Neal Edelstein is an independent film producer and is known as an early technology adopter.
Biography
Early life
Neal Edelstein was born in
Winnetka, Illinois
Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the second ...
, USA.
He graduated from the
New Trier High School
New Trier High School (, also known as New Trier Township High School or NTHS) is a public high school, public four-year high school, with its main campus for sophomores through seniors located in Winnetka, Illinois, United States, and a campus in ...
.
Career
Edelstein began his film career in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...
in the early 1990s. In 1997, he produced
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
's segment in the French film ''
Lumiere and Company'', shot with the original Lumiere brothers's camera.
After completion of the film, Edelstein and Lynch became partners in ''The Picture Factory'', where Edelstein produced ''
The Straight Story
''The Straight Story'' is a 1999 biographical road drama film directed by David Lynch. It was edited and produced by Mary Sweeney, Lynch's longtime partner and collaborator, who also co-wrote the script with John E. Roach. It is based on the t ...
'' and ''
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...
'', as well as worked with Lynch to conceive and launch the website DavidLynch.com.
Later, Edelstein formed ''Macari/Edelstein Filmed Entertainment'' with
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
executive Mike Macari. Their first project together was the American remake of the Japanese horror film ''
The Ring'', followed by the sequel ''
The Ring Two
''The Ring Two'' is a 2005 American supernatural psychological horror film and a sequel to the 2002 film '' The Ring'', which was a remake of the 1998 Japanese film '' Ring''. Hideo Nakata, director of the original Japanese film ''Ring'', on w ...
''.
Edelstein was instrumental in creating the
viral marketing
Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way tha ...
campaign for ''The Ring'' with director
Gore Verbinski
Gregor Justin "Gore" Verbinski (born March 16, 1964) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and musician. He is best known for directing '' The Ring'', the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' films, and '' Rango''. He won the Academy Awar ...
. Other film credits include Disney-distributed ''
The Invisible'', directed by
David Goyer
David Samuel Goyer (born December 22, 1965) is an American filmmaker, novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for writing the screenplays for several superhero films, including '' Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (1998), the '' Blade' ...
, and ''
Shelter
Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger.
Shelter may also refer to:
Places
* Port Shelter, Hong Kong
* Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations
* Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locat ...
'', starring
Julianne Moore
Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, ...
and
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor, model and musician. He is known for his roles in the films '' Michael Collins'' (1996), '' Velvet Goldmine'' (1998), ''Titus'' (1999), ''Bend It Like ...
.
Additionally, Edelstein is the founder of ''Hooked Digital Media'', a
production company
A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, a ...
that delivers filmed stories for the mobile and tablet generation. In 2013 they released ''
Haunting Melissa'', a storytelling
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
app that rolls out new chapters and content of varying duration.
Filmography
''Edelstein was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.''
Film
;As director
;As writer
;Thanks
Television
;
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edelstein, Neal
Living people
People from Winnetka, Illinois
People from Los Angeles
Film producers from California
Film producers from Illinois
Year of birth missing (living people)
New Trier High School alumni