John Carpenter: Bios: Roger Corman

ROGER CORMAN is an independent filmmaker/producer of more than 225 films and director of 50 others. Born in Detroit, Corman graduated from Beverly Hills High School and received a Bachelor degree in engineering from Stanford University. He took a job at 20th Century Fox and was soon promoted to story analyst at the studio. Disenchanted with studio protocol, he left Fox for England where he did postgraduate work in modern English literature at Oxford University’s Balliol College. Upon returning to Hollywood, Corman worked briefly as a literary agent.

In 1953, Corman sold his first screenplay and became the associate producer of a film for Allied Artists. The following year he completed his first feature as an independent producer, Monster From The Ocean Floor, for the unprecedented budget of $18,000. Corman followed with eight Vincent Price/Edgar Allan Poe horror classics. The French Film Institute honored him with a retrospective in 1964, where he became the youngest producer/director ever to receive such acclaim.

Corman’s many box-office hits helped American International Pictures become a major force. However, Corman opted to escape from major studio supervision, founding New World Pictures in 1970. New World released 11 films in the first year of operation, all of which showed substantial profits. The diverse product included action films Big Bad Mama and Eat My Dust; the cult hit Rock and Roll High School; and high quality foreign films by distinguished filmmakers Ingmar Bergman, Francois Truffaut, Frederico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa.

Corman sold New World Pictures in 1983, the next day announcing the formation of Concorde-New Horizons. His latest venture has released a slate of films including Space Raiders, Suburbia directed by Penelope Spheeris and Love Letters, a love story starring Jamie Lee Curtis.



		Roger Corman
	ROGER CORMAN is an independent filmmaker/producer of more than 225 films and director of 50 others. Born in Detroit, Corman graduated from Beverly Hills High School and received a Bachelor degree in engineering from Stanford University. He took a job at 20th Century Fox and was soon promoted to story analyst at the studio. Disenchanted with studio protocol, he left Fox for England where he did postgraduate work in modern English literature at Oxford University’s Balliol College. Upon returning to Hollywood, Corman worked briefly as a literary agent. In 1953, Corman sold his first screenplay and became the associate producer of a film for Allied Artists. The following year he completed his first feature as an independent producer, Monster From The Ocean Floor, for the unprecedented budget of $18,000. Corman followed with eight Vincent Price/Edgar Allan Poe horror classics. The French Film Institute honored him with a retrospective in 1964, where he became the youngest producer/director ever to receive such acclaim. Corman’s many box-office hits helped American International Pictures become a major force. However, Corman opted to escape from major studio supervision, founding New World Pictures in 1970. New World released 11 films in the first year of operation, all of which showed substantial profits. The diverse product included action films Big Bad Mama and Eat My Dust; the cult hit Rock and Roll High School; and high quality foreign films by distinguished filmmakers Ingmar Bergman, Francois Truffaut, Frederico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa. Corman sold New World Pictures in 1983, the next day announcing the formation of Concorde-New Horizons. His latest venture has released a slate of films including Space Raiders, Suburbia directed by Penelope Spheeris and Love Letters, a love story starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

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