Rob Cohen
{{Short description|American film director and producer}}
{{About|the film director|other people with the same name|Rob Cohen (disambiguation){{!}}Rob Cohen}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rob Cohen
| image = US Navy 040618-N-6817C-090 Director Rob Cohen visits with Commanding Officer, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Capt. Kendall L. Card, on the bridge after the completion of filming, the upcoming motion picture Stealth (cropped).JPG
| imagesize =
| caption = Cohen on the bridge of the {{USS|Abraham Lincoln|CVN-72}} in 2004
| birth_name = Robert Alan Cohen
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|3|12}}
| birth_place = Cornwall, New York, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Diane Mitzner|1986|1987|end=div}}
- {{marriage|Barbara Cohen|2006}}
}}
| children =
| occupation = Producer, director, screenwriter
| alma_mater = Harvard University
| years_active = 1975–present
| notable_works = Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Dragonheart
Daylight
The Skulls
The Fast and the Furious
XXX
Stealth
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
}}
Robert Alan Cohen (born March 12, 1949) is an American director and producer of film and television. Beginning his career as an executive producer at 20th Century Fox, Cohen produced and developed numerous high-profile film and television programs, including Dragonheart, The Wiz, The Witches of Eastwick and Light of Day until he began focusing on full-time directing in the 1990s. He directed the action films The Fast and the Furious and XXX.
Early life and career
Robert Alan Cohen was born in New York, son of Irwin and Beatrice Franz Cohen.[https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/baltimoresun/obituary.aspx?n=beatrice-f-cohen&pid=1037784 Baltimore Sun "Beatrice F. Cohen Obituary" May 23, 2003] In 1967 he graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in Newburgh, New York,{{cite news |last1=Lussier |first1=Germain |title=Rob Cohen, Newburgh native, directs 'The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor' |url=https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/2008/08/03/rob-cohen-newburgh-native-directs/52314126007/ |access-date=31 August 2022 |work=Times Herald-Record |date=August 3, 2008}} where he was president of the Punchinello drama club, member of the JV golf team, editor of the Colonnade literary magazine and a member of the National Honor Society.Graduate, Newburgh Free Academy 1967 Yearbook, "Class of 1967 profiles", published 1967 He attended Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude in the class of 1971, after transferring from Amherst College after two years{{cite web|publisher=Hollywood.com|title=Rob Cohen|date=May 12, 2017 |url=http://www.hollywood.com/celebrities/rob-cohen-57298408/}} concentrating in a cross major between anthropology and visual studies. His first endeavor in filmmaking was a commissioned recruiting film for Harvard's Admissions Office in 1970, which became his senior thesis. He is Jewish.{{Cite web | url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pc/Rob_Cohen.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210025831/http://www.adherents.com/people/pc/Rob_Cohen.html | url-status=usurped | archive-date=February 10, 2006 |title = The religion of director Rob Cohen}}
Upon graduation, Cohen immediately headed to Los Angeles to work as a screenwriter for Martin Jurow but soon found himself unemployed when the producer moved out of state.
After a six-month stint as a kennel boy at the Harvey Animal Hospital in West Hollywood to make ends meet, Cohen landed a job as a reader for then-agent Mike Medavoy. Six weeks into his tenure at International Famous Agency (now part of ICM), he distinguished himself by discovering an unheralded script he found in a slush pile of neglected screenplays. Recognizing its quality, commerciality and uniqueness, Cohen wrote in his coverage that it was "the great American screenplay and this will make an award-winning, major-cast, major-director film." He championed the piece relentlessly, with his own job at stake, as Medavoy said that he would try to sell it on that recommendation, but promising to fire Cohen if he could not. Universal bought it that afternoon for a record price, and it became the Academy Award winning movie The Sting (1973). Cohen still keeps the coverage framed on the wall of his office, as this gave him his first identity in Hollywood: "the kid who found The Sting."{{cite web|title=Screenings: 'The Sting' as part of Paul Newman Retrospective|date=November 21, 2008|first=Germain|last=Lussier|website=Recordonline.com|url=http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081121/ENTERTAIN/811210331}}
Film career
= Producing =
With a career in film and television spanning more than 40 years, Cohen has distinguished himself as a celebrated screenwriter, producer and director. In 1973, 20th Century Fox Television hired Cohen as Head of Current Programming helping out with, among other shows, the first year of the epic hit, M*A*S*H. Eager to push Fox into 'long form', Cohen cold-called the head of ABC and introduced himself as 'the head of television movies at Fox'. Barry Diller gave him a meeting where he sold two TV films on the spot, properties he had found in the voluminous books of Fox's unproduced properties. A week later, he duplicated the feat at CBS under Philip Barry. Fox president, William Edwin Self, was not happy that a junior employee had garnered these commitments without permission but grudgingly gave Cohen the title Vice President of TV Movies.{{cite web|website=Tribute.ca|title=Rob Cohen|url=http://www.tribute.ca/people/rob-cohen/4060/}}
Diller recommended Cohen to his friend impresario, songwriter, producer and record label founder Berry Gordy who was looking to bring his company Motown into the film business. He and Gordy connected and he was hired to be the Executive Vice President and head of Motown's motion picture division.{{cite web|title=Rob Cohen|publisher=Fandango Media|url=http://www.fandango.com/people/rob-cohen-126934/biography}}
Cohen went to work and developed the first Motown movie from his own idea about the burgeoning phenomenon of African American Super Models he felt was perfect for Motown star Diana Ross. He sold the package to Paramount and in 1974, the cameras rolled on Mahogany in Chicago and Rome. At the same time, he developed a unique film from the Bill Brashler novel The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) starring Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor. To direct, he hired a then unknown TV director John Badham to make his feature debut, a critical hit set in the 1930s Negro National League (1920–1931) (twenty years later, he and Badham would partner again to make a number of successful films at Universal Studios).
Departing Motown in 1978, Cohen went on to produce and direct films and television series, including Miami Vice, Light of Day,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B0DE0D7103CF935A35751C0A961948260|title=FILM: 'LIGHT OF DAY,' A ROCK SAGA|author=Maslin, Janet|author-link=Janet Maslin|date=February 6, 1987|work=The New York Times}} The Witches of Eastwick, Ironweed, and The Wiz.
On October 8, 1986, Rob Cohen was elected vice chairman of Keith Barish Productions, which produced feature films in a pact with Tri-Star Pictures, and previously served as president of the film studio.{{Cite news|date=October 8, 1986|title=Cohen Barish Chair|page=5|work=Variety}}
= Directing =
From 1990 onwards, Cohen moved into directing full-time. Much success followed with early 1990s films such as Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Dragonheart, Daylight and the Golden Globe award-winning film The Rat Pack.
In March 1997, NBC announced that it had filmed a pilot episode for a proposed television drama series named The Angel (later renamed The Guardian), for its fall 1997 schedule.{{Cite web |date=1997-03-27 |title=The Rutherford Courier from Smyrna, Tennessee |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/675095288/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=1997-03-30 |title=Citizen Register from Ossining, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/905798221/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}} The premise of the show, which was written and directed by Rob Cohen, had Thomas Ian Griffith starring as Ray Angelotti (known as The Guardian Angel), an ex-thief and martial arts expert with a sixth-degree Kenpo Karate black belt, who comes out of prison determined to right wrongs and make up for his past misdeeds.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272974/reference/ |title=The Guardian (TV Movie 1997) - IMDb |access-date=2025-01-12 |via=www.imdb.com}} The show was not picked up.
At 52, Cohen had become an action director, directing the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious. The film was a hit, opening with $40 million its first weekend,{{cite web|publisher=Box Office Mojo|title=The Fast and the Furious|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=fastandfurious.htm}} starring relative unknowns Paul Walker and Vin Diesel.
With the success of The Fast and the Furious, Cohen partnered up with Diesel again the following year to direct xXx (in which he gave Thomas Ian Griffith a small role).
He then directed the science fiction action film Stealth (2005), which was a critical and commercial failure.{{Cite web|title=Stealth Rob Cohen {{!}} Exclaim!|url=https://exclaim.ca/film/article/stealth-rob_cohen-2|access-date=2021-06-19|website=exclaim.ca|language=en-ca}}
In 2008, he directed the third installment of The Mummy, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, grossing $403 million worldwide,{{cite web|title=The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor|publisher=Box Office Mojo|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mummy3.htm}} and he directed Blumhouse Productions' The Boy Next Door starring Jennifer Lopez in 2015.
Cohen is also a director of commercials, housed at Original Film, having made over 150 television commercials for products such Disney's Star Wars, Verizon, Ford, GM, Mercedes, Chevy, Saab and Burger King among many others.
Sexual abuse allegations
{{See also|Weinstein effect}}
On February 21, 2019, Cohen's trans daughter, Valkyrie Weather, accused Cohen of sexually assaulting her as a child, as well as sexually assaulting another woman.{{Cite web|first=Charley |last=Lanyon|url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/2187262/fast-and-furious-rob-cohen-accused-sexually-assaulting-his|title=The Fast and the Furious' Rob Cohen accused of sexually assaulting daughter – 'there's nothing he can take away that he hasn't already'|website=www.scmp.com|date=February 22, 2019}} Weather further claimed that Cohen had taken her to visit sex workers in Thailand and the Czech Republic when she was 12, supposedly in an attempt to "turn [her] straight". Although Cohen categorically denied these claims in a later statement, Dianna Mitzner, Cohen's former wife and Weather's mother, confirmed that she had witnessed at least one incident of sexual assault against Weather as a child.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/director-rob-cohens-daughter-accuses-him-sexual-assault-1188892|title=Director Rob Cohen's Daughter Accuses Him of Sexual Assault|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=February 22, 2019 }} Another allegation of sexual assault was published by HuffPost on September 28, 2019. Cohen's lawyer denied any wrongdoing.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rob-cohen-fast-furious-director-sexual-assault_n_5d408c0de4b01d8c978286ee|title='The Fast And The Furious' Director Rob Cohen Accused Of Sexual Assault|last1=Boboltz|first1=Sara|last2=Schulberg|first2=Jessica|date=September 28, 2019|website=HuffPost|language=en|access-date=October 6, 2019}}
On January 24, 2021, actress Asia Argento alleged that Cohen drugged her with Gamma-hydroxybutyrate and raped her during the filming of XXX. A representative of Cohen denied Argento's assault accusation as "absolutely false".{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/asia-argento-rob-cohen-sexual-assault-accusations-1234890955/|title=Asia Argento Accuses 'Fast And The Furious' Director Rob Cohen of Sexual Assault|last=Vivarelli|first=Nick|date=January 24, 2021|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=January 24, 2021}}
Filmography
= Film =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
!Title !width="65" |Director !width="65" |Writer !Notes |
|---|
| 1980
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 1984
| {{yes}} | {{yes}} | |
| 1993
| {{yes}} | {{yes}} | |
| rowspan=2|1996
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | Nominated – Sitges Maria Award for Best Film |
| Daylight
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 1998
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | Nominated – DGA Award for Outstanding Directing |
| 2000
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2001
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | Also executive soundtrack producer |
| rowspan=2|2002
| XXX | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| Tales from the Crypt: Ritual
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | |
| 2005
| Stealth | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2008
| The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2012
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2015
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2018
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
Producer
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Director ! Notes |
|---|
| 1975
| Mahogany | |
| 1976
| The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings | |
| rowspan=3|1978
| |
| Almost Summer
| |
| The Wiz
| |
| 1985
| Also 2nd unit director |
| 1987
| |
| 1990
|rowspan=2|John Badham |rowspan=2|Also 2nd unit director |
| 1991 |
Executive producer
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Director ! Notes |
|---|
| 1977
| |
| 1984
| |
| rowspan=4|1987
| |
| The Monster Squad
| |
| Ironweed
| |
| The Running Man
| |
| 1988
| Also 2nd unit director |
| 1989
| Jim Kouf | |
| 2005
| |
| 2015
| Ghoul | |
= Television =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! width=65|Director ! width=65|Writer ! width=65|Executive ! Notes |
|---|
| 1979
| Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill | {{no}} | {{no}} | {{yes}} | |
| 1984
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} | 3 episodes |
| rowspan=4|1987
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} | Episode "Look Homeward, Dirtbag" |
| Private Eye
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} | 4 episodes |
| A Year in the Life
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} | Episode "While Someone Else Is Eating or Opening a Window" |
| Thirtysomething
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} | 2 episodes |
| 1988
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} | 4 episodes |
| 1990
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} | Episode "Fire and Ice" |
| rowspan=2|1991
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} | Episode "Pilot" |
| Eddie Dodd
| {{yes}} | {{no}} | {{no}} | Episode "Love and Death" |
| 1994
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | Creator |
| 2004
| {{no}} | {{Partial|Story}} | {{yes}} | |
| 2014
| Topless Prophet | {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | |
= Music video =
- Rammstein for "Feuer frei!" (2002)
- Rammstein for "Lichtspielhaus" (2003)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
- {{IMDb name|0003418}}
- Rare 1989–1990 Footage of Rob Cohen Directing [http://mazmanian.net/video/nasty-boys/nastydays.mp4 Dick Wolf's "Nasty Boys"]
{{Rob Cohen}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Rob}}
Category:20th-century American Jews
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:20th-century American screenwriters
Category:21st-century American Jews
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:21st-century American screenwriters
Category:American action film directors
Category:American fantasy film directors
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:American male television writers
Category:American television writers
Category:American television directors
Category:Amherst College alumni
Category:Film directors from New York (state)
Category:Film producers from New York (state)
Category:Harvard College alumni
Category:Jewish American screenwriters
Category:Newburgh Free Academy alumni
Category:People from the Catskills
Category:People from Cornwall, New York
Category:People from Newburgh, New York
Category:Robert Meltzer Award winners
Category:Screenwriters from New York (state)