Michael Finnell

Michael Finnell is a film producer active from the 1970s to the present. He has produced several horror-comedy films, particularly with the director Joe Dante. Finnell worked for the American producer Roger Corman before emerging as a producer in his own right.

His first films were Avalanche (1978) and Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), with Corman. One of the first without Corman was the movie Airplane!, in which he was listed in the end credits as "generally in charge of a lot of things". Working with Dante, Finnell then produced the modest hit The Howling in 1981 and the blockbuster Gremlins in 1984. Dante and the special effects designer Chris Walas have said that Finnell's producing style was influenced by Corman, in that Finnell was very concerned about budgeting and wanted to make sure even cheap purchases contributed to the final film. The anecdote Walas told was of Finnell engaging in long phone calls over the purchase of a kitchen knife to be used in Gremlins.[1]

Finnell continued to produce several of Dante's films, including Explorers (1985), The 'Burbs (1989), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Matinee (1993) and Small Soldiers (1998). Without Dante, Finnell's films include Milk Money (1994) and Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999). For one of his films produced without Dante, Newsies, Finnell was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Picture.

Filmography
Year Title Credit
1976Hollywood BoulevardProduction assistant
CannonballProduction assistant
1977Grand Theft AutoProduction manager: second unit
1978StarhopsProduction manager
AvalancheAssociate producer
1979Rock 'n' Roll High SchoolProducer
1981The HowlingProducer
1984GremlinsProducer[2]
1985ExplorersExecutive producer
1987InnerspaceProducer
1989The 'BurbsProducer
1990Gremlins 2: The New BatchProducer
1991DeceivedProducer
1992NewsiesProducer
1993MatineeProducer
1994Milk MoneyProducer
1998Small SoldiersProducer
1999Teaching Mrs. TingleCo-executive producer

References
  1. DVD commentary; Steven Spielberg presents Gremlins. Special edition. Warner Home Video, 2002.
  2. "Gremlins is getting the 4K Special Edition treatment thanks to Zavvi". The Digital Fix. November 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
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