Director of Ever After

Background:

Having been in the entertainment industry since the late 1970s, Andy Tennant began his career as an actor in motion pictures such as the very successful musical “Grease” (1978) and its failed sequel, “Grease 2” (1982), Steven Spielberg's “1941” (1979) and “Midnight Madness” (1980) before trying his hand in writing in the late 1980s. Before long, the former student of John Houseman kicked off his directing career, starting with episodes of TV shows like “Parker Lewis Can't Lose” and “The Wonder Years.” Tennant finally made his feature directorial debut with the 1995 children's film “It Takes Two,” but it was not until he helmed the well-received Drew Barrymore vehicle “Ever After” (1998, also wrote the screenplay), his third effort, that the ex-dancer enjoyed major recognition. He has since directed the popular films “Anna and the King” (1999), “Sweet Home Alabama” (2002) and “Hitch” (2005). After the disappointing “Fool's Gold” (2008, also a co-writer), Tennant is set to make a return to the director's seat with the upcoming action/comedy “The Bounty” (2010).

Tennant is the father of 4.

Chicago Native

Childhood and Family:

Andy Tennant was born in 1955, in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in Flossmoor, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His father, Don Tennant, was a renowned creative advertising talent with Leo Burnett Agency in Chicago. As a child, Andy used to spend his summers at Camp Minocqua in northern Wisconsin and on Old Mission Peninsula in northern Michigan.

After graduating from Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Andy studied theater under John Houseman at University of Southern California.

Andy is married to Sharon Johnson-Tennant. The couple have four children, three of whom are triplets.

Hitch

Career:

Andy Tennant entered show business in the late 1970s when he was cast as a dancer in the highly popular film “Grease” (1978), starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, respectively, and based on the musical of the same name by Jim Jacob and Warren Casey. The same year, he could also be seen dancing in Michael Schultz's “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,” based on The Beatles' album of the same name. He continued to have small roles in the Steven Spielberg-directed comedy/war movie “1941” (1979, starred Dan Aykroyd and Ned Beatty), Michael Nankin/David Wechter's family “Midnight Madness” (1980) and the much less successful installment “Grease 2” (1982), which starred then-unknown actors Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Tennant moved on to become a writer in the late 1980s, making his debut in the NBC made for TV film “Moving Target” (1988), starring Jason Bateman. He followed it up with writing gig on the episode “Stand-In Deliver” (1990) of “Ferris Bueller” and the NBC television film “What She Doesn't Know” (1992).

Tennant quickly branched out to directing. He began helming episodes of television series such as “The Wonder Years” (2 episodes, 1989-1991), “Ferris Bueller” (1 episode, 1990) and the Corin Nemec sitcom “Parker Lewis Can't Lose” (5 episodes, 1990-1991) before making his TV movie bow with the well received drama “Keep the Change” (1992), adapted from Thomas McGuane's novel and starring William Petersen, Rachel Ticotin and Lolita Davidovich.

After directing the well interpreted TV drama “Desperate Choices: To Save My Child” (1992), starring Joanna Kerns and Bruce Davison, and the fantasy/ science fiction series “Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure” (1992, unknown episode), Tennant helmed Drew Barrymore in ABC's “The Amy Fisher Story” (1993), the second of three TV films that based on the actual story of the Long Island teen who shoots and wounds the wife of a man she called her lover. He acquired a medium dose of pop culture infamy for directing the film. The same year, he also directed two episodes of “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.” and the soon canceled “South of Sunset.”

In 1995, after directed the pilot of “Sliders,” Tennant made his feature film directorial debut with “It Takes Two,” a children's film starring Steve Guttenberg, Kirstie Alley and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. His second effort, “Fools Rush In” (1997), co written by Katherine Reback and Joan Taylor and starring Matthew Perry and Salma HAyek , received two ALMA nominations for Outstanding Feature Film and Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film for Hayek. The romantic comedy grossed over $29 million domestically.

Tennant got a big break in the following year with “Ever After” (1998), a movie adaptation of of the fairy tale Cinderella, with Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston and Dougray Scott in the main cast. Scripted by Tennant, Susannah Grant and Rick Parks, the romance received mostly rave reviews from critics and collected more than $65 million at the domestic box office. He gained further recognition with “Anna and the King” (1999), loosely based on Margaret Landon's 1944 semi-fictionalized biographical novel “Anna and the King of Siam,” the story of Anna Leonowens, who was an English schoolteacher in Siam (now Thailand), in the 19th century. Starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat as the title roles, the drama/history eared two Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Costume Design and another 10 nominations. Made in $75 million, it grossed $39,263,420 domestically and $74,733,517 internationally for a total worldwide gross of $113,996,937.

In 2002, Tennant became a co-executive producer on the short lived Fox drama series “The American Embassy,” created by James D. Parriott and starring Arija Bareikis, Eric Dane and Reiko Aylesworth. Debuted on March 11, 2002, the show departed airwaves after only four episodes aired. Tennant also directed the pilot. Still in that same year, Tennant helmed Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey, Candice Bergen, Mary Kay Place, Fred Ward, Ethan Embry, Melanie Lynskey, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Jean Smart in the romance/comedy film “Sweet Home Alabama,” released on September 27, 2002 by Touchstone Pictures. The movie received generally negative response from critics, but was a hit with audiences. It collected over $180 million at the worldwide box office with an estimated budget of $38 million.

Three years later, Tennant returned to the director's chair for the romantic comedy “Hitch” (2005), where Will Smith starred as a professional matchmaker, who earns a living by teaching men how to woo women. The film enjoyed mostly positive reviews and was considered a big box office hit. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, “Hitch” scored over $179 million at the domestic box office, making it the tenth highest grossing movie of the year, and also grossed over $368 million worldwide that set a new record for Sony for best opening weekend for a romance/comedy film. The film also starred Eva Mendes, Kevin James, and Amber Valletta.

In 2006, Tennnat wrote, produced and directed “The Wedding Album,” a TV pilot ordered by Fox for the 2006-2007 season. Starring by Bruno Campos and Tara Summers, the show was picked up for series order as a midseason replacement during the 2006-2007 TV season, but shortly after this, the network decided to stop development on it. Tennant next co wrote the screenplay of and directed “Fool's Gold” (2008), an adventure/comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, both of whom previously worked together in Donald Petrie's commercially hit, “How to lose a Guy in 10 Days” (2003). The film was an immensely failure with the critics and was not a big success at the box office.

Tennant is the director of the made for TV drama “Operating Instructions,” starring Emily Rose and Christine Lahti, and the action film “The Bounty,” starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston. As of 2009, both projects have been in post production, with the latter is slated to be released on March 19, 2010.

Awards:
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