Pen Densham (born 14 October 1947) is a British-Canadian film and television producer, writer, and director, known for writing and producing films such as '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves''Kasindorf, Jeanie. "Million Dollar Babies: How a Bunch of Hollywood Screenwriters Struck It Rich." ''New York Magazine.'' 23.24 (18 Jun 1990): 40–50. and television revivals of '' The Outer Limits'' and ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...

'', as well as writing, producing and directing MGM's ''

Moll Flanders ''Moll Flanders'' is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. It purports to be the true account of the life of the eponymous Moll, detailing her exploits from birth until old age. By 1721, Defoe had become a recognised novelist, wit ...

''.

Early life

Born in England in 1947 to Raymond Densham who worked in the British film industry, Pen left school at age 15 and was hired by British TV to photograph

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

to sell to national magazines. At 19 he moved to Canada where he directed commercials and documentaries, working with

Marshall McLuhan Herbert Marshall McLuhan (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his ...

. Densham went on to found

Insight Productions Insight Productions is a Canadian production company based in Toronto, Ontario. It was established in 1970. Insight is led by CEO John Brunton. History Insight Productions was established in 1970 by Penray "Pen" Densham and John Kingsley Wa ...

in Toronto with John Watson. The company gained recognition for documentaries such as ''

Life Times Nine ''Life Times Nine'' is a Canadian short film, which was released in 1973. Produced by Insight Productions in conjunction with a group of nine students from Toronto, Ontario's SEED Alternative School, the film's concept was for each student to produ ...

'', one of two Insight films that earned Academy Award nominations. In total, Densham and Watson received over 70 international awards for their works including medals from the Queen of the United Kingdom for their contribution to the Arts of Canada. The first drama Densham wrote and directed, ''If Wishes Were Horses'', won 14 awards, was reviewed by TV guide as "The best film of any length shown on Canadian TV", and brought Densham's work to the attention of

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best D ...

. Jewison, with

Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Crown corporation reporting to Canada's federal government through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in V ...

, sponsored Densham to move to Hollywood.

Career

Trilogy Entertainment Group

In Hollywood Densham and Watson founded Trilogy Entertainment Group. They were employed as creative consultants on films such as ''

Rocky II ''Rocky II'' is a 1979 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky'' (1976) and is the second installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl We ...

'' and ''

Footloose Footloose may refer to: * ''Footloose'' (1984 film), a musical film ** ''Footloose'' (1984 soundtrack) ** "Footloose" (song), performed by Kenny Loggins * ''Footloose'' (2011 film), a remake of the 1984 film ** ''Footloose'' (2011 soundtrack) ...

''. In 1988 Densham directed Trilogy's first studio feature, '' The Kiss'', for Tri-Star. In 1990 Densham re-envisioned the Robin Hood story, creating a new characterization and adding new concepts. Densham and Watson sold their spec script for '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' and produced the film for

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: ...

and

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

. The film became one of Warner Brothers' largest grossing movies ever, spinning off games, toy lines and the No. 1 music single from

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

, "

(Everything I Do) I Do It for You "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Written by Adams, Michael Kamen, and Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the power ballad was the lead single for both the soundtrack album from the 1991 film '' Robi ...

". In the same year they were producers on ''

Backdraft A backdraft (North American English) or backdraught (British English) is the abrupt burning of superheated gasses in a fire, caused when oxygen rapidly enters a hot, oxygen-depleted environment; for example, when a window or door to an enclosed sp ...

'' with

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

directing for

Imagine Entertainment Imagine Entertainment (formerly Imagine Films Entertainment), also known simply as Imagine, is an American film and television production company founded in November 1985 by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron Howard. Background Brian Gra ...

and

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. ''Backdraft'' generated one of the longest-lasting attractions at the

Universal Studios Tour The Studio Tour (also known as The Backlot Tour) is a ride attraction at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park in Universal City, California near Los Angeles. Studio Tour is the theme park's signature attraction. It travels through a worki ...

. Inspired by the loss of his mother, Densham wrote and directed a personal version of ''Moll Flanders'' for

MGM 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 through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

and

Spelling Entertainment Spelling is a set of conventions that regulate the way of using graphemes (writing system) to represent a language in its written form. In other words, spelling is the rendering of speech sound (phoneme) into writing (grapheme). Spelling is one ...

, based loosely on the novel by

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

, starring

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

and

Robin Wright Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award, and has received eleven Emmy Award nominations for her work in television. Wright first gained attention for her role in t ...

. Densham also wrote and directed Houdini, an $8 million TNT feature for television starring

Johnathon Schaech Johnathon Schaech ( ; born September 10, 1969) is an American actor and screenwriter. He has been working as an actor since the early '90s. Early life Johnathon Schaech was born in Edgewood, Maryland, in 1969 to Joe, a Baltimore City law enfo ...

Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor and producer best known for playing Bruce Banner / Hulk since 2012 in the superhero franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in the television series '' She-Hulk: Attorne ...

and

Emile Hirsch Emile Davenport Hirsch (born March 13, 1985) is an American actor. He played Chris McCandless in '' Into the Wild'' (2007). Other notable film roles include '' The Girl Next Door'' (2004), ''Lords of Dogtown'' (2005), '' Alpha Dog'' (2006), ''Sp ...

. In 1992, Trilogy Entertainment Group jumped into its television foray by signing it with

RHI Entertainment Halcyon Studios, LLC., formerly known as Sonar Entertainment, RHI Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment, Qintex Entertainment, HRI Group and Robert Halmi Inc., is an American entertainment company specializing in the production and distribution ...

, with potential off-net syndication rights handled by

Columbia Pictures Television Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution studio. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gem ...

. In television Densham wrote and supervised the re-franchising of '' The Outer Limits'' science fiction anthology series, which he executive-produced with his partners for its award-winning seven-year-run on American television. In the process Densham earned the unique distinction of being named number eight in the 50 Most Powerful People in Science Fiction list compiled by ''

Cinefantastique ''Cinefantastique'' is an American horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine. History The magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset printed quarterly in 1970 by publisher/editor ...

'' magazine. In 2003 he re-introduced ''

'' fantasy anthology series to American audiences on

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

Emergence as an author

Densham became a published author with his book about screenplay writing and selling creativity in Hollywood, ''Riding the Alligator: Strategies for a Career in Screenplay Writing (And Not Getting Eaten)'', published by Michael Wiese Books in January 2011.Michael Wise Books website
/ref> The title comes from the cover photo of Densham at the age of four astride a live seven-foot alligator in one of his parents' theatrical short films. Written with the goal of supporting emerging creative people finding their own voice and path through the Hollywood industry as well as artistic endeavors in general, the book includes supportive essays by professional screenwriters

Shane Black Shane Black (born December 16, 1961) is an American filmmaker and actor who has written such films as ''Lethal Weapon'', ''The Monster Squad'', ''The Last Boy Scout'', ''Last Action Hero'', and ''The Long Kiss Goodnight''. As an actor, Black is ...

Nia Vardalos Antonia Eugenia Vardalos (born September 24, 1962) is a Canadian actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She is best known for starring in and writing the romantic comedy film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), which garnered her nominati ...

Andrea Berloff Andrea Berloff (born 1974) is an American screenwriter, actress, director, and producer. Berloff is best known for writing the 2006 Disaster film, disaster Drama (film and television), drama film ''World Trade Center (film), World Trade Center'' ...

Eric Roth Eric R. Roth (born March 22, 1945) is an American screenwriter. He has been nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay — for ''Forrest Gump'' (1994), '' The Insider'' (1999), ''Munich'' (2005), '' The Curious Case o ...

, John Watson,

Robin Swicord Robin Stender Swicord (born October 23, 1952) is an American screenwriter, film director, and playwright, best known for literary adaptations. Her notable screenplays include '' Little Women'' (1994), '' Matilda'' (1996), ''Practical Magic'' (1 ...

, Todd Robinson, Alan McElroy,

Anthony Peckham Anthony Peckham is a South African-born American screenwriter and producer. Career Peckham's first screenplay to reach production was 1990's ''The Assassin''. Eleven years later, in 2001, the Michael Douglas thriller ''Don't Say a Word'', Peck ...

Ron Shelton Ronald Wayne Shelton (born September 15, 1945) is an American film director and screenwriter and former minor league baseball infielder. Shelton is known for the many films he has made about sports. His 1988 film ''Bull Durham'', based in part on ...

and

Laeta Kalogridis Laeta Kalogridis ( ) is an American screenwriter and television and film producer of Greek descent. She has written scripts for ''Alexander'' (2004), ''Night Watch'' (2004), '' Pathfinder'' (2007) and '' Shutter Island'' (2010). She also serve ...

. The book received positive reviews from Academy Award-winning writer-director-producers like

Paul Haggis Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television. He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners '' Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) and ...

and

, as well as actors like

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent a ...

and

Filmography

Film

Television

Books

*''Why We Write'' (contribution) – 1999 *''Riding the Alligator: Strategies for a Career in Screenplay Writing'' – 2011

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

* 1974

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

: ''

'' (nominated) – with John Watson * 1981

Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

: ''Don't Mess with Bill'' (nominated) – with John Watson

CableACE Award

* 1995

CableACE Award The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Amer ...

for Best Dramatic Series: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – with Richard B. Lewis & John Watson

Fantasporto Fantasy Film Festival

* 1990

Fantasporto Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to Fantasy film, fantasy/Science fiction film, science fiction/Horror film, horror-oriented commercial fe ...

International Fantasy Film Award: ''The Kiss'' (nominated)

Gemini Awards

* 1996

Gemini Award for Best TV Movie or Mini-Series The Canadian Screen Award for Best TV Movie is a Canadian television award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to honour the year's best Canadian television film. Originally presented as part of the Gemini Awards, since 2013 ...

: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – with Richard B. Lewis, John Watson, Justis Greene & James Nadler * 1997 Gemini Award for Best Short Dramatic Program: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – with James Nadler, Richard B. Lewis,

Brad Wright Brad Wright (born May 2, 1961) is a Canadian television producer and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (with Jonathan Glassner), ''Stargate Atlantis'' (with Robert C. Cooper) and ''Stargat ...

, Brent-Karl Clackson & John Watson * 1998

Gemini Award for Best Dramatic Series The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for ''Best Dramatic Series''. Formerly presented as part of the Gemini Awards program, since 2013 the award has been presented as part of the expanded Canadian Screen Awards. 1 ...

: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – James Nadler, Richard B. Lewis,

, Brent-Karl Clackson, John Watson,

Jonathan Glassner Jonathan Glassner is a television writer, director, and producer. He is known for his involvement with ''Stargate SG-1'' (where he was executive producer for the first three seasons) and '' The Outer Limits''. Glassner was initially noticed as ...

Sam Egan Sam Egan is a journalist, and a screenwriter and producer for television. Career His credits include writing and producing for such shows as ''Quincy, M.E.'', ''The Incredible Hulk'', ''The Fall Guy'', ''Northern Exposure'', '' The Outer Limits ...

* 2000

: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – Richard B. Lewis, Brent-Karl Clackson, John Watson &

* 2001

: ''The Outer Limits'' (nominated) – Richard B. Lewis, Mark Stern, Brent-Karl Clackson, John Watson &

References

External links

*
Canadian Film Centre profileSchoos Gallery profileRiding the Alligator: Strategies For a Career in Screenplay Writing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Densham, Pen Living people 1947 births British film producers Canadian film producers English television writers English screenwriters English male screenwriters Canadian male screenwriters Screenwriting instructors 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian screenwriters British male television writers