City of Angels

Background:

American director of television and film, screenwriter and producer Brad Silberling is best known for directing the box office hit movies “Casper” (1995), which marked his feature debut, and “City of Angels” (1998). He made his screenwriting debut with “Moonlight Mile” (2002), which he also produced and directed, but the film unfortunately was a commercial failure. He received a Phoenix Film Critics Society nomination for his script. Silberling also directed “Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events” (2004), “10 Items or Less” (2006, also wrote the script), and “Land of the Lost” (2009). The Washington, D.C. native has directed several television shows, including Steven Bochco's “L.A. Law” and “NYPD Blue,” and Gary David Goldberg's “Brooklyn Bridge.”

Silberling lives in Los Angeles, California, with his actress wife Amy Brenneman, whom he met on the set of “NYPD Blue,” and their two children, Charlotte and Bodhi. He and his wife co-founded the Cornerstone Theatre Co. in Los Angeles. Silberling is an active members of the Directors Guild of America, for which he sits on the Western Directors Council, New Technologies Committee, Creative Rights Committee and the Social Responsibility Task Force. Silberling's love life is also linked to Rebecca Schaeffer. They were dating at the time she was killed by an obsessed fan in 1989. It would become the base of his film, “Moonlight Mile.”

Brenneman's Man

Childhood and Family:

Bradley Mitchell Silberling, who would later be known as Brad Silberling, was born on September 8, 1963, in Washington, District of Columbia. His father, Robert M Silberling, was a successful television producer and production executive and once served as vice-president of CBS Entertainment, while her mother, Joyce A Silberling, is the owner of Meetings and Incentives International, a corporate travel incentive program. Brad graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1984, with a BA in English. He then pursued a Master of Fine Arts degree at University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, graduating in 1987.

On September 30, 1995, Brad married actress Amy Brenneman (born June 22, 1964) in the garden at the home of Amy's parents. The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Charlotte Tucker, on March 20, 2001. They second child, son Bodhi Russell, was born on June 8, 2005.

Moonlight Mile

Career:

Brad Silberling started his career in entertainment business in 1986, while still in UCLA, when he was hired as a production assistant on the CBS Schoolbreak Special “Little Miss Perfect.” He graduated a year later. His thesis short, “Repairs” (1987), starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Goldman and Barry Gordon, which he directed and edited, earned attention at Universal and eventually brought Silberling a development contract with the studio. However, the attempt proved to be not too successful. During the late 1980s, the novice director only worked on the television shows “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1988-1989) and CBS' “Top of the Hill” (1989).

It was not long before Silberling was recruited by noted television producer Steven Bochco to direct episodes of “Cop Rock” (1990), “Doogie Howser, M.D.” (1990-1991), “Civil Wars” (1991, “L.A. Law” (1992) and “NYPD Blue” (1993, 1996). Meanwhile, in 1991, he directed “The Antagonists,” and between 1991 and 1992, directed three episodes of the CBS drama series “Brooklyn Bridge,” which was created and executive produced by Gary David Goldberg. In 1992, Silberling became a supervising producer and director of the Fox short lived sitcom “Great Scott!,” which starring Tobey Maguire as the title character. He also directed the pilot of “The Byrds of Paradis” (1994).

It was his work on “Brooklyn Bridge” that attracted the attention of Steven Spielberg, who as executive producer, hired him to direct “Casper” (1995), on which Silberling made his feature directing debut. Starring Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci and Devon Sawa, the comedy/fantasy film, which is based on the “Casper the Friendly Ghost” animated cartoons and comic books, was a massive success at the box office despite receiving mixed reviews from critics. It grossed over $100 million domestically and over $187 million internationally for a total worldwide gross of more than $287.9 million, against a budget of $55 million.

Three years later, Silberling resurfaced with his second feature, “City of Angels” (1998), which was a remake of Wim Wenders' 1987 German film “Wings of Desire” (“Der Himmel über Berlin”). Starring Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan, the drama/romance scored more than $198 million worldwide against a budget of $55 million. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song - Motion Picture and a Grammy for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television for the song “Uninvited.”

Also in 1998, Silberling launched a production company called Reveal Entertainment and inked a production agreement with DreamWorks. He also returned to television by directing an episode of “Felicity” called “Hot Objects.” He would again later in 2001 to direct the episode “One for the Road” of the CBS hit drama series “Judging Amy,” which was co-created by and starring his wife, Amy Brenneman.

In 2002, Silberling produced and directed his first script, “Moonlight Mile,” which was loosely inspired by his own experience. The film, which starred Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon, was a failure at the box office by making only $10,011,050 worldwide from a $21 million budget. Silberling was nominated for a Phoenix Film Critics Society Award in the category of Best Screenplay – Original for his writing effort.

In 2004, Silberling helmed Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning, Timothy Spall and Billy Connolly in “Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events,” which was adapted from the children's books by Daniel Handler. The film grossed $118,634,549 at the domestic market and $90,439,096 internationally for a worldwide total of $209,073,645. The budget was $140 million. The film won a 2005 Academy Award for Best Achievement in Makeup. 2004 also saw him executive produce a short film, “Bananas.”

In 2006, Silberling directed, wrote and produced the low budget comedy/drama film “10 Items or Less,” starring Morgan Freeman, Paz Vega, Kumar Pallana and Jonah Hill. The film received only a limited theatrical release in the US, with a total domestic gross of $83,291. It enjoyed more success internationally with a total of more than a million, $486,895 of which from Spain, the home country of Vega. “10 Items or Less” became the first film made legally available for download while it was still playing in theaters.

In 2009, Silberling directed Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride and Jorma Taccone in “Land of the Lost,” an adaptation of the 1974 “Sid and Marty Krofft” TV series of the same name. The science fiction/comedy film received mostly negative reviews from critics and was a disappointment at the box office. Silberling was nominated for a 2010 Razzie for Worst Director.

Recently, in 2001, Silberling returned to the director's chair to helm the episode “Nevada v. Hunter” of the CBS drama series “The Defenders,” starring James Belushi, Jerry O'Connell and Jurnee Smollett.

Awards:
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