Todd Durham is an American filmmaker, comedy writer, and novelist, best known as the creator of the concept for the ''Hotel Transylvania'' film franchise and as the creator of

Lord Buckethead Lord Buckethead is a satirical political candidate who has stood in four British general elections since 1987, portrayed by several individuals. He poses as an intergalactic villain similar to the '' Star Wars'' character Darth Vader. Lord B ...

. Durham's works, including over forty screenplays and books, frequently combine fantasy storylines with character comedy.

Education and career

Durham studied comedy writing at

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

under brothers

Danny Simon Daniel Simon (December 18, 1918, The Bronx, New York – July 26, 2005, Portland, Oregon) was an American television writer and comedy teacher. Biography The older brother of playwright Neil Simon, the two siblings wrote comedy together unti ...

and

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

. Based on a half-hour 35mm film that he wrote and directed, a North Carolina movie studio signed Todd Durham to a three-picture feature deal. Durham then wrote and directed a low-budget comedy film, ''

Hyperspace In science fiction, hyperspace (also known as nulspace, subspace, overspace, jumpspace and similar terms) is a concept relating to higher dimensions as well as parallel universes and a faster-than-light (FTL) method of interstellar travel. ...

,'' starring

Chris Elliott Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in comedic sketches on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) ...

and

Paula Poundstone Paula Poundstone (born December 29, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, author, actor, interviewer, and commentator. Beginning in the late 1980s, she performed a series of one-hour HBO comedy specials. She provided backstage commentary durin ...

. The film was the first appearance of the "intergalactic spacelord"

, a persona used by several people to stand in British elections. In 2017, Durham asserted his ownership of the character, and future incarnations have been authorized by him. Durham signed with

Rick Jaffa Rick Jaffa (born May 8, 1956) and Amanda Silver (born May 24, 1963) are an American married screenwriting and film production duo.

, then agent at

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, and worked as an uncredited

script doctor A script doctor is a writer or playwright hired by a film, television, or theatre production company to rewrite an existing script or improve specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other elemen ...

on comedy projects. He wrote screenplays for comedy actors, directors, and producers, the '' National Lampoon'' film franchise, and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' alumni. Durham ghostwrote celebrity autobiographies, and authored his first novel, ''Mr. Smith Goes To Hell,'' and its screenplay.

''Hotel Transylvania''

During his years as a studio script doctor, Durham came up with the concept of Hotel Transylvania and brought it to Sony Pictures Animation. The first film in the series, ''

Hotel Transylvania ''Hotel Transylvania'' is an American animated media franchise created by comedy writer Todd Durham and produced by Sony Pictures Animation. It consists of four feature films, three short films, a flash-animated TV series, and several video ...

'', was released in 2012 to mixed to negative reviews from critics.

References

External links

Todd Durham
at Internet Movie Database
Todd Durham
a
ToddDurham.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durham, Todd American film directors American animated film directors American screenwriters American comedy writers American male novelists American writers of young adult literature American filmmakers American animators American fantasy writers American science fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Sony Pictures Animation people 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers