Steven M. Lisberger (born April 24, 1951) is an American film director, producer and writer famous for directing ''

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...

'' in 1982.

Early life and education

Lisberger was born in 1951 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and grew up in

Hazleton, Pennsylvania Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,963 at the 2020 census. Hazleton is the second largest city in Luzerne County. It was incorporated as a borough on January 5, 1857, and as a city on Decembe ...

. Of his ethnic background, he said that his father was

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 ...

while his mother's side was half Jewish and half Christian, both native German. Lisberger attended

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

in Pottstown, and Tufts University. He went on to become a 1974 graduate of the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachus ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Career

While attending

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

, Lisberger and five associates formed Lisberger Studios. Their first project of note was ''Cosmic Cartoon,'' which earned a

Student Academy Award The Student Academy Awards are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in an annual competition for college and university filmmakers. Description The awards were originally named the Student Film Awards and were first ...

nomination in 1973. It was also featured in the nationally-released anthology film, '' Fantastic Animation Festival,'' in 1977. Through his company, Lisberger Studios, Lisberger directed the production of commercials, title sequences, and feature segments for programs, such as '' Make a Wish'' and '' Rebop''. In 1978, after moving to

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

, Lisberger and his business partner

Donald Kushner Donald Kushner (born March 2, 1945) is an American producer who has worked with animation, live-action, and theater productions. Biography Kushner was born March 2, 1945, to Ann Gardner. He has two sisters. Kushner attended high school in Pr ...

conceived and produced a 90-minute animated film, '' Animalympics'', for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's coverage of the 1980 Olympics. They then turned their creative efforts to the development of ''

'' at

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

. It was released in 1982 and has since become a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

. His film ''

Hot Pursuit Hot pursuit Hot pursuit is a legal term. Hot Pursuit may also refer to: Film and television * ''Hot Pursuit'' (1984 TV series), a 1984 NBC television series * ''Hot Pursuit'' (2006 TV series), a 2006 Court TV television series * ''Hot Pursuit ...

'' (1987) features one of

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...

's first speaking roles. In 1989, Lisberger directed ''

Slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term sli ...

'', though the film was a critical and commercial failure. Lisberger spent most of the 1990s and 2000s writing screenplays, with several being optioned by various studios. In 2007, it was announced that he and

Jessica Chobot Jessica Chobot (born Jessica Lynn Horn; July 7, 1977) is an American on-camera host and writer. She has hosted the IGN shows ''IGN Strategize'' and ''Weekly Wood'', which also runs on Xbox Live; she previously worked as presenter of the ''IGN ...

were working together on a film project called ''Soul Code'', though it was never produced. Lisberger tried for years to convince Disney to develop a ''Tron'' sequel, though the project frequently languished in development hell. Eventually, Disney green-lit '' Tron: Legacy'', and it was released in 2010 for which Lisberger served as producer. The film was a success at the box office and was followed by a television series, '' Tron: Uprising''. Lisberger and his wife, Peggy, live in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

and have a son named Carl.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lisberger, Steven American animated film directors American animated film producers 1951 births Animators from New York (state) Film producers from New York (state) American male screenwriters Film directors from New York City The Hill School alumni Living people Film directors from Pennsylvania Science fiction film directors Screenwriters from New York (state) American people of Jewish descent Tufts University alumni