Born in Czechoslovakia, producer/director Ivan Reitman was raised
in Canada by his concentration camp-survivor parents. After majoring
in music at McMasters University, Reitman got his first taste of
the line of work that was to bring him fame and fortune when he
attended summer classes at the National Film Board. Here he directed
his first short subjects, one of which received mainstream distribution.
Encouraged by the Film Board to follow his own creative muse, Reitman
was irresistibly attracted to "dangerous," cutting-edge
material. His first feature-length directorial project, a 1970 adaptation
of the notorious sub rosa Victorian sex novel My Secret Life, nearly
landed him in jail. He went on to direct, produce, edit, and score
the mildly exploitive Foxy Lady (1971), then directed and produced
the horror semi-spoof Cannibal Girls (1973); the latter project
represented his first cinematic contact with the famed Second City
comedy troupe. In between handling the producing chores on several
early David Cronenberg movie projects, Reitman produced Doug Henning's
1974 Broadway musical The Magic Show, then renewed his acquaintance
with the Second City folk by producing The National Lampoon Show
(1975). He helped elevate John Belushi to film stardom with his
spectacularly successful 1978 production National Lampoon's Animal
House, then did the same for Bill Murray in his 1979 directorial
effort Meatballs, which ended up the biggest-grossing Canadian film
of the year. After flirting with the Cinema of the Fantastic in
his productions Heavy Metal (1981) and Spacehunter: Adventures in
the Forbidden Zone (1983), Reitman deftly combined fantasy and comedy
with his direction of the 1984 cash cow Ghostbusters (once more
populated with Second City stalwarts, notably Dan Aykroyd, Bill
Murray, Rick Moranis, and Harold Ramis). Though he has earned his
comic stripes as a director, Reitman continues to produce and executive
produce other director's projects, notably the runaway hit Beethoven
(1991). While he seems to have an unerring Midas touch, not every
Reitman project has turned to box-office gold: After helping to
give Arnold Schwarzenegger a lighter, more amusing image in Kindergarten
Cop (1990), he failed to do same with Sylvester Stallone in Stop!
Or My Mom Will Shoot (1991); nor was the Schwarzenegger-Danny De
Vito vehicle Junior (1994) able to match the success of the stars'
earlier pairing in Reitman's Twins (1988). After a few ups and downs
in the early '90s, Reitman was way back up with Dave (1993), an
uncharacteristically low-key political satire. Thus far, Ivan Reitman's
number one unrealized project is a live-action feature based on
the cartoon character Inspector Gadget. In the summer of 2001, the
man who brought fans Ghostbusters was back with another summer sci-fi
comedy extravaganza, Evolution.
Filmography - producer
Untitled Trailer Park Boys Project (2005) (pre-production) (executive
producer)
Pink Panther, The (2005) (post-production) (producer)
EuroTrip (2004) (executive producer)
Old School (2003) (executive producer)
Killing Me Softly (2002) (executive producer)
"Alienators: Evolution Continues" (2001) TV Series (executive
producer)
Evolution (2001) (producer)
Road Trip (2000) (executive producer)
First Gentleman, The (1999) (TV) (executive producer)
Six Days Seven Nights (1998) (producer)
Mummies Alive! The Legend Begins (1998) (V) (executive producer)
Fathers' Day (1997) (producer)
Commandments (1997) (executive producer)
Private Parts (1997) (producer)
Space Jam (1996) (producer)
Late Shift, The (1996) (TV) (executive producer)
"Beethoven" (1994) TV Series (executive producer)
Junior (1994) (producer)
Beethoven's 2nd (1993) (executive producer)
Dave (1993) (producer)
Beethoven (1992) (executive producer)
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) (producer)
Kindergarten Cop (1990) (producer)
Ghostbusters II (1989) (producer)
Twins (1988) (producer)
Feds (1988) (executive producer)
Casual Sex? (1988) (executive producer)
Big Shots (1987) (executive producer)
Legal Eagles (1986) (producer)
Ghost Busters (1984) (producer)
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983) (executive
producer)
Heavy Metal (1981) (producer)
Stripes (1981) (producer)
"Delta House" (1979/I) TV Series (executive producer)
Animal House (1978) (producer)
Blackout (1978) (executive producer)
Tigress (1977) (producer)
Rabid (1977) (executive producer)
Death Weekend (1976) (producer)
Shivers (1975) (producer)
Cannibal Girls (1973) (executive producer)
Foxy Lady (1971) (producer)
Columbus of Sex, The (1969) (producer)
Orientation (1968) (producer)
