Sandy Stern is an American

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 ...

, known for his work on the films '' Pump Up the Volume'' (1990), '' Being John Malkovich'' (1999) and ''

Saved! ''Saved!'' is a 2004 American independent satirical black comedy film directed by Brian Dannelly, and starring Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, Eva Amurri, Martin Donovan, and Mary-Louise Parker. Its plot follows a te ...

'' (2004).

Career

Stern's first project, released in 1990, was the

teen film Teen film is a film genre targeted at teenagers, preteens, or young adults by the plot being based on their special interests, such as coming of age, attempting to fit in, bullying, peer pressure, first love, teen rebellion, conflict with par ...

'' Pump Up the Volume'', which was nominated for a 1990 Independent Spirit Award for Best Film. He subsequently became executive producer of ''

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears zenith, directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" ...

'' and ''

Red Hot Red hot may refer to: Food * Frank's RedHot, a hot sauce produced by Reckitt Benckiser * Michigan hot dog, covered in a meat sauce * Red Hots, a small cinnamon-flavored candy Film and television * ''Red Hot'' (film), a 1993 Canadian drama film ...

'', released direct-to-video in 1992 and 1993 respectively. He met rock band R.E.M.'s lead singer

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence. Po ...

through Stern's friend Samantha Mathis' boyfriend,

River Phoenix River Jude Phoenix (; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor, musician and activist. Phoenix grew up in an itinerant family, as the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, and Summer Phoenix. He h ...

. At the time, Stern was producing with

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama '' Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televis ...

, and teamed up as producing partners with Stipe looking for a change. Together they executive produced '' Velvet Goldmine'' in 1998 and ''

Freak City Freak City may refer to: * "Freak City", a 2010 episode of the TV series ''Adventure Time'' * ''Freak City Soundtrack ''Freak City Soundtrack'' is the third studio album by Material Issue, released on Mercury Records in 1994. It was the last stu ...

'' in 1999. They formed 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 ...

Single Cell Single cell and similar can mean: Biology *Single-cell organism *Single-cell protein *Single-cell recording, a neuro-electric monitoring technique *Single-cell sequencing **Single cell epigenomics *Single-cell transcriptomics Other * Single-cell th ...

, and their next project was Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze's

1999 film File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

'' Being John Malkovich''. ''Being John Malkovich'' won a 2000 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, and Stern and fellow producers Stipe, Steve Golin and Vincent Landay were nominated for two Producers Guild of America Awards: the Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award and the Vision Award, winning the latter. Stern and Stipe, teamed with producers Michael Ohoven and William Vince, produced the 2004 independent teen-comedy film ''

'', having spent years trying to persuade major financiers to fund the film, which, according to Stern, was a controversial film "that dealt with religion, that dealt with comedy and religion, that dealt with a gay storyline, and that was basically, it was all a kind of ensemble cast that did not have a

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and th ...

starring in the movie." After its US$9 million-grossing theatrical release through

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

, Stern approached

Elephant Eye Elephants are the Largest and heaviest animals, largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members ...

Theatrical's CEO Stuart Oken about adapting the film into a musical, which premiered Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in May 2008.

Personal life

Stern was raised in

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 ...

parents. He attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

, completing a Ph.D. in

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or Mental disorder, dysfunction and to promote subjective mental ...

, but left to pursue filmmaking instead at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely fol ...

, where he came out as gay. He now resides in

Los Angeles 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 wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Sandy Film producers from New York (state) American Jews LGBT Jews LGBT producers LGBT people from New York (state) Businesspeople from New York City Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New York University alumni Vassar College alumni