John DahlBirth Place: Billings, Montana, USA Date of Birth: May 9, 1905 Heritage: American Contact John Dahl | 
|
|
The Last Seduction Background: Starting out as an assistant director and storyboard artist, director and screenwriter John Dahl had helmed several shorts and music videos before entering the cinematic industry with the critically acclaimed “Kill Me Again” (1989), from which he picked up a Grand Prix at the 1990 Cognac Film Festival. He gained further recognition with the art house hit “Red Rock West” (1993), which earned nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards for his direction and writing (shared with his brother Rick Dahl) and the thriller “The Last Seduction” (1994), from which he netted a Cognac Festival du Film Policier Award, a Directors Guild of America nomination and a Mystfest nomination. He also won the 1994 Los Angeles Film Critics Association New Generation Award for the films. Dahl's subsequent film credits include “Unforgettable” (1996), “Rounders” (1998, received a Golden Lion nomination at the Venice Film Festival), “Joy Ride” (2001), “The Great Raid” (2005) and “You Kill Me” (2007). Since 2007, Dahl has primarily focused on television and has directed episodes of “Battlestar Galactica,” “True Blood,” “Dexter,” “Californication,” “United States of Tara” and “The Vampire Diaries,” among other shows. Dahl was awarded the 2003 Franklin J. Schaffner Award by his alma mater, the American Film Institute. He is good friends with director Francis Ford Coppola and married Beth Jana Friedberg. The couple has four kids.
Childhood and Family: The second of four children, John Dahl was born in Billings, Montana, in 1956. His brother is filmmaker Rick Dahl, with whom he co-wrote “Red Rock West” (1993). John studied art and music at the University of Montana before transferring to Montana State University's School of Film and Photography, from which he received a degree in film. While at MSU, he studied drama under Bill Pullman and played guitar in the punk rock band The Pugs. In addition, he met future wife Beth Jana Friedberg there. After graduating from MSU, he and Beth relocated to Los Angeles to attend the American Film Institute Conservatory where John enrolled in the directors program and his wife studied cinematography. They graduated from AFI in 1982. John and his wife have four children together.
Career: While a film student at Montana State University, John Dahl created his first feature, “The Death Mutants,” (1980) with a budget of $12,000. After graduating from the directing program at Los Angeles' AFI Conservatory, he began his career as an assistant director for “The Dungeonmaster” (1984). He then worked as a storyboard artist on the Jonathan Demme films “Something Wild” (1986, starred Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith and Ray Liotta) and “Married to the Mob” (1988, starred Alec Baldwin, Michelle Pfeiffer and Joan Cusack). In 1987, he made his debut as a screenwriter with “P.I. Private Investigations,” a thriller directed by Nigel Dick. He co-wrote the script with David Warfield. Throughout the 1980s, Dahl directed some short movies, including “The Ugliest Family in the World.” He also directed music videos for artists like Kool & the Gang and the multi instrumentalist Joe Satriani. Dahl, however, did not make his professional feature directing debut until 1989 when he directed “Kill Me Again,” a thriller he co-wrote with his brother Rick. The film, starring Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley and Michael Madsen, was largely dismissed by audiences but gained critical acclaim. It won a Grand Prix at the 1990 Cognac Film Festival in France. In 1993, Dahl resurfaced with “Red Rock West,” which he co-wrote with his brother. Starring Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle and J.T. Walsh, the drama was shown at the Toronto Film Festival and later released to select theatres as an art house hit. For his work on the film, Dahl was nominated for the 1995 Independent Spirit Awards in the categories of Best Director and Best Screenplay. The film also earned a 1995 Saturn nomination for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film. Dahl next directed Linda Fiorentino, Bill Pullman and Peter Berg in his third feature, “The Last Seduction” (1994), which was written by Steve Barancik. A story about a corrupt sociopath, Bridget Gregory (played by Fiorentino), who steals $700,000 from her drug dealing husband Clay (played by Pullman), the film was a critical success and received various awards and nominations, including an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, a BAFTA Film nomination for Best Actress and a Directors Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials. Fiorentino's performance yielded talk of a potential Academy nomination but she was disqualified because the film was broadcasted on cable television (HBO) before it was released to theaters. Adding to his DGA nomination, Dahl received a Critics Award at the 1994 Cognac Festival du Film Policier and a Best Film nomination at the 1994 Mystfest. After directing an episode of Showtime's series “Fallen Angles” called “Tomorrow I Die” (1995), Dahl directed Ray Liotta and Fiorentino in the movie “Unforgettable” (1996). The science fiction thriller premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 16, 1996, and was released theatrically in the U.S. seven days later. The film was a disappointment at the box office (earned only $3 million against its budget of $18 million), but praised by critics as one of the best works from Dahl. “Unforgettable” brought Dahl an Audience Award from the 1996 Cognac Festival du Film Policier. Dahl closed out the 1990s with “Rounders” (1998), a drama about the underground world of poker. Starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, the film received mixed reviews from critics and was a modest success at the box office. It has since become a cult hit. Dahl earned a Golden Lion nomination at the 1998 Venice Film Festival for his work on “Rounders.” In 2001, Dahl returned to the director's chair to helm Paul Walker, Steve Zahn, Leelee Sobieski, Ted Levine and Jessica Bowman in the movie “Joy Ride,” which was co-produced and co-written by J. J. Abrams. The film was well received by critics and opened at No. 5 at the U.S. box office. After “Joy Ride,” Dahl did not direct another film until 2005's “The Great Raid.” An epic war movie based on the book of the same name by William Breuer, “The Great Raid” was a box office flop. The film starred Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes, James Franco, Connie Nielsen, Motoki Kobayashi and Cesar Montano. The same year, he also directed two episodes of the dramatic series “Tilt.” In 2007, Dahl directed a television series pilot titled “The Line-Up” (TNT) and made his return to the silver screen with “You Kill Me” (also 2007). The dramatic comedy starred Ben Kingsley, Luke Wilson, Philip Baker Hall, Dennis Farina and Bill Pullman. Also starring Téa Leoni, who produced the film, the movie was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival and the CineVegas International Film Festival before receiving a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on June 22, 2007. It received lukewarm reviews from critics but won the 2008 Prism Award for Feature Film - Limited Release. Following “You Kill Me,” Dahl concentrated on television. He directed episodes of “Life” (1 episode, 2007), “Fear Itself” (1 episode, 2009), “Battlestar Galactica” (1 episode, 2009), “United States of Tara” (2 episodes, 2009), “Breaking Bad” (1 episode, 2009), “True Blood” (4 episodes, 2008-2010), “The Vampire Diaries” (2 episodes, 2009-2010), “Justified” (1 episode, 2010), “Hellcats” (1 episode, 2010) and “Terriers” (1 episode, 2010). On Showtime's series “Dexter,” Dahl directed the episodes “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” “Go Your Own Way (both 2008), “Dex Takes a Holiday,” “Hungry Man” (both 2009) and “Hello, Bandit” (2010). He also directed several episodes of another Showtime series, the dramatic comedy “Californication,” which was created by Tom Kapinos and executive produced by Kapinos, Stephen Hopkins and star David Duchovny.
|
|
|
