Fran Rubel Kuzui is an American film director and producer. She directed the films ''

Tokyo Pop is a 1988 musical romantic comedy film directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lynn Grossman. The film follows a young American singer (Carrie Hamilton) who travels to Tokyo and meets a local rock musician ( Yutaka Tado ...

'' (1988) and ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'' (1992). She also produced the films ''

Orgazmo ''Orgazmo'' is a 1997 American superhero sex comedy film written, directed and edited by Trey Parker and produced by Matt Stone, Jason McHugh, and Fran Rubel Kuzui. It stars Parker, Stone, Dian Bachar, Robyn Lynne, and Michael Dean Jacobs ...

'' (1997) and ''

Telling Lies in America ''Telling Lies in America'' is a 1997 period coming-of-age drama film directed by Guy Ferland and written by Joe Eszterhas. Plot Karchy Jonas is a 15-year-old high-school student and emigrant from Hungary trying to find his way in the world. He ...

'' (1997).

Biography

Kuzui received her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and was a

script supervisor A script supervisor (also called continuity supervisor or script) is a member of a film crew who oversees the continuity of the motion picture including dialogue and action during a scene. The script supervisor may also be called upon to ensure wa ...

for a decade, prior to her first film, 1988's ''

'', which she co-wrote and directed. The movie was shown at the 1988

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

and received critical acclaim for its depiction of an American woman trying to make sense of the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community. An emphasis ...

. She is best known as the director of the 1992 film ''

'' (which was the basis for the

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

). She discovered the screenplay of writer

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...

, expanded the Buffy character with him, and together with producer Kaz Kuzui put together the financing to produce the picture. Kuzui served as an executive producer on the TV series and its spin-off ''

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'', having packaged ''Buffy'' along with Kaz Kuzui, Sandollar TV's

Gail Berman Gail Berman (born August 17, 1956) is an American producer and television executive. She is co-owner and founding partner of The Jackal Group, a production entity formed in partnership with Fox Networks Group. The Jackal Group develops and prod ...

and

Sandy Gallin Albert Samuel Gallin, better known as Sandy Gallin (May 27, 1940 – April 21, 2017), was an American producer and talent manager, winner of an Emmy Award.Binkley, Christina (2008)"Winner Takes All: Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, Gary Loveman, and ...

. Since 2000, Kuzui has lived in Tokyo. Along with husband

Kaz Kuzui is a Japanese film producer. His wife, Fran Rubel Kuzui, has also directed movies. Along with his wife, Kaz founded Kuzui Enterprises, which film distributor, distributes US films in Japan and imports Japanese films for the US market. In additi ...

, she founded Kuzui Enterprises, a leader in independent

film distribution Film distribution, also called film exhibition or film distribution and exhibition, is the process of making a film available for viewing to an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketin ...

in Japan that distributes U.S. films there and imports Japanese films for the U.S. market. In 2003, the Kuzuis were among the executive producers for the Thai-Japanese film ''

Last Life in the Universe ''Last Life in the Universe'' () is a 2003 Thai romantic crime film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film is notable for being trilingual; the two main characters flit from Thai to Japanese to English as their vocabulary requires. The fil ...

''. In 1997, Kuzui began working with

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative part ...

and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his cre ...

and produced their film ''

''. The Kuzuis also localized and distributed the duo's TV series ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

'' in Japan. Kuzui Enterprises was among the financiers for ''Orgazmo'' and ''

''. The Kuzuis worked with artist

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the Graffiti in New York City, New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual l ...

to establish

Pop Shop The Pop Shop was a store owned by pop artist Keith Haring. Haring opened the first Pop Shop in New York City in 1986 (which closed in 2005) and later one in Tokyo (which closed in 1988). Haring viewed the Pop Shop as an extension of his work. It ...

Tokyo, an art project recognized by museums around the world. In 2018, it was reported that the Kuzuis are involved with the development of a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of ''Buffy''. Kuzui is a contributing writer at the Nikkei Asian Review and Tokyo bureau chief for Culinary Backstreets.

Filmography

Feature films

References

External links

* Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New York University alumni {{US-film-director-stub Film directors from New York City Film producers from New York City American women film directors American women film producers American comedy film directors