Robert Zemeckis

Director and producer Robert Zemeckis is responsible for the Back to the Future film series, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump and Castaway, among other popular films. He tends to work with state-of-the-art effects technology, and his recent work in films such as The Polar Express and Beowulf has pioneered the use of "motion capture" animation.

Fast Facts:

1. Born May 14, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois
2. Spouse: Leslie Harter Zemeckis
3. Produced the series Tales From the Crypt
4. Donated $5 million to USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts
5. Directed What Lies Beneath in the midst of filming Castaway

Education and Background

Zemeckis studied film at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. There he met future collaborator Bob Gale, who would work with Zemeckis on Back to the Future. After winning a Student Academy Award for a film he made at USC, Zemeckis came to the attention of Steven Spielberg, who produced his first two feature films - I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars - and brought him in as a writer on the Spielberg-directed 1941. Though now well-regarded, these films were, at the time, commercial disappointments.

Hollywood Success

In 1984, Zemeckis was hired by actor/producer Michael Douglas to helm the adventure film Romancing the Stone, starring Douglas and Kathleen Turner. The movie was a hit and allowed Zemeckis to kickstart a project of his own that he had written years before - the sci-fi comedy Back to the Future. The blockbuster film inspired two sequels, released in 1989 and 1990, and, along with the animation/live-action blend Who Framed Roger Rabbit, made Zemeckis' reputation as a writer-director.

Zemeckis had arguably his biggest success in 1994, with the release of Forrest Gump. It went on to become the top-grossing American film of that year, and netted six Academy Awards - including Best Actor for star Tom Hanks, Best Director for Zemeckis and Best Picture.

Motion Capture

In 2004, Zemeckis and Hanks reteamed for The Polar Express, filmed using a technology called "performance capture," which animated a sequence using an actor's actual filmed movements and expressions. Zemeckis followed this up with another performance capture film, the 3-D adaptation of Beowulf, as well as producing a third film using the technology, 2006's Monster House. He's currently working on a performance-capture adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey.

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