Craig Michael Saavedra (born November 2, 1963 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

) 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 ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, and two time Tony Award-winning

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

producer. He is married to cinematographer/director Joaquin Sedillo.

Early life

Saavedra was raised in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

along with his six siblings, among them cartoonist/illustrator Scott Saavedra (“Dr. Radium”) and

KFI KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...

AM 640 radio personality Neil Saavedra (''

The Jesus Christ Show ''The Jesus Christ Show'' is a syndicated radio program that airs every Sunday from 6 to 9 a.m. Pacific Time. It is carried on the Premiere Networks, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, Inc. AM 640 KFI in Los Angeles serves as the flagship stati ...

''). Shortly after graduating high school, Saavedra found employment at

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

as a tour guide. In the evenings, he attended film courses at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

’s Extension program. It was through this program that he met a film executive who eventually hired him as a story analyst at producer

Jerry Weintraub Jerome Charles "Jerry" Weintraub (September 26, 1937 – July 6, 2015) was an American film producer, talent manager and actor whose television films won him three Emmys. He began his career as a talent agent, having managed relatively unknown ...

’s Weintraub Entertainment Group. Shortly thereafter, Saavedra left to become Director of Operations at Big Time Picture Company, a post-production and film editing facility on Los Angeles’ west side.

Producer/Director

Pro FilmWorks / Becker FilmWorks Entertainment

At Big Time Picture Company, Saavedra met

Gregg Hoffman Gregg Hoffman (June 11, 1963 – December 4, 2005), born in Phoenix, Arizona, was a film producer responsible for developing ''Saw'' and ''Saw II''. He studied communications, law and economics at American University in Washington, D.C. Hoffma ...

from nearby PRO FilmWorks, and was recruited to join PRO as a development executive. At PRO FilmWorks, Saavedra was promoted to Vice President of Production and soon was producing and/or supervising the production/development of numerous projects, including the films '' Scorchers'' (1991), '' Only You'' (1992). In 1993, PRO FilmWorks changed its name to Becker FilmWorks Entertainment, reflecting its ties with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n parent company Becker Group aka

Becker Entertainment Becker Entertainment is an Australian production company. History The company was founded in 1965 as R.A. Becker by Russell Becker, one of the pioneers of commercial television in Australia. Becker was Australia's first independent distributor ...

. Saavedra was promoted to President of the Los Angeles operations, and was instrumental in the production and development of such films as ''

Gross Misconduct ''Gross Misconduct'' is the second album from crossover thrash metal band, M.O.D. It was released in 1989 on Megaforce Records and Noise International and follows 1988's extended play '' Surfin' M.O.D.'' It was three years until the band releas ...

'' (1993), and ''

Closer and Closer Closer or Closers may refer to: Film and television * ''Closer'' (2000 film), a documentary by Tina Gharavi * ''Closer'' (2004 film), a 2004 adaptation of Patrick Marber's play (see below), directed by Mike Nichols * ''The Closer'', a 1990 mo ...

'' (1996),''

The Real Macaw ''The Real Macaw'' is an album by Graham Parker, released in 1983. Critical reception ''Rolling Stone'' called ''The Real Macaw'' "a propulsive, brilliantly sung LP." ''Trouser Press'' called the album "a disc that is watered down and should h ...

'' (1998), '' At First Sight'' (1999), and the television series ''

The Man from Snowy River The Man from Snowy River may refer to: * "The Man from Snowy River" (poem), an 1890 Australian poem by Banjo Paterson. * '' The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses'' an 1895 poetry collection by Banjo Paterson (including the above) * ''The Man ...

'' (1993–96). In 1997, Saavedra took on the director's role for the Becker FilmWorks Entertainment comedy-drama '' Rhapsody in Bloom'', written by

Eric Tuchman Eric Tuchman is an American producer and screenwriter. He is known for writing the Animation Adaptation for the 20th Century Fox animated movie ''Anastasia'' as well as his work on the television series ''The Handmaid's Tale'' as a writer and Exe ...

and released in early 1998. The film stars

Penelope Ann Miller Penelope Ann Miller (born Penelope Andrea Miller; January 13, 1964), sometimes credited as Penelope Miller, is an American actress. She began her career on Broadway in the 1985 original production of ''Biloxi Blues'' and received a Tony Award no ...

Ron Silver Ronald Arthur Silver (July 2, 1946 – March 15, 2009) was an American actor/activist, director, producer, and radio host. As an actor, he portrayed Henry Kissinger, Alan Dershowitz and Angelo Dundee. He was awarded a Tony in 1988 for Best Actor ...

Craig Sheffer Craig Eric Sheffer (born April 23, 1960) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading roles as Norman Maclean in the film ''A River Runs Through It (film), A River Runs Through It, ''Aaron Boone in the film ''Nightbreed' ...

, and Caroline Goodall. Shortly after the release of ''Rhapsody in Bloom'', Saavedra left Becker FilmWorks to focus on writing both motion picture and theatrical works.

Starry Night Entertainment

In 2004, Saavedra teamed with Michael Shulman, a recent

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

graduate and former child actor, including a role as a teenager in ''Rhapsody in Bloom'', to form Starry Night Entertainment. Saavedra produced and directed the comedy/drama ''

Sherman's Way ''Sherman's Way'' is a 2008 American independent comedy-drama film starring James LeGros, Enrico Colantoni, Lacey Chabert, Donna Murphy, Brooke Nevin, and Michael Shulman. The film was directed by Craig Saavedra, written by Thomas R. Nance, and ...

'' (2008), which won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the

Cinequest The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It is ...

Film Festival 2008, the Audience Award at the

Newport International Film Festival Newport International Film Festival was an annual film festival in Newport, Rhode Island, established in 1998. The Newport Film Festival was generally held the first week in June and featured various international films at several local cinemas. ...

and a Special Jury Award at the

Jackson Hole Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, one of the richest counties in the Unite ...

Film Festival. In 2009, Starry Night Entertainment moved into producing live theater, mounting the New York premiere of JT Rogers's ''White People'',

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the

Atlantic Theater Company Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their actin ...

's Stage 2. Starry Night followed up White People the following year with

Craig Wright (playwright) Craig Wright (born April 25, 1965, in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a playwright, television producer and writer. He is known for writing for shows including '' Six Feet Under'' and ''Lost'' and creating the television series ''Dirty Sexy Money'' ...

Mistakes Were Made "Mistakes were made" is an expression that is commonly used as a rhetorical device, whereby a speaker acknowledges that a situation was handled poorly or inappropriately but seeks to evade any direct admission or accusation of responsibility by ...

featuring a tour-de-force performance by

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He is an off beat actor known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas. He became known for his frequent ...

Barrow Street Theatre Barrow Street Theatre is the name of both a 199-seat Off-Broadway theatre located in New York City's historic Greenwich House at 27 Barrow Street and a production company of the same name. From 2003 to 2018, the venue was leased to Barrow Street ...

. Starry Night Entertainment was part of the production group for the musical '' After Midnight'', which opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theater on November 3, 2013. The

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

, centered on the music of

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

, marked the first above-the-title producing credit on Broadway for Saavedra and Shulman. The play was a popular and critical success, earning numerous awards and nominations for cast and crew, including a Tony Award Best Musical nomination and a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

win for Outstanding Musical Revue for Starry Night Entertainment and the other producers. Starry Night Entertainment also produced the play ''

The Cripple of Inishmaan ''The Cripple of Inishmaan'' is a dark comedy by Martin McDonagh who links the story to the real life filming of the documentary ''Man of Aran''. The play is set on the small Aran Islands community of Inishmaan (Inis Meáin) off the Western C ...

'', starring

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...

, which opened on Broadway on April 20, 2014 at the

Cort Theatre The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. It was built in ...

. The play was a popular and critical success, earning six Tony Award nominations for cast and crew, including a nomination for the producers for

Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play The Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play has only been awarded since 1994. Prior to that, plays and musicals were considered together for the Tony Award for Best Revival. The award is given to the best non-musical play that has appeared on Broadw ...

. In 2016, Saavedra and Shulman produced the Broadway revival of

Christopher Hampton Sir Christopher James Hampton ( Horta, Azores, 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the novel of the same name and the film ...

's ''

Les Liaisons Dangereuses ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (; English: ''Dangerous Liaisons'') is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23, 1782. It is the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and ...

'' starring

Liev Schreiber Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywoo ...

, which opened at the

Booth Theatre The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance ...

on October 30 and ran through January 8, 2017. October 21, 2018 saw the opening of

Jez Butterworth Jeremy "Jez" Butterworth (born March 1969) is an English playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He has written screenplays in collaboration with his brothers, John-Henry Butterworth, John-Henry and Tom. Life and career In March 1969, But ...

's '' The Ferryman'' directed by

Sam Mendes Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes (born 1 August 1965) is a British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was Knight Bachelor, knighted in the 2020 New Year Honour ...

at the

Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (formerly the Royale Theatre and the John Golden Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 242 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theat ...

. Saavedra was part of the producing team that brought the acclaimed UK National Theatre production set in rural Northern Ireland circa 1981 to Broadway. The production was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning four including Best Direction of a Play for Mendes, and earning Saavedra his first Tony win for Best Play. The Ferryman also won

Drama Desk Awards The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

for Outstanding Play, Outstanding Featured Actor and Outstanding Director. It ran for 296 performances, and ended its limited-run engagement on July 7, 2019. In 2020, Saavedra was among a group of producers who transferred the acclaimed London production of Ben Power's adaptation of Stefano Massini's ''

The Lehman Trilogy ''The Lehman Trilogy'' is a three-act play by Italian novelist and playwright Stefano Massini. It follows the lives of three immigrant brothers from when they arrive in America and found investment firm through to the collapse of the company in ...

'' to Broadway's

Nederlander Theatre The Nederlander Theatre (formerly the National Theatre, the Billy Rose Theatre, and the Trafalgar Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 208 West 41st Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, it was des ...

. Once again directed by

, the production began previews on March 7 but was shut down just prior to its scheduled March 26 opening due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The play reopened on October 15, 2021 with Ben Miles joining original cast-members

Simon Russell Beale Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...

and

Adam Godley Adam Godley (born 22 July 1964) is a British-American actor. He has been nominated for two Tony Awards and four Laurence Olivier Awards for his performances on the New York and London stages which include, ''Private Lives'' in 2001, ''The Pillo ...

. The Broadway production's final performance was on January 2, 2022, after extending its limited run two weeks. The play was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning among others Best Play (Saavedra's second win), Best Actor (Beale), and Best Director (Mendes). The production also won Best Play awards from The Drama League and

Outer Critics Circle The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

Awards

*Tony Award for ''

'' - Best Play 2021-2022 Broadway Season *Tony Award for '' The Ferryman'' - Best Play 2018-2019 Broadway Season *Tony Award Nomination for '' After Midnight'' *Tony Award Nomination for ''

'' *Audience Award for Best Feature ''

'' -

Film Festival 2008 *Audience Award for Best Feature ''

'' -

2008 *Audience Award for Best Feature ''

'' - Gaia Film Festival 2008 *Special Jury Award for

Film Festival 2008 *

Addy Award The American Advertising Federation (AAF), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest national advertising trade association in the United States. The AAF also has 15 district operations, each located in and representing a different region o ...

for Heinz Commercial ''Midnight Snack'' - 2008https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itcYb8m-Lw8 *Audience Award for Best Feature '' Rhapsody in Bloom'' -

Sedona International Film Festival The Sedona International Film Festival (SIFF) is an annual, eight-day film festival in Sedona, Arizona. The festival was founded in 1994. The Sedona Film Festival screens feature films, documentary films, short films, animated films, and student ...

1999 *'' Rhapsody in Bloom'' -

Hollywood Film Festival The Hollywood Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in Los Angeles, California, USA. History The Hollywood Film Festival was established in 1997 by author and producer Carlos de Abreu and his wife, model Janice Pennington.Pete ...

1999 Best Actress

References