2. Bryan Singer
Bryan Singer was born in New York City, and was adopted by Grace Sinden, an environmental
activist, and Norbert Dave Singer, a corporate executive. He grew up in a Jewish household in West
Windsor Township, New Jersey. He attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (formerly
just West Windsor-Plainsboro High School), graduating in 1984. For college, Singer studied
filmmaking for two years at New York's School of Visual Arts and later transferred to the USC School
of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles. Actors Lori and Marc Singer are his cousins.
After graduating, Singer directed a short film called Lion's Den involving a number of friends,
including actor Ethan Hawke whom he knew from his childhood in New Jersey and Editor John
Ottman who he had met while working on a friend's short film.
Bryan Singer Awards in success
After a screening of Lion's Den, Singer was approached by someone who knew of a Japanese
company that funded low-budget films. Singer wrote the concept for Public Access with high school
friend Christopher Mc Quarrie, and fellow USC student Michael Feit Dougan wrote the first draft in
ten days about a supposedly idyllic small town. Ottman again served as editor but this time also
composed the score for the film. At the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, the film was named as co-winner
of the Grand Jury Prize.
While attending the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, Singer and Mc Quarrie began discussing an idea
that Mc Quarrie had for a story where "five criminals meet in a police line-up". The film, The Usual
Suspects, won a number of awards including the 1995 BAFTA Award for Best Film and Saturn
Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film. Writer Mc Quarrie won the Academy Award for Writing
Original Screenplay and the BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay, composer/editor Ottman won
the BAFTA Award for Best Editing and the Saturn Award for Best Music and actor Kevin
Spacey won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Singer was initially approached by 20th Century Fox to direct X-Men after directing The Usual
Suspects, but not being a fan of comics and being unaware of the characters, Singer turned them
down. However his friend, Tom De Santo, a big fan of the comics and partner in his production
company Bad Hat Harry Productions, eventually persuaded Singer to reconsider and, after readin g
the comics and becoming familiar with the characters, Singer signed on to direct. Rejecting all the
scripts and storylines that were developed over a decade of failed production attempts, Singer
developed the story for the film with De Santo in a week and then worked on the script with
writers Ed Solomon, Christopher Mc Quarrie, Joss Whedon, and finally David Hayter (who had
started out as Singer's driver). Only Hayter received onscreen credit for writing the film. Singer won
the 2000 Saturn Award for Best Direction for X-Men.
3. Post Usual Suspects
In June 2002 filming began on X-men 2 in Canada with Singer again directing, this time from a
screenplay written by David Hayter, Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty. In 2004, X-men 2 was
nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, but lost to Peter
Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
In 2002, having learned that Singer was a lifelong Star Trek fan, Patrick Stewart arranged for Singer
to visit the set of Star Trek Nemesis and appear in the finished film as a Starfleet officer on the
bridge of the Enterprise.
On November 16, 2004, a new medical drama debuted on FOX called House, with Singer attached
as an executive producer. He also directed the pilot and the third episode, then appeared in a brief
cameo as himself in the twelfth episode.
In mid-2004, Singer was in negotiations to direct X-Men The Last Stand for Fox. Fox and Singer
could not meet an agreement and, after an extended agreement, Singer was offered the chance to
direct the new Superman film, which was ready to go. On July 19, 2004, Variety reported that Singer
had signed on to direct Superman Returns for Warner Bros. In retaliation; Fox terminated their
production deal with Bad Hat Harry Productions, Singer's production company. Superman
Returns was filmed in Australia in 2005, and was released on June 28, 2006.
Before embarking on the Superman sequel, Singer openly discussed helming a smaller project
going back to the days of thrillers The Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil. In late 2006,
screenwriter Christopher Mc Quarrie presented to Singer a story that took place in World War
II, Valkyrie. In the following months, the two collaborated on the project, an original thriller that would
be a multi-character ensemble piece. In March 2007, the duo brought the project directly to United
Artists partners Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise, who immediately agreed to finance the film. The
script is based on the actual events of German generals plotting to assassinate Adolf
Hitler during World War II. Singer invited Tom Cruise to take the lead role, which Cruise accepted.
Filming began on July 19, 2007 in Berlin, and the movie was released on December 25, 2008.
After that Singer was scheduled to jump directly into the upcoming Superman sequel, which was to
begin filming around March 2008. Attending the 2007 Saturn Awards along with Superman
Returns writers Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and producer Gil Adler, Singer stated that the story
had been locked down, and the first draft would be completed near the end of 2007.
4. In August 2009, Universal Pictures announced that Singer would direct and produce a big screen
reima of the Battle star Galactica television series. On September 10, 2009, it was announced NBC
has partnered with Bryan Singer and Bryan Fuller to adapt Augusten Burroughs's Sellevision into a
series. The one-hour dramatic comedy, to be written by Fuller and directed by Singer, will focus on
the inner workings of a fictional home shopping network, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
At the premiere of James Cameron's Avatar on December 16, 2009, Singer confirmed that he would
be directing Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) for Warner Bros., and that he had signed on to do X-Men:
First Class but conflicts between the two projects led to Singer being only a producer and co-screenwriter
on First Class, with Matthew Vaughn taking over directorial duties. In October 2012, it
was announced that Singer would direct the next movie in the series, X-Men: Days of Future Past;
Vaughn stayed on as a producer and screenwriter, and the film was released in May 2014.
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Singer
.
