Fran Rubel Kuzui is an American film director and producer. She received her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

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, the ...

and was a

script supervisor A script supervisor (also called continuity supervisor or script) is a member of a film crew who oversees the continuity of the motion picture including wardrobe, props, set dressing, hair, makeup and the actions of the actors during a scene. The ...

for a decade, prior to her first film, 1988's ''

Tokyo Pop is a 1988 music-centric film that tells the story of a girl from the United States, a boy from Japan, and a briefly successful pop band. The film contrasts American customs with Tokyo lifestyles, as it presents an evolving love story between the ...

'', which she co-wrote and directed. The movie was shown at the 1988

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

and received critical acclaim for its depiction of an American woman trying to make sense of the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community. An emphasis ...

. She is best known as the director of the 1992 film ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

'', whose original screenplay was the basis for the

television series. She discovered the screenplay of writer

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...

, expanded the Buffy character with him, and together with producer Kaz Kuzui put together the financing to produce the picture. Kuzui served as an executive producer on the TV series and its spin-off ''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

'', having packaged ''Buffy'' along with Kaz Kuzui, Sandollar TV's

Gail Berman Gail Berman (born August 17, 1956) is an American producer and television executive. She is co-owner and founding partner of The Jackal Group, a production entity formed in partnership with Fox Networks Group. The Jackal Group develops and produc ...

and

Sandy Gallin Albert Samuel Gallin, better known as Sandy Gallin, (May 27, 1940 – April 21, 2017) was an American producer and talent manager, winner of an Emmy Award.

. Along with husband

Kaz Kuzui is a Japanese film producer. His wife, Fran Rubel Kuzui, has also directed movies. Along with his wife, Kaz founded Kuzui Enterprises, which distributes US films in Japan and imports Japanese films for the US market. In addition to holding a p ...

, she founded Kuzui Enterprises, a leader in independent

film distribution Film distribution (also known as Film exhibition or Film distribution and exhibition) is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marke ...

in Japan that distributes U.S. films there and imports Japanese films for the U.S. market. In 2003, the Kuzuis were among the executive producers for the Thai-Japanese film ''

Last Life in the Universe ''Last Life in the Universe'' (Thai title: เรื่องรัก น้อยนิด มหาศาล, ''Ruang rak noi nid mahasan'') is a 2003 Thai romantic crime film directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. The film is notable for being t ...

''. In 1997, Kuzui began working with

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. P ...

and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Stone was interes ...

and produced their film ''

Orgazmo ''Orgazmo'' is a 1997 American superhero sex comedy film written, directed and edited by Trey Parker and produced by Matt Stone, Jason McHugh, and Fran Rubel Kuzui. It stars Parker, Stone, Dian Bachar, Robyn Lynne, and Michael Dean Jacobs. Th ...

''. The Kuzuis also localized and distributed the duo's TV series ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' in Japan. Kuzui Enterprises was among the financiers for ''Orgazmo'' and ''

Telling Lies in America ''Telling Lies in America'' is a 1997 period coming-of-age drama set film directed by Guy Ferland and written by Joe Eszterhas. Plot Karchy Jonas is a 17-year-old high-school student (who emigrated from Hungary 7 years earlier) trying to find his ...

''. The Kuzuis worked with artist

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

to establish

Pop Shop The Pop Shop was a store owned by pop artist Keith Haring. Haring opened the first Pop Shop in New York City in 1986 (which closed in 2005) and later one in Tokyo (which closed in 1988). Haring viewed the Pop Shop as an extension of his work. It ...

Tokyo, an art project recognized by museums around the world. In 2018, it was reported that the Kuzuis are involved with the development of a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of ''Buffy''. Kuzui is a contributing writer at the Nikkei Asian Review and Tokyo bureau chief for Culinary Backstreets.

References

External links

* Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New York University alumni {{US-film-director-stub