Robert W. Cort
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Robert W. Cort (born January 13, 1951) is an American film producer. Since 1985 he has produced forty-eight feature films which have grossed more than $2.5 billion in worldwide box office. These include: ''
On the Basis of Sex ''On the Basis of Sex'' is a 2018 American biographical legal drama film based on the life and early cases of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was the second woman to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Directed by Mimi Lede ...
'', ''
Three Men and a Baby ''Three Men and a Baby'' is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy. It stars Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson as three bachelors as they attempt to adapt their lives to de facto fatherhood with the arrival of the love ...
'', ''
Cocktail A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...
'', ''
Jumanji ''Jumanji'' is a 1995 American fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston from a screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain. Loosely based on Chris Van Allsburg's picture book of the same name, the film is the first i ...
'', ''
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' is a 1989 American science fiction film, science fiction comedy film directed by Stephen Herek and written by Chris Matheson (screenwriter), Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. The first installment of the Bill & T ...
'', '' Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise'', ''
The Cutting Edge ''The Cutting Edge'' is a 1992 American sports-romantic comedy film directed by Paul Michael Glaser and written by Tony Gilroy. The plot is about a wealthy, spoiled figure skater (played by Moira Kelly) who is paired with an injury-sidelined ice ...
'', ''
Against the Ropes ''Against the Ropes'' is a 2004 American sports film, sports Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Charles S. Dutton (in his List of directorial debuts, feature film directorial debut) and starring Meg Ryan and Omar Epps. The story is ...
'', '' Runaway Bride'', and ''
Save the Last Dance ''Save the Last Dance'' is a 2001 American teen dance film produced by MTV Films, directed by Thomas Carter and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas as a teenage interracial couple in Chicago w ...
''. Cort also produced ''
Mr. Holland's Opus ''Mr. Holland's Opus'' is a 1995 American drama film directed by Stephen Herek, produced by Ted Field, Robert W. Cort, and Michael Nolin, and written by Patrick Sheane Duncan. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss in the title role of Glenn Holland, ...
'' and currently serves on the board of directors for
The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization established in 1996 by Michael Kamen (1948-2003), the composer for the motion picture ''Mr. Holland's Opus''. It is headquartered in Studio City, Los Angeles. According to the Foundatio ...
Cort’s HBO film, ''
Something the Lord Made ''Something the Lord Made'' is a 2004 American television film, made-for-television biographical film, biographical drama (film and television), drama film about the black cardiac pioneer Vivien Thomas (1910–1985) and his complex and volatile pa ...
'', won three Emmy Awards, including the 2004 Outstanding Film Made for Television. The film also won the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...
Award, the Director's and Writer's Guild Awards, the Christopher, NAACP Image Award and the prestigious
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
. His other television films have also won multiple honors, including the 1990 Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program for ''A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story''. His production of the family drama ''
Im Winter ein Jahr ''A Year Ago in Winter'' (german: Im Winter ein Jahr) is a 2008 German drama film directed by Caroline Link. It is based on the novel ''Aftermath'' by American author Scott Campbell, telling the story of a "complicated family situation" after the ...
'' (English Title
A Year Ago in Winter
, won the Silver Lola for Best Picture at the 2009 German Academy Awards.


Career history

Cort entered the motion picture industry in 1976 and one year later was named vice president of advertising, publicity and promotion for Columbia Pictures. In 1980, he became executive vice president of marketing for
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
. In his five years as a marketing chief, Cort planned and supervised the campaigns of such films as ''
Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...
'', '' Midnight Express'', ''
The China Syndrome ''The China Syndrome'' is a 1979 American disaster thriller film directed by James Bridges and written by Bridges, Mike Gray, and T. S. Cook. The film stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas (who also produced), Scott Brady, James Ham ...
'', '' All That Jazz'', ''
The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...
'' and '' Nine to Five''. He then served as executive vice president of production at Twentieth Century Fox, where he oversaw the making of ''
Romancing the Stone ''Romancing the Stone'' is a 1984 action-adventure romantic comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Diane Thomas and produced by Michael Douglas, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The fi ...
'', ''
Bachelor Party A bachelor party (in the United States and sometimes in Canada), also known as a stag weekend, stag do or stag party (in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth countries, and Ireland), or a buck's night (in Australia), is a party held/arranged by th ...
'', and ''
Revenge of the Nerds ''Revenge of the Nerds'' is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Ted McGinley, and Bernie Casey. The film's plot chronicles a group of nerds at the fictional Adams College trying ...
''. For the next eleven years, Cort was a partner and president of
Interscope Communications Interscope Communications (also known as Interscope Pictures) was a motion picture production company founded in 1982 by Ted Field. It soon became a division of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment. History Interscope Communications was founded in 1982 ...
. From 1996 to 2001, he was the managing partner with David Madden of The Cort/Madden Company, a production unit with close ties to
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. He currently operates Robert Cort Productions, an independent production company. Cort was a partner and president of
Interscope Communications Interscope Communications (also known as Interscope Pictures) was a motion picture production company founded in 1982 by Ted Field. It soon became a division of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment. History Interscope Communications was founded in 1982 ...
. From 1996 to 2001, Cort was the managing partner of The Cort/Madden Company, a production unit with close ties to
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. In 2003
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
published Cort's novel, '' Action!'', which garnered positive critical reviews and became a bestseller. His articles and essays have been published in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''. and he is currently a professor of production on the faculty of the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...
. Prior to working in the entertainment industry, Cort earned BA and MA degrees in history from the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and an MBA from the
Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...
, and was a management consultant for
McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
.http://www.randomhouse.com/book/32221/action-by-robert-cort#abouttheauthor He lives in Beverly Hills, California, with his wife, Rosalie Swedlin, a manager of writers and directors.


Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.


Film

;Thanks


Television


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cort, Robert W. American film producers Living people 1951 births