Dennis Jeffrey Feldman (born 1946) is an American screenwriter, photographer, film producer and director.

Biography

Early life and photography

Feldman is the son of Phil Feldman, an attorney who became a Hollywood producer and executive. He has three brothers, Ken, Gary and Randy. Dennis even worked on Phil's best known, 1969's '' The Wild Bunch'', with a small appearance on the opening Texas town sequence.In the Blood
''

Starlog ''Starlog'' was an American monthly science fiction magazine that was created in 1976 and focused primarily on ''Star Trek'' at its inception. Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs were its creators and it was published by Starlog Group, Inc. in Aug ...

'' Feldman graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he became interested in photography and design, partly due to his upbringing close to the film industry. He worked a while as a documentary photographer, then studied graphic design at the

Yale School of Art The Yale School of Art is the art school of Yale University. Founded in 1869 as the first professional fine arts school in the United States, it grants Master of Fine Arts, Masters of Fine Arts degrees to students completing a two-year course in g ...

and

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. Feldman went on to earn acclaim as a still photographer, teaching photography for ten years at San Francisco City College,

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. He has released two photography books: ''American Images'' (1977), the result of an eleven-month travel on 49 of the 50 United States; and ''Hollywood Boulevard, 1969–1972'' (2015), which he described as "a '70s version of what

Robert Frank Robert Frank (November 9, 1924 – September 9, 2019) was a Swiss American photographer and documentary filmmaker. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled ''The Americans'', earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his ...

and

Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great ...

" did in the '50s", registering the people who wandered through

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

– which Feldman frequently visited as his wife has a store there.

Film career

Feldman then decided to work in the film industry, first with the help of fellow writer brother Randy, with both doing

script doctor A script doctor is a writer or playwright hired by a film, television, or theatre production company to rewrite an existing script or improve specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other elemen ...

ing. Feldman's first film credit was ''

Just One of the Guys ''Just One of the Guys'' is a 1985 American teen comedy film directed by Lisa Gottlieb and co-written by Dennis Feldman and Jeff Franklin. It is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''Twelfth Night''. The film stars Joyce Hyser, C ...

'' (1985), co-written with Jeff Franklin. Afterwards his screenplay ''

The Golden Child ''The Golden Child'' is a 1986 American dark fantasy action comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie. The film stars Eddie Murphy as Chandler Jarrell, a Los Angeles social worker who is informed that he is " The Chosen One", and is destined to ...

'' attracted a bidding war that was won by

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 ...

. Feldman was paid about $330,000 up front for the script and had the option to direct, but eventually the studio picked Michael Ritchie for the task. Originally titled ''The Rose of Tibet'', it was planned to be "a

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

movie with supernatural elements", but the eventual film, released in 1986, became a comedy starring

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...

. Feldman then had his directing debut adapting his script '' Real Men'' (1987) and produced '' Dead Again'' (1991), which he also developed the story with

Scott Frank A. Scott Frank (born March 10, 1960) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Frank has received two Academy Awards, Academy Award nominations for Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay for '' ...

. In 1995 Feldman wrote and co-produced ''

Species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

'', based on a script idea he had in 1985. He also penned a comic book adaptation of the film by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

and helped Yvonne Navarro write the film's

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...

. His latest screenwriter credit is ''

Virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

'' (1999), which Feldman contributed some drafts after the ones made by Chuck Pfarrer, author of the original comic. Feldman has also been part of the

Writers Guild of America, West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 m ...

board from 1998 to 2003, being part of the Screenwriters Council, Public Presence Subcommittee, and heading the WGAW Awards Committee and show.

Filmography

Acting roles Other credits

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Feldman, Dennis 1946 births Film producers from Los Angeles American male screenwriters American photographers Living people Harvard University alumni Yale School of Architecture alumni Yale School of Art alumni Place of birth missing (living people)