fiction.wikisort.org - Director

Barry Sonnenfeld (born April 1, 1953) is an American filmmaker and television director. He originally worked as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers before directing films such as The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel Addams Family Values (1993), Get Shorty (1995), the Men in Black trilogy (1997–2012), and Wild Wild West (1999).

Barry Sonnenfeld
Sonnenfeld in October 2012
Born	(1953-04-01) April 1, 1953 (age 69) New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Hampshire College (BA) New York University (MFA)
Occupation	Film director, producer and cinematographer
Years active	1978–present
Spouse	Susan L. Ringo ​ (m. 1989)​
Children	Chloe Sonnenfeld (b. 1993)

Early life

Sonnenfeld was born and raised in New York City, the son of Irene "Kelly" (Kellerman), an art teacher, and Sonny Sonnenfeld, a lighting salesman, educator, and architectural lighting designer.[1][2][3] He was raised in a Jewish family.[4] After he received his bachelor's degree from Hampshire College, he graduated from New York University Film School in 1978.

Career

He began working on pornographic films[5] before starting work as director of photography on the Oscar-nominated In Our Water (1982). Then Joel Coen and Ethan Coen hired him for Blood Simple (1984). This film began his collaboration with the Coen brothers, who used him for their next two pictures, Raising Arizona (1987) and Miller's Crossing (1990). He also worked with Danny DeVito on Throw Momma from the Train (1987) and Rob Reiner on When Harry Met Sally... (1989) and Misery (1990).

Sonnenfeld gained his first work as a director from Paramount Pictures on The Addams Family, a box-office success released in November 1991. Its sequel, Addams Family Values (1993), was not as successful at the box office, but he received critical acclaim for his fourth directorial outing, Get Shorty (1995). Produced by Jersey Films and based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, the film won a Golden Globe for John Travolta (Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical). The film was also entered into the 46th Berlin International Film Festival.[6] Following Tim Burton and the Coen brothers, Sonnenfeld's films would tell stories about unusual and unorthodox people who are into the unexpected and the strange. His films would often use his trademark filmmaking techniques such as his unusual camera angles, offbeat dialogue and, in certain films, strange behavior and weird creatures.

In 1996, Steven Spielberg asked him to direct Men in Black (1997). Starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, the film was a critical and financial success. In 1998, Jon Peters asked him to direct Wild Wild West (1999). Starring Smith and Kevin Kline, the film was a critical and financial flop. He also directed the comedy Big Trouble (2002), after which he made his most successful film sequel to that point, Men in Black II (2002). He is also a contributing editor for Esquire. He also co-produced (alongside his partner Barry Josephson) the 2007 film Enchanted for Walt Disney Pictures that starred Amy Adams. In 2008, Sonnenfeld earned an Emmy for directing Pushing Daisies. Sonnenfeld returned for Men in Black 3;[7] released in 2012, the third installment received positive reviews and became the highest-grossing film in the series worldwide. In 2007, his Right Coast production company has been signed with Sony.[8]

His memoir, Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker, was published by Hachette Books in 2020.[9]

Personal life

Sonnenfeld lives in Pemberton, British Columbia with his wife Susan.[10]

In 1999, he was unhurt in a plane crash at Van Nuys Airport, when his business jet veered off the runway upon landing, crashing into five parked planes.[11]

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Director	Producer	Notes
1991	The Addams Family	Yes	No
1993	For Love or Money	Yes	No
	Addams Family Values	Yes	No
1995	Get Shorty	Yes	executive
1997	Men in Black	Yes	No	Nominated- Saturn Award for Best Director
1999	Wild Wild West	Yes	Yes	Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director
2002	Big Trouble	Yes	Yes
	Men in Black II	Yes	No
2006	RV	Yes	No
2012	Men in Black 3	Yes	No
2016	Nine Lives	Yes	No

Producer The Crew (2000) The Ladykillers (2004) Enchanted (2007) Space Chimps (2008) Disenchanted (2022)

Executive producer Out of Sight (1998) Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) Men in Black: International (2019) Untitled Superman film (2024)

As cinematographer

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1982	In Our Water	Meg Switzgable	Documentary; With Robert Chappell
1984	Blood Simple	Joel Coen
1985	Compromising Positions	Frank Perry
1987	Raising Arizona	Joel Coen
	Three O'Clock High	Phil Joanou
	Throw Momma from the Train	Danny DeVito
1988	Big	Penny Marshall
1989	When Harry Met Sally...	Rob Reiner
1990	Miller's Crossing	Joel Coen
	Misery	Rob Reiner

As actor

Year	Title	Role
1991	The Addams Family	Passenger on Gomez's train (uncredited)
1993	Addams Family Values	Mr. Glicker
1995	Get Shorty	Doorman (Uncredited)
1997	Men in Black	Alien on Monitor
2002	Big Trouble	Gator fan on radio (voice) (uncredited)
2002	Men in Black II	Neuralyzed Father
2006	RV	Irv
2012	Men in Black 3	Husband Watching Launch
2016	Nine Lives	Additional cat voices

Television

Year	Title	Director	Executive Producer	Notes
1998	Maximum Bob	Yes	Yes	Directed "Pilot"
2001–2002	The Tick	Yes	Yes	Directed "Pilot"
2008	Hackett	Yes	No	TV movie
	Notes from the Underbelly	Yes	Yes	Directed 6 episodes
	Play or Be Played	Yes	Yes	TV movie
	Suburban Shootout	Yes	No
2009	Pushing Daisies	Yes	Yes	Directed 2 episodes; Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
	The Bridget Show	Yes	No	TV movie
2010	Funny in Farsi	Yes	No	Unaired TV pilot
2013	Beverly Hills Cop	Yes	No	Unaired TV pilot
2014	Dead Boss	Yes	No	TV movie
2017–2019	A Series of Unfortunate Events	Yes	Yes	Directed 10 episodes; Nominated- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program
2021	Schmigadoon!	Yes	Yes

Executive producer only

Year	Title	Notes
1999	Fantasy Island	13 episodes
	Partners	TV movie
2000	Secret Agent Man	12 episodes
2016	Independent Lens	TV series documentary; Film An Honest Liar
2017	The Tick	12 episodes

Producer

• Karen Sisco (2004) (1 episode)

As cinematographer

Year	Title	Notes
1983	How to Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days	TV movie
1984	ABC Afterschool Specials	1 episode
1985	Doubletake	TV miniseries; 2 episodes
1986	Classified Love	TV movie
	Welcome Home, Bobby	TV movie

As actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Tick	Guy in Couch, Cab Driver (uncredited)	Episode: "Pilot"
2017	A Series of Unfortunate Events	Mr. Tammerlane (voice) Isaac "Ike" Anwhistle	2 episodes Episode: "The Carnivorous Carnival" Pt. 1

Future projects

He is working on new projects, among them include Things a Man Should Never Do Past 30: a single-camera comedy from executive producer/director Sonnenfeld, the Tannenbaum Company and Sony Pictures Television. The project mostly is based on the personal experiences of Esquire writer David Katz and Esquire editor at large A. J. Jacobs. The show is about a man working at a men's magazine who is reluctant to embrace adulthood and his friend who is an immersion journalist. Al Higgins (Malcolm in the Middle) is set to serve as showrunner/head writer if the project is picked up.[12]

He has become attached to a movie adaptation of The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz, about a family of private investigators.[13] Sonnenfeld will direct the movie adaptation of the fantasy novel Gil's All Fright Diner in partnership with DreamWorks Animation.[14] He is also developing a sitcom for ABC, Funny in Farsi, based on the book of the same name.[15]

In 2012, it was stated that he was appointed to direct Lore, an adaptation based on the comic by T.P. Louise and Ashley Wood of the same name.[16][17] But, in 2013, Indie director Dave Green has signed on to replace Barry Sonnenfeld as director, Sonnenfeld will take part as executive producer on the project.[18]

Barry is also in talks with Warner Bros. to make a live action film adaptation of the DC Comics characters, The Metal Men.[19][20] Sonnenfeld also agreed to direct the Beverly Hills Cop pilot for CBS and serve as an executive producer as well.[21] However, Paramount Pictures dropped the idea in favor of a fourth film directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.

References

External links

• Barry Sonnenfeld at IMDb
• Barry Sonnenfeld at the TCM Movie Database
• Barry Sonnenfeld at AllMovie

На других языках

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[de] Barry Sonnenfeld

Barry Sonnenfeld (* 1. April 1953 in New York City) ist ein US-amerikanischer Filmregisseur, Filmproduzent und früherer Kameramann.

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- [en] Barry Sonnenfeld

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[es] Barry Sonnenfeld

Barry Sonnenfeld (Nueva York, 1 de abril de 1953) es un director de cine estadounidense. Comenzó trabajando como director de fotografía para los hermanos Coen y luego comenzó a producir y dirigir sus propias películas, entre las que se encuentran The Addams Family, Wild Wild West y la trilogía de Hombres de negro.

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[ru] Зонненфельд, Барри

Ба́рри Зонненфельд (англ. Barry Sonnenfeld; род. 1 апреля 1953 (1953-04-01)) — американский кинорежиссёр, продюсер, а также актёр и кинооператор. Создатель многих известных кинокомедий, в том числе успешной киносерии «Люди в чёрном».

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