Adam Marcus (born 1969) is an American

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Early life and education

Marcus was born in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

, and attended

Staples High School Staples High School is a public high school in Westport, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Horace Staples, who founded the school on April 26, 1884. Westport is one of eight school districts in District Reference Group A (along with ...

. His brother, Kipp Marcus, is also an actor. He was raised in a

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

. He studied film at the

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

, where he received the Best Picture Award at the 1990

Student Academy Awards The Student Academy Awards are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in an annual competition for college and university filmmakers. Description The awards were originally named the Student Film Awards and were first pres ...

for his short film ''So You Like This Girl''.

Career

In 1991, Marcus was hired by filmmaker

Sean S. Cunningham Sean Sexton Cunningham (born December 31, 1941) is an American film director, producer, and writer. He is best known for directing and producing several horror films, beginning in the early 1970s. Raised in Connecticut, Cunningham graduated from ...

to work on feature film production. He relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where he co-produced ''My Boyfriend's Back'' (1993) for Cunningham and Disney. That same year, Marcus wrote the story for and directed ''Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday'', the ninth installment in the ''Friday the 13th'' franchise, for

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

. Working with his writing partner Debra Sullivan, Marcus developed screenplays for various studios, including ''Cradle and All'' (an adaptation of

James Patterson James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the '' Alex Cross'', '' Michael Bennett'', '' Women's Murder Club'', '' Maximum Ride'', '' Daniel X'', '' NYPD Red'', '' Witch & Wizard'', '' Private'' and ...

’s ''Virgin'') for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

, and ''Black Autumn'' for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. In 1995, Marcus founded Damn Skippy Theater Works, a theater company based in Los Angeles. In 1998, he directed the independently produced comedy ''Let It Snow'' (also known as ''Snow Days''). The film was showcased at the Independent Feature Film Market (IFFM) in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and premiered in the New Visions category at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

’s Los Angeles International Film Festival, where it received awards for Best New Writer and Best Editing. It was later selected for the 2000

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in the American Spectrum section. The film received coverage from outlets including ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', ''Ain't It Cool News'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and ''The Gore Score''. In 2008, Marcus directed ''Conspiracy'' for

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

, a film he co-wrote with Sullivan. Shot in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, the film starred

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (December 31, 1959 – April 1, 2025) was an American actor. Initially a stage actor, he later found fame as a Leading actor, leading man in films in a wide variety of genres, including Comedy film, comedies, dramas, action fi ...

Jennifer Esposito Jennifer Esposito (born April 11, 1973) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the feature films ''Summer of Sam'' (1999), ''Don't Say a Word'' (2001), ''The Master of Disguise'' (2002), ''Welcome to Collinwood'' (2002), ''Crash (2 ...

, and

Gary Cole Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American actor. He began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. His breakout role was playing Jack 'Nighthawk' Killian in the NBC series '' M ...

. In 2009, he appeared in the documentary film '' His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th'', where he provided commentary on the franchise. In 2012, Marcus co-wrote ''Texas Chainsaw 3D'', a direct sequel to ''

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American independent horror film produced, co-composed, and directed by Tobe Hooper, who co-wrote it with Kim Henkel. The film stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, ...

'' (1974), along with Sullivan and Kirsten Elms. He also co-wrote ''Cabin Fever: Outbreak'' with Sullivan and was involved in ''The Plantation'', a project based on the 1943 film, ''I Walked with a Zombie''''.''. In 2013, he appeared in the documentary film '' Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th''. Marcus and Sullivan’s screenplay ''Momentum'' (2015) entered production in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in January 2014. Directed by

Stephen Campanelli Stephen Campanelli is a Canadian movie cameraman and film director. He has been a long-term member of Clint Eastwood's film production crew. Early life Campanelli's mother Carmela emigrated from Italy to Canada. He traces his film interests to his ...

, the film starred

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

James Purefoy James Brian Mark Purefoy (born 3 June 1964) is an English actor. He played Marcus Antonius in the HBO series ''Rome'', Nick Jenkins in '' A Dance to the Music of Time'', college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the series '' The Fo ...

, and

Olga Kurylenko Olga Kostyantynivna Kurylenko (born 14 November 1979) is a Ukrainian-born French actress. She rose to prominence by playing the Bond girl Camille Montes in the James Bond film '' Quantum of Solace'' (2008). Kurylenko began her career modellin ...

. ''Momentum'' screened at several international film festivals, including the 2015

Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival, also known as Fantasia Fest or simply Fantasia, is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on fantasy, horror, sci-fi and cult genre films. Regular ...

.Stephen Campanelli at the Fantasia premiere on 22 July 2015 in Montreal

Filmography

Sources

* ''Gorezone Magazine'' (

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

) 1993, Iss. 26, pg. 9–12, +61, by: Marc Shapiro, "Starting Work on a Friday"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcus, Adam 1968 births Male actors from Connecticut American male film actors American male screenwriters 20th-century American Jews Living people People from Westport, Connecticut Tisch School of the Arts alumni Film directors from Connecticut Staples High School alumni 21st-century American Jews