Joseph Emanuel Roth
is an American
film executive,
producer and
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 ...
. He co-founded
Morgan Creek Productions
Morgan Creek Entertainment is an American film production company that has released box-office hits including '' Young Guns'', '' Dead Ringers'', '' Major League'', ''True Romance'', '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'', '' The Crush'', '' Robin Hood: ...
in 1988 and was chairman of
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
(1989–1993),
Caravan Pictures (1993–1994), and
Walt Disney Studios (1994–2000) before founding
Revolution Studios
Revolution Studios Distribution Company, LLC is an American motion picture and television studio headed by Chief Executive Officer Scott Hemming.
The company focuses primarily on the distribution, remake and sequel rights to titles in its libra ...
in 2000, then
Roth Films.
Early life
Roth was born to Frances and Lawrence Roth. He has stated that his
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 ...
family faced various forms of harassment growing up in a heavily Catholic part of
Long Island, New York. This involved incidents like "a cross being burned on the lawn and some of Roth's schoolmates crossed themselves before they would speak to him." In 1959, Roth's father volunteered his son to be a plaintiff in the
ACLU's effort to abolish
mandatory prayer in public schools. The case, filed in New York, went through several appeals, finally reaching the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in 1962. The Court ruled that such prayer was
unconstitutional
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
under the
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
, in the landmark case of ''
Engel v. Vitale
''Engel v. Vitale'', 370 U.S. 421 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public school ...
''.
Roth attended
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
, graduating in 1970 with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...
.
Career
Over the course of his career, he has produced over 40 films, and has directed six to date, including 1990's ''
Coupe de Ville
A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors.
The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...
'', 2001's ''
America's Sweethearts
''America's Sweethearts'' is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Joe Roth and written by Billy Crystal and Peter Tolan. It stars Julia Roberts, Crystal, John Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones, with Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Seth ...
'' and 2006's ''
Freedomland''.
In 1988 by Roth and
James Robinson co-founded
Morgan Creek Entertainment
Morgan Creek Entertainment is an American film production company that has released box-office hits including '' Young Guns'', '' Dead Ringers'', '' Major League'', ''True Romance'', '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'', '' The Crush'', '' Robin Hood: ...
. The name came from Roth's favorite film, ''
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' is a 1944 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall. Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamir ...
''. The company had box-office hits including ''
Young Guns'' and ''
Major League''.
In 1992, he co-founded
Caravan Pictures with
Roger Birnbaum
Roger Birnbaum (born November 14, 1950) is an American film producer who owns the company Spyglass Media Group, and was co-CEO and co-chairman of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His two greatest box office hits as producer have been ''Rush Hour 2'' and '' T ...
, which had a production deal with
The Walt Disney Studios. Roth moved on to be Disney studio chief on August 24, 1994.
Disney CEO
Michael Eisner
Michael Dammann Eisner (born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film st ...
was so set on replacing
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg (; born December 21, 1950) is an American filmmaker, animator, and media proprietor. He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994. After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and C ...
as Disney studio chief with Roth that he forgave the $15 million cost overrun debt for ''
I Love Trouble'' and paid Roth $40 million of fees for 21 unproduced films under the deal.
Roth, who was ranked 6th in ''
Premiere Magazine
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
''s 2003 Hollywood Power List, produced the 76th annual
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. Roth announced in October 2007 that, when Revolution's distribution deal with
Sony Pictures ended, That he would depart from Revolution Studios to form his own production company,
Roth Films.
On November 13, 2007, Roth was introduced as the majority owner of a
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
–based
Major League Soccer franchise along with
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which ...
.
Seattle Sounders FC—which calls
Lumen Field
Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, t ...
home—began regular season play in 2009. On November 12, 2015, Roth passed on majority ownership to
Adrian Hanauer
Adrian Hanauer (born February 7, 1966) is an American businessman and majority owner of Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer. He is also one of the minority owners of the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League, and a former minority o ...
.
Personal life
Roth was married to Donna Arkoff whose father was movie producer
Samuel Z. Arkoff. They have three children.
The family resided in the
Dolores del Río House The Dolores Del Rio House at 757 Kingman Avenue is a house in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, that was designed for the Mexican actress Dolores del Río and her husband, the production designer Cedric Gibbons, by Douglas Honnold and George Vernon ...
, designed by architect
Douglas Honnold
Douglas Honnold (August 17, 1901 – March 14, 1974) was an award-winning Canadian-born American architect. He designed many residential properties and commercial buildings in Los Angeles, California. He won an Honor Award from the Southern Califo ...
for Irish production designer
Cedric Gibbons
Austin Cedric Gibbons (March 23, 1890 – July 26, 1960) was an Irish-American art director for the film industry. He also made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s. Gibbons designed the ...
and Mexican actress
Dolores del Río in 1929 in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California.
In 2021, Roth paid $23 million for a , 1960s Midcentury home designed by
Dan Dworsky
Daniel Leonard Dworsky (October 4, 1927 – January 19, 2022) was an American architect who was a longstanding member of the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows. Among other works, Dworsky designed Crisler Arena, the basketbal ...
and renovated by
Waldo Fernandez in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
.
[Jack Flemming (October 12, 2021)]
‘F9’ producer Joe Roth drops $23 million for a Beverly Hills Midcentury
''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''.
Filmography
Film
;Miscellaneous crew
;As an actor
;Production manager
;Thanks
Television
Producer
Executive producer
;Production manager
;Thanks
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Joe
American soccer chairmen and investors
American film studio executives
Living people
Major League Soccer executives
Businesspeople from New York City
American film producers
Disney people
Boston University College of Communication alumni
Film directors from Los Angeles
Year of birth missing (living people)
Jewish film people
American people of Jewish descent
People from Long Island