Dwight Hubbard Little (born January 13, 1956) is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
television director
A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...
, known for directing the films ''
Marked for Death
''Marked for Death'' is a 1990 American action film directed by Dwight H. Little. The film stars Steven Seagal as John Hatcher, a former DEA troubleshooter who returns to his Illinois hometown to find it taken over by a posse of vicious Jamaica ...
'', ''
Rapid Fire'', ''
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home'', ''
Murder at 1600
''Murder at 1600'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Dwight Little and starring Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane.
Plot
In a restroom in the White House, a janitor finds secretary Carla Town dead. Metropolitan Police homicide detect ...
'' and ''
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers''. He has also directed several episodes of acclaimed television series such as ''
24'', ''
Prison Break
''Prison Break'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial drama television show, television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purce ...
'', ''
Dollhouse
A dollhouse or doll's house is a toy home made in miniature. Since the early 20th century dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. English-speakers in North America ...
'', ''
Bones
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...
'' and ''
Nikita
Nikita may refer to:
* Nikita (given name)
* Nikita, Crimea, a town in Crimea
* Nikita the Tanner, a character in East Slavic folklore
Film and television
*''Little Nikita'', a 1988 film
* ''La Femme Nikita'' (film), also known as ''Nikita'', a 19 ...
''. Little was born in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. He studied film at
USC
USC most often refers to:
* University of South Carolina, a public research university
** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses
**South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program
* University of ...
.
Career
Dwight Little got his first break in the film business when producer
Sandy Howard
Sandy Howard (August 1, 1927 – May 16, 2008) was an American film producer and television producer.
Biography
A native of the Bronx, New York City, Howard wrote short stories for publication in magazines like ''Liberty'', and worked as a public ...
asked him to shoot additional material for ''
Triumphs of a Man Called Horse
''Triumphs of a Man Called Horse'' is a 1983 Western film directed by John Hough and written by Ken Blackwell and Carlos Aured. It is the second and final sequel to '' A Man Called Horse'' (1970), following '' The Return of a Man Called Hors ...
.'' Howard needed the film to be longer in order to be able to sell it oversees. When Little was finished, Howard asked him to make him an action film for the video market. Little made ''
KGB: The Secret War'' for a budget of 300,000 dollars. From that film, Little edited a show-reel that got him the attention of several members of the Hunt-Hill family from Texas who asked him to make an action film. This became ''Getting Even''. According to Little, the film was devised around everything the family members owned: helicopters, a ranch, a
Learjet. Little was then asked by
Nico Mastorakis
Nico Mastorakis ( el, Νίκος Μαστοράκης; born 28 April 1941 in Athens, Greece) is a Greek filmmaker and radio producer. He is probably best known for his 1973 live interview of 17 arrested Greek students, which happened without their ...
to direct the action adventure film
''Bloodstone'' in India.
Little's first chance at directing a union film was ''
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers''. Little rejected the treatment that was written by
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...
and
Debra Hill
Debra Hill (November 10, 1950 – March 7, 2005) was an American film producer and screenwriter, best known for producing various works of John Carpenter.
She also co-wrote four of his films: ''Halloween'', ''The Fog'', ''Escape from New York' ...
and pitched producer
Moustapha Akkad
Moustapha Al Akkad ( ar, مصطفى العقاد; July 1, 1930 – November 11, 2005) was a Syrian-American film producer and director, best known for producing the original series of ''Halloween'' films and directing '' The Message'' and ' ...
the idea for what became ''Halloween 4''. On the basis of ''Halloween 4'',
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...
asked Little to direct his next film, which was ''
Hard to Kill
''Hard to Kill'' is a 1990 American action thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth, starring Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, William Sadler and Frederick Coffin. Seagal's second film after '' Above the Law'', it features him as Mason Storm, a d ...
''. But the studio (
Warner
Warner can refer to:
People
* Warner (writer)
* Warner (given name)
* Warner (surname)
Fictional characters
* Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, stars of the animated television series ''Animaniacs''
* Aaron Warner, a character in ''Shatter Me s ...
) vetoed Seagal's choice of director and went for
Bruce Malmuth
Bruce Malmuth (February 4, 1934 – June 29, 2005) was an American film director, best known for his work in the action and thriller genres and for his acting role in ''The Karate Kid'' film franchise.
Biography Early life
Malmuth was the bro ...
instead. Little went on to make
''The Phantom of the Opera'' for producer
Menahem Golan
Menahem Golan ( he, מנחם גולן; May 31, 1929 – August 8, 2014, originally Menachem Globus) was an Israeli film producer, screenwriter, and director. He was best known for co-owning The Cannon Group with his cousin Yoram Globus. Cannon sp ...
. Little got offered ''
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers'', but declined. He worried he would be trapped in the horror genre. Little got a chance to do another action film when Steven Seagal asked Little to direct ''
Marked for Death
''Marked for Death'' is a 1990 American action film directed by Dwight H. Little. The film stars Steven Seagal as John Hatcher, a former DEA troubleshooter who returns to his Illinois hometown to find it taken over by a posse of vicious Jamaica ...
''. The film became a modest hit and Little got a chance to make
''Rapid Fire'' for the same studio (Fox), which was an attempt to launch the career of
Brandon Lee
Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor and martial artist. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the dark fantasy film ''The ...
as an in-house action star for Fox.
While reading an article on how the Navy had a term for when they lose a nuclear missile, Little got the idea for
''Broken Arrow''. He pitched it at Fox. The studio asked writer
Graham Yost
Graham John Yost (born September 5, 1959) is a Canadian film and television screenwriter. His best-known works are the films ''Speed'', '' Broken Arrow'', and '' Hard Rain'' and the TV series '' Justified''.
Early life, family and education
Yo ...
to develop the script with Little, with Little being attached to direct. But when the script was finished early and Fox wanted to head into production, Little was still editing ''
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home''. He decided to finish ''Free Willy 2'' at Warner. Fox asked
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu ...
to direct ''Broken Arrow'', while giving Little an executive producer's credit. Little says Woo's film bares little resemblance to what he envisioned. "I wanted to do a Tom Clancy type thriller (...). John Woo made it much lighter. John Travolta played it over the top. The movie was tongue-in-cheek and campy. But you can’t blame him, because it made a lot of money."
Because Warner was pleased with how ''Free Willy 2'' turned out, Little got the chance to direct ''
Murder at 1600
''Murder at 1600'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Dwight Little and starring Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane.
Plot
In a restroom in the White House, a janitor finds secretary Carla Town dead. Metropolitan Police homicide detect ...
'', a conspiracy thriller starring
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist. His prominent film roles include '' Major League'' (1989), ''New Jack City'' (1991), ''White Men Can't Jump'' (1992), ''Passenger 57'' (1992), '' R ...
and
Diane Lane
Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film ''A Little Romance''.
The two films that could have catapulted her to star ...
. The studio had promised Little that Murder at 1600 would open in January 1997, while
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
's ''
Absolute Power'' would open in April of the same year. A test screening was held of ''Murder at 1600'' in December 1996. The response was positive. According to Little, somebody for Eastwood's production company
Malpaso heard about the excellent test screening of ''Murder at 1600'' and told Eastwood about it. Little: "I’m not sure Clint was even aware of our movie, but he (...) went to
Bob Daly and
Terry Semel
Terence Steven Semel (born February 24, 1943) is an American corporate executive who was the chairman and CEO of Yahoo! Incorporated from 2001 to 2007. He resigned as CEO due in part to pressure from shareholders' dissatisfaction over his compen ...
, who were the chiefs at Warner Brothers, and demanded that Absolute Power be released first. He’s a smart guy. He doesn’t want to be second with another White House thriller. So we get a call that our movie was pushed back to April. It was so disappointing. Every review said: Just like last month’s ''Absolute Power''… We looked like the copycat."
After directing mostly television for almost twenty years, Little returned to feature film making with the true crime drama ''
Last Rampage
''Last Rampage'' is a 2017 American crime drama film directed by Dwight Little. The screenplay by Alvaro Rodriguez and Jason Rosenblatt is based on the non-fiction book ''Last Rampage: The Escape of Gary Tison'' by University of Arizona Political S ...
'', based on the non-fiction book ''Last Rampage: The Escape of Gary Tison'' by
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
Professor James W. Clarke. The film deals with events that happened in 1978, when convicted murderer
Gary Tison, played by
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and honorable authority figures, he is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations.
Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparked ...
, escaped from prison with the help of his three sons.
Heather Graham
Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. After appearing in television commercials, her first starring role in a feature film came with the teen comedy ''License to Drive'' (1988), followed by the critically acclaimed ...
stars as his wife and
Bruce Davison
Bruce Allen Davison (born June 28, 1946) is an American actor and director. Davison is well known for his starring role as Willard Stiles in the cult horror film '' Willard'' (1971) and his Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning perfor ...
as the lawman who heads the manhunt. Little got the book from his stepson, actor
Jason James Richter
Jason James Richter (born January 29, 1980) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role in the ''Free Willy'' film series as Jesse, the boy who befriends Willy the orca.
Early life
Richter was born on January 29, 1980, in M ...
. ''Last Rampage'' was reviewed favorably by
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
, who praised "the no-frills efficiency" and "the brisk and suspenseful narrative".
Rex Reed
Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, occasional actor, and television host. He writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for ''The New York Observer''.
Early life
Reed was born on October 2, 1938, in Fort Wort ...
of The Observer called the film "grim and hopelessly despondent, but superbly acted and strangely effective."
Little himself called it "the most honest" of his films.
Filmography
Television
TV movies
* ''Papa's Angels'' (2000)
* ''
Boss of Bosses
''Boss of Bosses'' is a 2001 American made-for-TV movie about the life of former Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano directed by Dwight H. Little. It stars Chazz Palminteri as Paul Castellano, Patricia Mauceri as his wife Nina, Mark Margol ...
'' (2001)
* ''
Home by Spring
''Home by Spring'' is a 2018 romantic drama film directed by Dwight H. Little for the Hallmark Channel.
Synopsis
A very tall and bookish event planner poses as her boss and returns to her cozy sundown town for a big opportunity. With the help of ...
'' (2018)
TV series
Video games director
* ''
Ground Zero: Texas'' (1993)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Dwight H.
1956 births
American television directors
Artists from Cleveland
Film directors from Ohio
Horror film directors
Action film directors
Living people