government through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in ...

, sponsored Densham to move to Hollywood.

Career

Trilogy Entertainment Group

In Hollywood Densham and Watson founded Trilogy Entertainment Group. They were employed as creative consultants on films such as ''

Rocky II ''Rocky II'' is a 1979 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky'' (1976) and is the second installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl W ...

'' and '' Footloose''. In 1988 Densham directed Trilogy's first studio feature, '' The Kiss'', for Tri-Star. In 1990 Densham 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 Productions and

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

. The film became one of Warner Brothers' largest grossing movies ever, spinning off games, toy lines and the No. 1 music single from

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

, " (Everything I Do) I Do It for You". In the same year they were producers on ''

Backdraft A backdraft ( North American English) or backdraught (British English) is the abrupt burning of superheated gasses in a fire, caused when oxygen rapidly enters a hot, oxygen-depleted environment; for example, when a window or door to an enclosed ...

'' with

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of '' The Twilight Zone''. ...

directing for Imagine Entertainment and

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. ''Backdraft'' generated one of the longest-lasting attractions at the Universal Studios Tour. Inspired by the loss of his mother, Densham wrote and directed a personal version of ''Moll Flanders'' for MGM and

Spelling Entertainment Spelling is a set of conventions that regulate the way of using graphemes (writing system) to represent a language in its written form. In other words, spelling is the rendering of speech sound (phoneme) into writing (grapheme). Spelling is one ...

, based loosely on the novel by

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel '' Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

, starring

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

and Robin Wright. Densham also wrote and directed Houdini, an $8 million TNT feature for television starring

Johnathon Schaech Johnathon Schaech ( ; born September 10, 1969) is an American actor and screenwriter. He has been working as an actor since the early '90s. Early life Johnathon Schaech was born in Edgewood, Maryland, in 1969 to Joe, a Baltimore City law enf ...

Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor and producer best known for playing Bruce Banner / Hulk since 2012 in the superhero franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in the television series '' She-Hulk: Attorne ...

and Emile Hirsch. In 1992, Trilogy Entertainment Group jumped into its television foray by signing it with RHI Entertainment, with potential off-net syndication rights handled by

Columbia Pictures Television Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution studio. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gem ...

. In television Densham wrote and supervised the re-franchising of '' The Outer Limits'' science fiction anthology series, which he executive-produced with his partners for its award-winning seven-year-run on American television. In the process Densham earned the unique distinction of being named number eight in the 50 Most Powerful People in Science Fiction list compiled by '' Cinefantastique'' magazine. In 2003 he re-introduced ''

'' fantasy anthology series to American audiences on UPN.

Emergence as an author

Densham became a published author with his book about screenplay writing and selling creativity in Hollywood, ''Riding the Alligator: Strategies for a Career in Screenplay Writing (And Not Getting Eaten)'', published by Michael Wiese Books in January 2011.Michael Wise Books website
/ref> 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 finding 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,

Andrea Berloff Andrea Berloff (born 1974) is an American screenwriter, actress, director, and producer. Berloff is best known for writing the 2006 disaster drama film ''World Trade Center'', and co-writing the 2015 biographical drama ''Straight Outta Compton'' ...

, Eric Roth, John Watson,

Robin Swicord Robin Stender Swicord (born October 23, 1952) is an American screenwriter, film director, and playwright, best known for literary adaptations. Her notable screenplays include ''Little Women'' (1994), ''Matilda'' (1996), ''Practical Magic'' (1998 ...

, Todd Robinson, Alan McElroy,

Anthony Peckham Anthony Peckham is a South African-born American screenwriter and producer. Career Peckham's first screenplay to reach production was 1990's ''The Assassin''. Eleven years later, in 2001, the Michael Douglas thriller '' Don't Say a Word'', Peck ...

Ron Shelton Ronald Wayne Shelton (born September 15, 1945) is an American film director and screenwriter and former minor league baseball infielder. Shelton is known for the many films he has made about sports. His 1988 film ''Bull Durham'', based in part o ...

and

Laeta Kalogridis Laeta Kalogridis ( ) is an American screenwriter and television and film producer of Greek descent. She has written scripts for ''Alexander'' (2004), '' Night Watch'' (2004), ''Pathfinder'' (2007) and ''Shutter Island'' (2010). She also served ...

. The book received positive reviews from Academy Award-winning writer-director-producers like

Paul Haggis Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television. He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) and ...

and

, as well as actors like

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...

, Robin Wright and Emile Hirsch.

Filmography

Film

Television

Books

*''Why We Write'' (contribution) – 1999 *''Riding the Alligator: Strategies for a Career in Screenplay Writing'' – 2011

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

* 1974

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

: '' Life Times Nine'' (nominated) – with John Watson * 1981

Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

: ''Don't Mess with Bill'' (nominated) – with John Watson

CableACE Award

* 1995 CableACE Award for Best Dramatic Series: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – with Richard B. Lewis & John Watson

Fantasporto Fantasy Film Festival

* 1990 Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Award: ''The Kiss'' (nominated)

Gemini Awards

* 1996 Gemini Award for Best TV Movie or Mini-Series: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – with Richard B. Lewis, John Watson, Justis Greene & James Nadler * 1997 Gemini Award for Best Short Dramatic Program: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – with James Nadler, Richard B. Lewis, Brad Wright, Brent-Karl Clackson & John Watson * 1998 Gemini Award for Best Dramatic Series: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – James Nadler, Richard B. Lewis, Brad Wright, Brent-Karl Clackson, John Watson, Jonathan Glassner & Sam Egan * 2000 Gemini Award for Best Dramatic Series: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – Richard B. Lewis, Brent-Karl Clackson, John Watson & Sam Egan * 2001 Gemini Award for Best Dramatic Series: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – Richard B. Lewis, Mark Stern, Brent-Karl Clackson, John Watson & Sam Egan

References

External links

*
Canadian Film Centre profileSchoos Gallery profileRiding the Alligator: Strategies For a Career in Screenplay Writing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Densham, Pen Living people 1947 births British film producers Canadian film producers English television writers English screenwriters English male screenwriters Canadian male screenwriters Screenwriting instructors 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian screenwriters British male television writers