Edward Summer
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Edward Summer (March 18, 1946 – November 13, 2014) was an American painter, motion picture director, screenwriter, internet publisher, magazine editor, journalist and science writer, comic book writer, novelist, book designer, actor, cinematographer, motion picture editor, documentary filmmaker, film festival founder, and educator. He died on November 13, 2014. Among his better known works are the collection of
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck ...
stories '' Uncle Scrooge McDuck: His Life and Times'', the '' Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette'' (one of the pioneering online magazines), the first motion picture based upon Robert E. Howard's character
Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
, the novel '' Teefr'', and a prequel '' The Legend of Teddy Bear Bob''.


Early work

Born in Buffalo, New York, Summer studied painting at the Albright Art Gallery (now called the
Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...
, Albright Art School, and with the noted water-color painter Sandra Chessman. He was also acquainted from childhood with another noted water-colorist, Robert Blair. Charles Summer, his father, was an amateur photographer who owned a then uncommon
Exakta The Exakta (sometimes Exacta) was a camera produced by the ''Ihagee Kamerawerk'' in Dresden, Germany, founded as the Industrie und Handels-Gesellschaft mbH, in 1912. The inspiration and design of both the VP Exakta and the Kine Exakta are the wo ...
single lens reflex camera. The photographer
Milton Rogovin Milton Rogovin Pronounced "ruh-GO-vin" (December 30, 1909 – January 18, 2011) was an American social documentary photographer. His photographs are in the Library of Congress, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Center for Creative Photography and othe ...
was a family friend and early on exposed him to fine-art photographs. At age 15, Summer had a special one-man exhibit of his drawings in a group show at the Buffalo Museum of Science.


Theater

At the Studio Theater (now called
Studio Arena Theater The Shea's 710 Theatre (originally known as the Studio Arena Theatre) is a theatre in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in the 1920s and briefly closed in 2008 citing $3 million in debt and laying off its staff. It was reopened as the 710 Main ...
), Buffalo, New York, Summer appeared in
Many Moons ''Many Moons'' is a children's picture book written by James Thurber and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin. It was published by Harcourt, Brace & Company in 1943 and won the Caldecott Medal in 1944.American Library AssociationCaldecott Medal Win ...
, based on a
James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' and collected in ...
book, choreographed by Michael Bennett, and directed by Roberta Sharpe circa 1961. He also worked with Fred Keller and
Neal Du Brock Neal Du Brock directed the world-premieres of many important plays including Edward Albee's Box (play) and Lanford Wilson's Lemon Sky (starring Christopher Walken and Charles Durning). He worked for many years at the Studio Theater and Studio Are ...
as actor and stage manager, as well as
Joe Krysiak Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
founder of
Project Artaud A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...
.


Motion pictures

Encouraged by experimental filmmaker
Peter Adair Peter Adair (November 25, 1943 – June 27, 1996) was a filmmaker and artist, best known for his pioneering gay and lesbian documentary '' Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives'' (1977). Early life Adair was born in Los Angeles County in 1943. ...
, Summer ultimately attended the first year of the New York University School of the Arts (then under the NYU School of Education and called the School of Television, Motion Pictures and Radio).
Haig Manoogian Haig Manoogian (May 23, 1916 – May 26, 1980) was an Armenian-American professor of film at New York University who served as the main influence for many filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, who was a student of his at New York University. Marti ...
, instrumental in starting the career of
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
by producing the film ''
Who's That Knocking at My Door ''Who's That Knocking at My Door'', originally titled ''I Call First'', is a 1967 American independent drama film written and directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Harvey Keitel and Zina Bethune. It was Scorsese's feature film directorial deb ...
'' headed the school and was one of the main instructors. At NYU, Summer continued painting and studied with, among others, acclaimed photo-realist
Audrey Flack Audrey L. Flack (born May 30, 1931) is an American artist. Her work pioneered the art genre of photorealism and encompasses painting, sculpture, and photography. Flack has numerous academic degrees, including both a graduate and an honorary doct ...
.
Harry Hurwitz Harry Hurwitz (January 27, 1938 – September 21, 1995) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Biography Hurwitz attended The High School of Music & Art and New York University, where he received a B.S. in 1960 and an ...
, director of ''
The Projectionist ''The Projectionist'' is a 1970 American comedy film written and directed by Harry Hurwitz that was the first feature film with Rodney Dangerfield as an actor. The film employed the use of superimposition of older motion pictures, the first time ...
'' was also an instructor and personal friend. His student film '' Item 72-D, The Adventures of Spa and Fon'' not only won multiple awards, but was shown worldwide at many film festivals. It was the first film shown at the
Film Forum Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater at 209 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. It began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a $19,000 annual budget. Ka ...
movie theater in New York City when the Film Forum was only a tiny loft space on West 88th Street in Manhattan.
Hervé Villechaize Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize (; April 23, 1943 – September 4, 1993) was a French actor and painter. He is best known for his role as the evil henchman Nick Nack in the 1974 James Bond film '' The Man with the Golden Gun'', and his role as Mr ...
, then unknown, was one of the stars of ''Item 72-D, The Adventures of Spa and Fon''. Villechaize went on to fame in '' The Man with the Golden Gun'' and as a recurring character on the television series ''
Fantasy Island ''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. Gu ...
''. A co-writer of the film,
John Byrum John Byrum is an American film director, and writer known for ''The Razor's Edge'', '' Heart Beat'', ''Duets'' and '' Inserts''. Early life Raised in Winnetka, Illinois, on the North Shore of Chicago, Byrum attended New Trier High School, and l ...
went on to write and direct numerous other films. Both Manoogian and Scorsese were advisors to the project. Other early films included: * ''
Solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countr ...
'' (1968) - film editor * '' High on the Wind Rivers'' (1970) - cinematographer, film editor * '' Street Scenes'' (1970) - cinematographer, sound recording, film editor As a fellow of the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
, Summer received a grant to produce a documentary about the history of American comic strip and comic book art. This unfinished film covered, among other people,
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...
,
Milton Caniff Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an People of the United States, American cartoonist famous for the ''Terry and the Pirates (comic strip), Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography ...
,
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck ...
,
Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
,
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
,
Dick Huemer Richard Huemer (January 2, 1898 – November 30, 1979) was an American animator in the Golden Age of Animation. Career While as an artist-illustrator living in the Bronx, New York City, Huemer first began his career in animation at the Raoul ...
and
Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is an American animator and filmmaker. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatric ...
. He worked with
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
's ''
Camera Three ''Camera Three'' was an American anthology series devoted to the arts. It began as a Sunday afternoon local program on WCBS-TV in New York and ran “for some time”Mercer, Charles, Associated Press writer, Television World column, “Obscure Pr ...
'' on a two-part series covering the history of comic books and comic strips. In 1975, Summer helped his friend
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...
redo all of the promotional materials for ''
Phantom of the Paradise ''Phantom of the Paradise'' is a 1974 American rock musical comedy horror film written and directed by Brian De Palma and scored by and starring Paul Williams. In the film, a naïve young singer-songwriter (played by William Finley) is tricked ...
''. As a result, producer Edward R. Pressman approached Summer for other projects. The result was ''
Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
'' which took nearly seven years to bring to the screen. The original treatment/screenplay was written by Summer with some collaboration by
Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...
who had written and edited the Marvel Comic Book series. In 2003, he founded the
Buffalo International Film Festival The Buffalo International Film Festival was founded in 2006, and takes place in October of each year in Buffalo, New York. It is also known as the Buffalo Film Festival. History The film festival became a 501c3 not-for-profit charity in January 20 ...
. Summer has been executive director since 2005.


Comic books

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...
Several science fiction adaptations for '' Starstream''. Born of the Sun. Shaka
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
Plot
Red Sonja Red Sonja is a fictional sword and sorcery comic-book superheroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino. Marvel Comics ...
Issue One. Red Sonya and the Unicorn. This story largely defined Red Sonja's personality and "inner nature". Plot: ''
The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invasion ...
'' Involving the revival of the
Golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...
to defeat the
Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
. Plot:
Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
''The Devourer of the Dead'' story about origin of Egyptian pyramids. Editor: ''
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
the Movie Magazine'',
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
Summer was instrumental in beginning the process that resulted in
Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996)Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, in ...
and
Joe Shuster Joseph Shuster (; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992), professionally known simply as Joe Shuster, was a Canadian-American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in ''Action Comics'' #1 (c ...
receiving lifetime financial benefits from their creation of
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
.


Magazines

Founding editor and co-publisher: '' The Dinosaur Times''. Contributing writer: ''
Written By ''Written By'' ( zh, t=再生號, s=再生号, first=t) is a 2009 Hong Kong fantasy drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Wai Ka-Fai, and starring Lau Ching-Wan and Kelly Lin. Lau plays a lawyer who is killed in an accident, leaving ...
'', ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
'', ''
Films in Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
'', '' The Perfect Vision'', ''
The Absolute Sound ''The Absolute Sound'' (TAS) is an American audiophile magazine which reviews high-end audio equipment, along with recordings and comments on various music-related subjects. History ''The Absolute Sound'' was founded in 1973 by Harry Pearson, ...
'', '' Home Theater Magazine'', ''
Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: ''The Magazine for Science and Reason''. Mission statement and goals Daniel Loxton, writing in ...
'', ''
Skeptical Briefs The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the US non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "pro ...
'', ''
The Monster Times ''The Monster Times'' was a horror film fan magazine created in 1972. Published by The Monster Times Publishing Co., it was intended as a competitor to ''Famous Monsters of Filmland''. Although the main editorial focus of the magazine was horror me ...
''.


Digital Nitrate Prize

In 2005, Edward Summer founded The Digital Nitrate Prize in order to encourage the research necessary to properly transfer and preserve the world's
motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...
using the developing
digital media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ' ...
. Based upon the X Prize, the Digital Nitrate Prize will offer a cash prize for the first individual, group or corporation which is able to exactly duplicate the look of nitrate film stock using digital transfer and digital projection.


Constructive Living

Edward Summer was a certified instructor of
Constructive Living Although the general English usage of the adjective constructive is "helping to develop or improve something; helpful to someone, instead of upsetting and negative," as in the phrase "constructive criticism," in legal writing ''constructive'' has ...
. He studied with David K. Reynolds in Los Angeles, New York, West Virginia and Tennessee.


Trivia

* Summer has taught animation history at
School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...
New York City. * Summer's contributions to ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' and friendship with
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...
was profiled extensively in 2013 through interviews with Jonathan Rinzler in issues 139, 140, 141 of the magazine ''
Star Wars Insider ''Star Wars Insider'' is the official ''Star Wars'' magazine. It began in 1987 as the official magazine of ''The Lucasfilm Fan Club'', and was renamed in 1994 to coincide with the release of '' Star Wars: TIE Fighter''. Its contents include st ...
''.


Filmography

* 1968 - ''
Solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countr ...
'' - producer, editor * 1968 - ''DeFeet'' - producer, director, cinematographer * 1970 - '' Item 72-D: The Adventures of Spa and Fon'' - producer, director * 1970 - '' Street Scenes'' - director/cameraman, editor * 1970 - ''High in the Wind Rivers'' - director/cameraman * 1980 - ''Starship Under'' - director, screenwriter - (never finished) * 1982 - ''
Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
'' - associate producer * 1983 - ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' - marketing consultant * 1989 - '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland'' - screenplay * 2005 - ''Silent Music'' - producer, director (in production) * 2005 - ''The Magic of Magic'' - producer, director (in production) * 2006 - ''Clicker Clatter'' - producerScenes from Clicker Clatter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S8-_tWMSbU * 2007 - ''Sirens'' - producer * 2007 - '' Calvin of Oakknoll'' - executive producer, consulting director (in production)


References


External links

*
Partial Comics Bibliography

The Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette

The Buffalo International Film Festival

Summer Stuff Blog

The Digital Nitrate Prize Website



Library of Congress: Orphan Works Legislation Advocacy

Articles in New York Daily News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summer, Edward 1946 births 2014 deaths American comics writers American male screenwriters American film directors American film producers American magazine editors American online publication editors Tisch School of the Arts alumni Artists from Buffalo, New York Writers from Buffalo, New York American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from New York (state) American film editors