Ron Oliver (1960- ) is a Canadian writer, director, producer, and actor known for genre films, especially for his work for the Hallmark Channel's Christmas movies. His directing career began with the cult hit '' Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II'', based on a script he wrote. He was also a host on Canada's YTV for the shows YTV Hits, ''The Ron Oliver Show'', ''Oliver's Twist & Rock 'n Talk''. He has gone on to direct various television and motion picture scripts. He has been nominated twice for the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

Award. Oliver directed several episodes of both ''

Are You Afraid of the Dark? ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' is a children's horror anthology television series created by D. J. MacHale and Ned Kandel. The original series aired on Nickelodeon in the United States from August 15, 1992 to February 3, 1996, and also o ...

'' and ''

Goosebumps ''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror novels written by American author R. L. Stine. The protagonists in these stories are teens or pre-teens who find themselves in frightening circumstances, often involving the supernatural, the p ...

'', in which he cast a then-teenage

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling ( ; born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. His work includes both independent films and major studio features, and his accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, a ...

. In 2007 he began directing films for the

Hallmark Channel Hallmark Channel is an American cable television network owned by Hallmark Media, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards. The channel broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. ...

, and as of late 2024, he has written or directed 34 movies for them. He received an Emmy nomination for producing the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

children's series '' Scout's Safari'' filmed on location in South Africa. In 2007 he directed the

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

film ''A Dennis the Menace Christmas''. In 2010 Oliver directed the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

film '' Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars''. Among his other works are the sequels Grand-Daddy Day Care and Bigger Fatter Liar.

Personal Life

Oliver was born in 1960 and raised in the village of Dundalk, Ontario; his family moved to moved to New Lowell when he was 9. His father George was a real estate agent, an insurance broker, and ran a boat-building company while his mother Helen was a homemaker. As a teenager, he used his school’s Super 8 camera to make films, with the dream of becoming a maker of horror films. At age 24 he moved to Toronto, then to Los Angeles in 1989, travelling back and forth between the U.S. and Canada for work as his career developed. He is married to Eric Bowes; the couple were married at the

Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, ...

on Christmas Day in 2013. Later a selfie of Oliver at the Plaza prompted Hallmark executives asked him if he wanted to make a Christmas movie set there, fan-favorite 2019's ''Christmas at the Plaza'' was partially filmed at the New York City landmark. The couple live in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

References

External links

* Canadian horror film directors Canadian male screenwriters Canadian television directors Canadian television producers Canadian male television writers Canadian television writers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers {{Canada-tv-bio-stub