HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Rodman Flender (born June 9, 1962) is an American actor, writer, director and producer.


Early life and education

Flender was born and raised in a
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 in New York City, the son of Enid (née Rodman), a former Broadway dancer, and Harold Flender (1924—1975), a writer and screenwriter. Flender's early acting roles included Mischa in the Broadway production of ''Zalmen or the Madness of God'' and Charles Francis Adams in the PBS series ''
The Adams Chronicles ''The Adams Chronicles'' is a thirteen-episode miniseries by PBS that aired in 1976 to commemorate the American Bicentennial. Synopsis The series chronicles the story of the Adams political family over a 150-year span, including John Adams (dra ...
''. He graduated from the drama department of New York's
High School of Performing Arts The High School of Performing Arts (informally known as "PA") was a public alternative high school established in 1947 and located at 120 West 46th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, from 1948 to 1984. In 1961, the school was m ...
and studied acting at the
Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Webber may refer to: *Webber, Kansas, a US city *Webber Township, Jefferson County, Illinois, USA *Webber Township, Lake County, Michigan, USA *Webber International University, in Babson Park, Florida, USA *Webber (surname) Webber (/ˈwɛbər/) i ...
in London, United Kingdom. He received his undergraduate degree at Harvard University, where he wrote for ''
The Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...
''. Flender majored in Visual and Environmental Studies and studied documentary filmmaking with
Ed Pincus Edward Ralph Pincus (July 6, 1938 – November 5, 2013) studied philosophy and photography at Harvard, and began filmmaking in 1964, developing a direct cinema approach to social and political problems. He has producer-director-director of phot ...
and
Ross McElwee Ross McElwee is an American documentary filmmaker known for his autobiographical films about his family and personal life, usually interwoven with an episodic journey that intersects with larger political or philosophical issues. His humorous an ...
, who inspired him with an enthusiasm for the documentaries.


Career

Independent filmmaker
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
hired Flender out of college to run the advertising department of his Concorde-New Horizons Films. With his goal toward directing, Flender moved into production and was Corman's Vice President of Production for two years. He produced or co-produced titles including ''Body Chemistry'', ''
Streets Streets is the plural of street, a type of road. Streets or The Streets may also refer to: Music * Streets (band), a rock band fronted by Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh * ''Streets'' (punk album), a 1977 compilation album of various early UK punk ba ...
'', and '' Full Fathom Five''. Flender made his feature directing debut with the Corman-produced thriller '' The Unborn'', which received favorable reviews. Flender next wrote and directed ''In The Heat of Passion,'' also for Roger Corman. Over the next decade, Flender's feature directing credits included ''
Leprechaun 2 ''Leprechaun 2'' (also known as ''One Wedding and Lots of Funerals'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1994 American fantasy comedy horror film directed by Rodman Flender and written by Turi Meyer and Al Septien. The sequel to Mark Jones' ''Leprech ...
'' for
Trimark Trimark Pictures was an American production company that specialized in the production and distribution of television and home video motion pictures. The company was formed in 1984 by Mark Amin as Vidmark Entertainment with Vidmark Inc. (later T ...
, and the
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
release ''
Idle Hands ''Idle Hands'' is a 1999 American teen black comedy horror film directed by Rodman Flender, written by Terri Hughes and Ron Milbauer, and starring Devon Sawa, Seth Green, Elden Henson, Jessica Alba, and Vivica A. Fox. The main plot follows the ...
''. Flender became a busy director of television episodes and pilots. TV credits include multiple episodes of the comedies ''
The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...
'' and ''
Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian t ...
''; dramas that include ''
Chicago Hope ''Chicago Hope'' is an American medical drama television series, created by David E. Kelley. It originally aired on CBS from September 18, 1994, to May 4, 2000. The series is set in a fictional private charitable hospital in Chicago, Illinois. ...
'', ''
Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagshi ...
'' and ''
The O.C. ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seaso ...
''; and horror with HBO's ''
Tales From The Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...
''. As a writer, Flender's credits include ''
Tales From The Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...
'' and the feature film ''Roger Corman’s Dracula Rising''. In 1998, he began filming a musical portrait of the Boston-based rock band The Upper Crust, and directed ''
Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
'' episode "
The Scare ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American television series that premiered on January 20, 1998 on television network The WB. It was created by Kevin Williamson, who was the executive producer until the end of the show's second season. Paul Stupin shared ...
", a
parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
of ''
Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...
''. Developments within the band led Flender to continue shooting on and off for the next five years. The resulting documentary, '' Let Them Eat Rock'', played film festivals in 2005 and 2006 to mostly positive notices. Following the
2010 Tonight Show conflict The 2010 ''Tonight Show'' conflict was a media and public relations conflict involving the American television network NBC and two of its late-night talk show hosts, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno, over the timeslot and hosting duties of long-runn ...
, Flender joined
Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (19 ...
(whom he knew since their days at Harvard) on the road, as part of
the Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour (also known as the Prohibited Tour) was a comedy tour by American comedian and talk show host Conan O'Brien. Its title is a reference to the 2010 ''Tonight Show'' host and timeslot conf ...
, and filmed the ongoings behind-the-scenes, onstage and between shows. The documentary, titled ''
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop ''Conan O'Brien Can't Stop'' is a 2011 documentary film by Rodman Flender featuring Conan O'Brien and focusing on his comedy tour, The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, which took place in 2010 following his departure from ...
'', was released in select theatres on June 24, 2011, which Roger Ebert featured on his list of best documentaries of 2011. With the documentary completed, Flender returned to directing television in multiple genres, including episodes of the comedies ''
Suburgatory ''Suburgatory'' is an American television sitcom created by Emily Kapnek that aired on ABC from September 28, 2011, to May 14, 2014. The series originally aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30/7:30 Central following '' The Middle''. The title is a ...
'' and ''
Super Fun Night ''Super Fun Night'' is an American sitcom that aired from October 2, 2013, to February 19, 2014, on ABC. The series was broadcast during the 2013–14 television season on ABC in the Wednesday night 9:30 pm (ET/PT) slot after ''Modern Family''. ...
'' in 2014, the drama ''
Finding Carter ''Finding Carter'' is an American teen drama television series that aired on MTV for two seasons from July 8, 2014, to December 15, 2015. The series stars Kathryn Prescott as Carter Stevens, a teenage girl whose life is torn apart when she disco ...
'' and multiple episodes of the thriller ''
Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...
'' in 2015 and 2016. Flender directed two episodes of the 2016-2017 science fiction series ''
People of Earth ''People of Earth'' is an American science fiction sitcom television series created by David Jenkins about a support group for alien abductees, as well as the aliens who had abducted them. TBS ordered the pilot under the name ''The Group'' in ...
'' and returned to character-based drama in 2019, directing
Kirsten Dunst Kirsten Caroline Dunst (; born April 30, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the short ''Oedipus Wrecks'' directed by Woody Allen in the anthology film ''New York Stories'' (1989). She then gained recognition for her rol ...
in the Showtime original series ''
On Becoming a God in Central Florida ''On Becoming a God in Central Florida'' is an American dark comedy television series created by Robert Funke and Matt Lutsky that premiered on Showtime (TV network), Showtime on August 25, 2019. The series stars Kirsten Dunst and is set in the e ...
''. Rodman Flender completed his next feature film in 2019, when he mixed romantic comedy, horror and the road movie with ''
Eat, Brains, Love ''Eat Brains Love'', also stylized as ''Eat, Brains, Love'', is a 2019 American romantic comedy horror film directed by Rodman Flender. Based on the 2013 book of the same name by Jeff Hart, the film stars Jake Cannavale, Angelique Rivera, Sarah Ya ...
''. It premiered at the
London FrightFest Film Festival FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween event ...
to positive reviews and won Best Picture at the 2019
Screamfest Horror Film Festival Screamfest Horror Film Festival is a horror film festival founded by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin in August 2001. It runs over ten days during the month of October and is hosted at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Los Angeles, Ca ...
. In 2022, footage from "
The Scare ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American television series that premiered on January 20, 1998 on television network The WB. It was created by Kevin Williamson, who was the executive producer until the end of the show's second season. Paul Stupin shared ...
" was incorporated into the
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (born February 19, 1978) is an American director, writer, actor, and musician. He is a founding member of the punk band Link 80 and co-creator of the filmmaking collectives Chad, Matt & Rob and Radio Silence. He is best know ...
and
Tyler Gillett Tyler Gillett is an American film director, cinematographer, writer, and producer. A co-creator of the filmmaking collective Radio Silence, Gillett co-directed, with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, the horror films '' Devil's Due'' (2014), '' Ready or No ...
film ''
Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...
''.


Personal life

He is married to American writer and producer
Amy Lippman Amy Lippman is an American television writer and producer. Biography In 1985, Lippman graduated from Harvard University. She is perhaps best known as the co-creator of ''Party of Five'' with her writing partner, Christopher Keyser. She is polit ...
. His nephew is Academy Award-nominated actor
Timothée Chalamet Timothée Hal Chalamet (; ; born December 27, 1995) is an American actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Timothée Chalamet, various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a ...
. His son is Haskell Flender. Haskell also attended Harvard University and was a member of the Harvard Lampoon.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flender, Roman 1962 births American television directors Living people The Harvard Lampoon alumni Film directors from New York City Film producers from New York (state) American male film actors Male actors from New York City American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Horror film directors