Kerry Kohansky Roberts (born 1975) 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 ...
best known for her work on the
2008 film ''
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
''Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Peter Sollett and starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Written by Lorene Scafaria and based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Cohn and Da ...
''.
Career
Born in
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
,
New York, Kohansky attended
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 ...
's (NYU)
Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
in the late 1990s.
She began to work for
Chris
Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common.
People with the given name
* Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...
and
Paul Weitz in 2001 as their assistant on ''
American Pie 2
''American Pie 2'' is a 2001 American sex comedy film directed by James B. Rogers and written by Adam Herz and David H. Steinberg from a story by Herz. A sequel to the 1999 comedy film '' American Pie'', it is the second film in the ''American ...
''. Working for their
production company
A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...
,
Depth of Field
The depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image captured with a camera.
Factors affecting depth of field
For cameras that can only focus on one object dist ...
, she rose to a co-producer on the
2004 film ''
In Good Company'' and was promoted by the Weitz brothers to a
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
of the company before the film's release.
Paul Weitz, ''In Good Company''s writer, director and producer, said that "Kerry was invaluable in the development and production of my
..script. I was under the impression she was already a VP." His brother Chris claimed that "Kerry has proven her judgment, taste and commitment, and we're glad she'll be taking a bigger role in the company."
[ She went on the executive produce the Weitzes' ]2006 film
The following is an overview of events in 2006, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.
Evaluation of the year
Legendary film critic Philip French of ''The Guardian'' de ...
''American Dreamz
''American Dreamz'' is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Paul Weitz. It satirizes both popular entertainment and American politics during the second Bush administration, called a "cultural satire" by Weitz. Reviews were mixed and the f ...
'', satirizing American politics and popular culture, and starring Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...
and Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...
. After reading Rachel Cohn
Rachel Cohn (born December 14, 1968) is an American young adult fiction writer. Her first book, '' Gingerbread'', was published in 2002. Since then she has gone on to write many other successful YA and younger children's books, and has collabora ...
and David Levithan
David Levithan (born September 7, 1972) is an American young adult fiction author and editor."David Levithan". October 30, 2008. Gale Database. ''Contemporary Authors Online''. UWM Golda Meir Library, Milwaukee. July 1, 2009. He has written numer ...
's novel ''Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
''Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Peter Sollett and starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Written by Lorene Scafaria and based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Cohn and Da ...
'', she hired Lorene Scafaria
Lorene Scafaria (born 1978) is an American filmmaker, playwright, musician, and former actress. She wrote and directed the films ''Seeking a Friend for the End of the World'' (2012), ''The Meddler'' (2015), and '' Hustlers'' (2019), in addition ...
and Peter Sollett
Peter Sollett (born January 1, 1976) is an American film director and screenwriter known for his feature films '' Raising Victor Vargas'' (2002) and '' Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'' (2008).
Early life
Sollett was born in Bensonhurst, Brook ...
—with whom she had attended NYU's film school, but had never met—to write and direct the book's film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
, respectively.[ She was six months pregnant when the project was ]greenlit
To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead".
Film industry
In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
and, though she was not present for principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
, she returned two weeks after giving birth to oversee reshoots and post-production
Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments.
The ...
. She was named one of ''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), ...
'' magazine's "10 Producers to Watch" of 2008 after its release.[
Kohansky executive produced Paul Weitz's 2009 film '']Cirque du Freak
''Cirque du Freak'' (also known as ''Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare'') is the first of twelve novels in '' The Saga of Darren Shan'' by Darren Shan (real name Darren O'Shaugnessy), published in January 2000.
A feature film adaptation o ...
'' and his following film, ''Being Flynn
''Being Flynn'' is a 2012 American drama film written and directed by Paul Weitz and starring Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore and Paul Dano, released in select theatres in the United States on March 2, 2012. It was based on '' Another Bullshit Nigh ...
'', saying that her goal is "to continue to find and harbor projects I believe in and make them happen".[
]
Personal life
Kohansky is married to Cliff Roberts, a talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sport ...
at Hollywood's William Morris Agency
The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ag ...
. She gave birth to their first child, Clifford Wiley Roberts IV, on November 16, 2007 in Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
, California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
She was inspired "to understand how movies are made" by her first viewing of 1984 film ''Amadeus
Amadeus may refer to:
*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music
*Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name
* ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer
* ''Amadeus'' (film), ...
'' when she was nine or ten years old.[
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohansky Roberts, Kerry
1975 births
Living people
American film producers
People from Long Island
Tisch School of the Arts alumni