Don Murphy
Don Murphy | |
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Born | April 1970 (age 54) New York |
Alma mater | |
Occupation | Film Producer |
Known for |
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Website | www |
Don Murphy (born April 1970) is an American film producer who produced
Personal background
Born in April 1970, Murphy grew up in
Murphy was the film critic for the Georgetown school newspaper, The Hoya, for three years, and in summer jobs at his father's advertising agency worked on ad campaigns for such films as Blow Out (1981), Under the Rainbow (1981) and Ragtime (1981).[1][3] In 1986 Murphy realized that his calling lay in films rather than law; he enrolled in the School of Cinema-Television (now named USC School of Cinematic Arts) in California, where he had classmates including eventual directors Bryan Singer, Jon Turteltaub, Gary Fleder, and Stephen Sommers, and received a Master of Fine Arts.[2][3]
He is married to Susan Montford, a film director, film producer, and screenwriter with whom he frequently collaborates.[1][3]
Career
After completing the graduate film program, Murphy teamed with Jane Hamsher to produce Natural Born Killers based on a script written by Quentin Tarantino, who was then unknown. Director Oliver Stone committed to direct the film, and he installed Murphy and Hamsher as on-set producers, which was described as "the equivalent of a crash course in filmmaking". Murphy said, "We wouldn't be where we are if not for Oliver."[4] The film attracted attention upon release in 1994, and Hamsher documented the producers' involvement in the film in the best-selling book Killer Instinct.[2]
In 1998, Murphy formed the production company Angry Films.
Murphy and producer Tom DeSanto optioned rights to the Transformers toy line from Hasbro and pitched it to Hollywood studios. According to Murphy, the studios passed initially, but then began to express interest after further internal meetings involving younger staff, from the generation who had played with Transformers in their childhood.[3] Paramount Pictures and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura pursued the property, and DreamWorks got involved.[9] DreamWorks executive Michael De Luca proposed the idea to Steven Spielberg, who took the project and convinced Michael Bay to direct the film. Transformers was released in 2007 and was a major box office success.[3] During production, Murphy hosted a forum on his personal website so Transformers fans could discuss the film and make suggestions, enabling them to influence the film's script and casting. However, the forum remained Murphy's personal project, rather than an official site for the film, partly due to his corporate partners' unease about how the website might be perceived.[10] Murphy was also one of the originating producers of the 2009 sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Filmography
Producer
- Natural Born Killers (1994)
- Double Dragon (1994)
- Apt Pupil (1998)
- Permanent Midnight (1998)
- Bully (2001)
- From Hell (2001)
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
- Transformers (2007)
- Shoot 'Em Up(2007)
- While She Was Out (2008)
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
- Real Steel (2011)
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
- Vampire Academy(2014)
- Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
- Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
- Bumblebee (2018)
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
- Transformers One (2024)
- Faces of Death (2024)
Executive producer
- Monday Morning (1990)
- Splice (2010)
- Gemini Man (2019)
References
- ^ a b c Don Murphy (2008). "Human Stuff: Secret Biography". DonMurphy.net. Angry Films (Don Murphy). Archived from the original on March 22, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Outside the Box [Office] presents: While She Was Out". cinema.usc.edu. University of Southern California. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
- ^ Daily News.
- ^ Cullum, Paul (November 21, 2002). "The Misfits: Don Murphy and the Angry Smiley Face". LA Weekly.
- ^ "10 Questions: Don Murphy". movies.ign.com. IGN. December 17, 2002. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Malanowski, Jamie (July 8, 2001). "Film; Larry Clark, Moralist, In the Florida Suburbs". The New York Times.
- ^ Thompson, Anne (January 13, 2006). "For producer Murphy, 'no' is not an answer". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Membery, York (May 12, 2002). "Stand aside Marvel, the Victorian superhero lives again". The Guardian.
- ^ Halbfinger, David M. (June 30, 2007). "How a Fan of Comic Books Transformed Himself into a Hollywood Player". The New York Times.
- ^ Holson, Laura M. (July 9, 2007). "Fans Get to Talk About 'Transformers', and the Knives Are Unsheathed". The New York Times.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-451-18323-1.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 978-0-553-06914-3.
- preview.)
External links
- DonMurphy.net – Don Murphy's official Website, published by Angry Films
- Angry Films (US) at the Internet Movie Database
- Don Murphy at IMDb