Dean Israelite (born September 20, 1984) is a South African film director, writer, and producer, best known for directing the found footage film ''

Project Almanac ''Project Almanac'' is a 2015 American found footage science fiction film directed by Dean Israelite in his directorial debut, and written by Jason Harry Pagan and Andrew Deutschman. The film stars Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Sam Lerner, ...

'', the 2017 reboot of ''

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS Entert ...

'', and the 2019 reboot of ''

Are You Afraid of the Dark ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' is a horror anthology television series. The original series aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1996; the pilot episode aired respectively on YTV and Nickelodeon in 1990 and 1991. It led to two revival series, wi ...

''.

Early life

Israelite was born and raised in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa, and studied Dramatic Art at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

. He moved to Australia and graduated in Film and Television from

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

, then earned his MFA from the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

. His cousin is director

Jonathan Liebesman Jonathan Liebesman (born 15 September 1976) is a South African film director and writer. Personal life Liebesman was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He studied filmmaking at the AFDA, The South African School of Motion Picture Medium an ...

. He is of

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 ...

background.

Career

Israelite started his career with writing and directing several short films, including ''Acholiland''. In 2015, Israelite made his feature film directing debut with the found footage science fiction thriller ''

'', based on the script by Jason Pagan and Andrew Deutschman.

Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...

produced the film, which was released on January 30, 2015 by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, grossing more than $32 million with a budget of $12 million. Israelite directed

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

's ''

'' film (2017), based on the screenplay by

John Gatins John Gatins (born April 16, 1968) is an American screenwriter, director, and actor. For writing the drama film ''Flight (2012 film), Flight'' (2012), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Gatins made his directori ...

, with a story by Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Michelle Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney, which was released on March 24, 2017 by

Lionsgate Films Lionsgate Films (formerly known as Cinépix Film Properties) is an American film production and film distribution studio, headquartered in Santa Monica and founded in Canada, and is the flagship division of Lionsgate Entertainment. It is the larg ...

, grossing $142.3 million against a production budget of $100 million. It was a

box office failure A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, losing the studio an estimated $74 million, when factoring in all revenues and expenses.

Future and cancelled projects

In February 2014, Israelite was among the directors who were being eyed by the

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC (originally known as Marvel Films from 1993 to 1996) is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios produces the Mar ...

to direct the superhero film ''

Doctor Strange Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorce ...

'', but later in June 2014

Scott Derrickson Scott Derrickson (born July 16, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the films '' The Exorcism of Emily Rose'' (2005), ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (2008), ''Sinister'' (2012), '' Deliver Us from Evil'' (2014), '' ...

was confirmed as director. In June 2014, Israelite was set to direct the remake of the 1983 film ''

WarGames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follows Dav ...

'' for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

, based on the script by

Arash Amel Arash Amel ( fa, آرش عامل) (born 1976) is a Welsh-Iranian screenwriter and film producer. Early life Amel was born in Aberystwyth, Wales in 1976, but spent several years in Iran before emigrating to the UK as a child. He subsequently mo ...

. Israelite is set to direct
Unexplained Phenomenon
' from the screenplay by Andrew Deutschman & Jason Pagan, for

Amblin Entertainment Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshal ...

and

The Picture Company The Picture Company is an entertainment company founded in 2014, by Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman. It specializes in film, starting off moderately in 2018 with Jaume Collet-Serra's '' The Commuter'' and Albert Hughes' ''Alpha''. History Founding ...

Filmography

* '' Battle: Los Angeles'' (2011) – assistant to Jonathan Liebesman * ''

'' (2015) – director * ''

'' (2017) – director

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Israelite, Dean Living people People from Johannesburg South African film directors South African screenwriters South African film producers University of the Witwatersrand alumni Curtin University alumni AFI Conservatory alumni 1984 births South African Jews