Tim Sullivan (director)

Timothy Michael Sullivan (born July 2, 1964 in Plainfield, New Jersey) is an American film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter.

This article is about the American director. For the British director and screenwriter, see Tim Sullivan (British filmmaker).

Tim Sullivan
Born
Timothy Michael Sullivan

(1964-07-02)July 2, 1964
Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.
OccupationFilm director, screenwriter, songwriter, actor, and producer

Biography

Early career

A monster kid raised on Forrest J Ackerman's Famous Monsters of Filmland fanzine, Sullivan's career began as a teenager when he landed a job as a production assistant on the 1983 cult horror film Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn. Sullivan majored in film studies at New York University, and his first writer/director/producer credit was the short A Christmas Treat (1985), for which he won Fangoria magazine's Short Film Search Award. While attending NYU, Sullivan wrote the music news for MTV. After graduating, he worked as a production assistant on such award-winning films as Three Men and a Baby, Cocktail, Coming To America, and The Godfather Part III.[1][2]

Career

Throughout his career Sullivan has worn many hats, including acting.[3] Much like Alfred Hitchcock and Quentin Tarantino, he has cast himself for roles in his own films.[4] He was production manager for the independent films If Looks Could Kill (1986)[5] and America Exposed, (1990).[6] After working in development at New Line Cinema for five years,[7] Sullivan produced Detroit Rock City which starred KISS, Edward Furlong, Sam Huntington and Natasha Lyonne.

Sullivan's mainstream directorial debut was the well-received Lion's Gate's horror-comedy,[8] 2001 Maniacs (2005) starring Robert Englund and Lin Shaye.[9] This was followed by Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror (2005) (as co-writer and producer) and Driftwood (2006), a supernatural thriller about troubled youths at a reform camp, starring Raviv Ullman and Diamond Dallas Page.[10]

Having released the long-awaited MANIACS sequel 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams (2010),[11] Sullivan gained additional notoriety as celebrity director of Vh1's hit series Scream Queens (2010), as well as creator and host of Shock N Roll, his weekly talk and video blog on leading web network Fearnet.

Re-joining forces with Detroit Rock City director Adam Rifkin for the comedy/horror anthology Chillerama (2011), Sullivan contributed the musical segment I Was a Teenage Werebear starring Sean Paul Lockhart, followed by the Rifkin written and directed Burt Reynolds vehicle The Last Movie Star (2017), on which Sullivan earned an Associate Producer credit.

Deeply affected by the 2013 death of his 'spiritual mentor' Ray Manzarek (with whom he was adapting a film version of Manzarek's novel The Poet in Exile), Sullivan took an extended break from the industry (and Los Angeles) to focus on health, friends and family. It was during this time Sullivan formed his own production company, New Rebellion Entertainment.[12][13], (with partners Mike Markoff, Kevin Nicklaus and Nick Levay), creating and developing a variety of projects he will produce and direct in 2021, among them the late George A. Romero’s version of Masque of the Red Death (in partnership with Dark Horse Entertainment and to be directed by M. J. Bassett), the creature feature No Man’s Ridge (written and to be directed by Eric Red), Queer Fear (a gay-centric horror anthology series Sullivan will write and direct),and the branded franchise Night Songs (2021), which explores the paranormal romance between a music journalist and a vampiric young rock star featuring songs co-written by Sullivan with Doug Rockwell, Andreas Carlsson and Eric Singer of KISS.

Personal life

Sullivan is openly gay and a passionate activist for equality and NOH8.[14]

Filmography

Actor

Producer
  • A Christmas Treat (1985)
  • If Looks Could Kill (1986)
  • America Exposed (1990)
  • Detroit Rock City (1999) as associate producer
  • Everclear: The Boys Are Back in Town Music Video (1999) as producer
  • Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror (2006)
  • Killed on the Fourth of July (2010)
  • Chillerama (2011) as executive producer
  • Chillerama: House of Psycho Charger (PsychoCharger) Music Video (2011)
  • One for the Road (2011) as executive producer
  • Bloody Bloody Bible Camp (2012) as producer
  • Cut/Print (2012) as producer
  • The Last Movie Star (2017) as associate producer

Writer

Director

References
  1. Twitch Film: Interview with Tim Sullivan by Dave Canfield Archived July 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Tim Sullivan filmography by year
  3. Findarticles.com: "Duo share nightmares.(Chris Kobin and Tim Sullivan in movie of Tobe Hooper)(Brief Article)"
  4. CBR: interview/article about Tim Sullivan and Chris Kobin by Emmett Furey
  5. Bloody Disgusting: Interview by Elaine Lamkin
  6. Dred Central: interview of Tim Sullivan by Ryan Rotten
  7. Tim Sullivan filmography by profession
  8. ES Splater: Interview with Tim Sullivan
  9. Twitch Film: interview with Tim Sullivan by Dave Canfield Archived July 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  10. Coming Soon Archived June 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  11. First Look Studios Acquires '2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams'
  12. Inbaseline.com: New Rebellion Entertainment Archived August 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  13. Tim Sullivan speaks of New Rebellion Entertainment at Myspace
  14. Stranahan, Lee (November 30, 2010). "Is Hollywood Ready for a Gay Male Adult Actor in Mainstream Roles?". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  15. 0 Comments Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau Gets a Trailer and Release News


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