Joe Dante

'Joe Dante' (qv) is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art. After a stint as a film reviewer, he began his filmmaking apprenticeship in 1974 as trailer editor for 'Roger Corman' (qv)'s New World Pictures. He made his directorial debut in 1976 with _Hollywood Boulevard (1976)_ (qv) (co-directed with 'Allan Arkush' (qv)), a thinly disguised spoof of New World exploitation pictures, shot in ten days for $60,000.In 1977 Dante made his solo debut as a film director with _Piranha (1978)_ (qv), which went on to become one of the company's biggest hits and was distributed throughout the rest of the world by United Artists. During his tenure at New World, Dante edited 'Ron Howard' (qv)'s directorial debut _Grand Theft Auto (1977)_ (qv) and co-wrote the original story for _Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)_ (qv).For Avco-Embassy Dante next directed the highly praised werewolf thriller _The Howling (1981)_ (qv), followed by the It's a Good Life segment of the episodic _Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)_ (qv).Having worked with 'Steven Spielberg' (qv) on Twilight Zone, Dante was chosen to helm one of the first Amblin Productions for Warner Bros. _Gremlins (1984)_ (qv) became a runaway hit and grossed more than $200 million worldwide.Dante followed up with _Explorers (1985)_ (qv) for Paramount, a sci-fi fantasy about three kids who build their own spaceship, and then _Innerspace (1987)_ (qv) for Guber/Peters, Amblin and Warner Bros., an action comedy in which miniaturized test pilot 'Dennis Quaid' (qv) is injected into the body of supermarket clerk 'Martin Short' (qv).'Tom Hanks' (qv) starred in Dante's next film for Imagine/Universal, _The 'Burbs (1989)_ (qv), which was followed by _Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)_ (qv) for Warner Bros. in 1990. _Matinee (1993)_ (qv) featuring 'John Goodman' (qv) as a huckster showman premiering his new horror film during the Cuban Missile Crisis, was a production of Dante and partner 'Michael Finnell' (qv)'s Renfield Productions for Universal in 1993.Dreamworks/Universal's Small Soldiers was released in 1998, followed in 2003 by Warner Bros. _Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)_ (qv) featuring one of Dante's favorite actors, Bugs Bunny.Dante's _Masters of Horror: Homecoming (2005)_ (qv), debuted in December 2005 to rave reviews from critics and audiences alike and was named to numerous "Top 10" critics lists. The Sitges and Brussels International Film Festivals both honored Homecoming with Special Jury Recognition 'Awards' (qv), and the New Yorker called it the best political film of 2005. More recent work includes _Masters of Horror: The Screwfly Solution (2006)_ (qv), and _CSI: NY: Boo (2007)_ (qv). His new 3D thriller, _The Hole (2009)_ (qv), for Bold Films recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it garnered the first-ever award for Best 3D Feature.Dante also produces the critically-acclaimed webisode/mobile phone series, Trailers from Hell.Along the way Dante contributed several comedy segments to the multi-part _Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)_ (qv) spoof produced by 'John Landis' (qv), and directed various episodes of the tv series _Amazing Stories (1985)_ (qv), _The Twilight Zone (1985)_ (qv), _Police Squad! (1982)_ (qv), _Night Visions (2001)_ (qv) and _Picture Windows (1994)_ (qv). He also directed the network pilots for _The Osiris Chronicles (1998)_ (qv) and the NBC series _Eerie, Indiana (1991)_ (qv), on which he was creative consultant throughout its run.Dante received Cable Ace nominations for his direction of Showtime's _Rebel Highway: Runaway Daughters (1994)_ (qv) and HBO's _The Second Civil War (1997)_ (qv).::Anonymous