Irwin Yablans (born July 25, 1934) is an American independent film producer and distributor known for his work in the

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...

industry. His brother,

Frank Yablans Frank Yablans (August 27, 1935 – November 27, 2014) was an American studio executive, film producer, and screenwriter. Yablans served as an executive at Paramount Pictures, including President of the studio, in the 1960s and 70s. As a filmmaker, ...

, was also a producer.

Life and career

Yablans was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, New York. In 1976, he formed

Compass International Pictures Compass International Pictures was an independent American film production and distribution company founded by producers Irwin Yablans and Joseph Wolf in 1977, best known for their involvement in the production of numerous horror films between 19 ...

with Joseph Wolf, and served as its President.

Movie career

He produced films that included ''

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. ...

'' (1978), ''

Tourist Trap A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) that has been created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps will typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souveni ...

'' (1979), '' Roller Boogie'' (1979), '' Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula'' (1979), '' Halloween II'' (1981), '' Hell Night'' (1981), ''

Blood Beach ''Blood Beach'' is a 1981 American horror film written and directed by Jeffrey Bloom and starring David Huffman, John Saxon, and Burt Young. The premise, conceived by Steven Nalevansky, involves a creature lurking beneath the sand of Santa M ...

'' (1981), '' Halloween III: Season of the Witch'' (1982), and ''

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful e ...

'' (1984). Since his resignation from Compass International, Yablans produced films with Charles Band such as ''

Prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

'' (1988). ''Halloween'' began as an idea suggested by Yablans who envisioned a film about babysitters being menaced by a stalker. Carpenter took the idea and another suggestion from Yablans that it take place during Halloween and developed them into a story. Along with noted

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

and

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

Moustapha Akkad, Yablans put forward $300,000 for the film's production, filming in Pasadena, California over the course of 20 days. Released in late October 1978, ''

'' was an unprecedented success, making $70 million in its initial theatrical run, and becoming the highest grossing independent film of all time; it was surpassed by ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

'' 12 years later. Yablans and Akkad remained as executive producers on further films after the original's sequel rights were sold to Dino De Laurentiis, then to other studios, with Akkad producing every entry in the series until his death in 2005. Yablans and Akkad, along with producer Joseph Wolf, founded the independent production and distribution studio

(later Trancas International Films Ltd).

References

External links

* Living people Jewish American screenwriters Film producers from New York (state) American male screenwriters People from Brooklyn 1934 births Screenwriters from New York (state) American independent film production company founders 21st-century American Jews {{US-film-bio-stub