Bruce Rubin
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"People are so sleepy in so many ways. They go through life in such a dreamlike state. One of the reasons I wanted to make ["My Life"] was to bring death into public view. Knowing death allows you to have some awareness of life." --Bruce Joel Rubin quoted in Premiere, December 1993.
"Many people's lives are based on the movies they see. And I, as a Hollywood filmmaker, have this incredible access to a mass audience. I have two hours to talk to the world. I want that two hours to be a personal expression, not corporate entertainment, which is empty entertainment. It's a meal without nourishment. I want to find new ways to get old messages across." --Rubin quoted in Movieline, December 1993.
Biography
A Hollywood screenwriter who is drawn to emotional material incorporating spiritual and fantastic elements, Bruce Joel Rubin began working in films as co-director with Brian De Palma of "Dionysus in 69" and as an assistant director on De Palma's "Hi, Mom!" (both 1970). Following a turn as an assistant film editor at NBC, Rubin embarked on a quest for spiritual enlightenment which included stints on the Greek isle of Paros and in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Nepal. After three months of study at the latter, he was given 48 hours to leave by the Nepalese government, who suspected Rubin of being a CIA operative. Although the stay was cut short, its influence would be manifested in much of his subsequent screen work. Indeed, Rubin has made a good living from musing about death.
Back in New York, Rubin worked first as an associate curator and later advanced to head of the film department at the Whitney Museum. He and his wife (an art professor) next moved to the Midwest where he earned his graduate degree and wrote a screenplay, "The George Dunlap Tape." He planned to direct it himself, but once the financing fell through, it was optioned by Douglas Trumbull and was eventually made into Natalie Wood's swan song, "Brainstorm" (1983). The film's most memorable sequence depicted the dreamy sights and sounds of a woman's after-death experience.
Frustrated by his inability to work with Hollywood from the Midwest, Rubin moved to L.A. His first produced screenplay, "Deadly Friend" (1986), directed by Wes Craven, was an oddball teen horror film about a bright young lad who reanimates his dead girlfriend. 1990 was Rubin's breakthrough year: he wrote and served as associate producer on both "Ghost" and "Jacob's Ladder." The former featured Patrick Swayze as a murder victim who has unfinished business with his girlfriend (Demi Moore). This diverting romantic fantasy grossed over $200 million and netted a Best Screenplay Oscar for Rubin. The less successful, but more ambitious, "Jacob's Ladder" depicted the surreal hallucinations of a Vietnam vet trying to cope with life and love as a civilian. The film was abetted by the glossy direction of Adrian Lyne and a powerful central performance by Tim Robbins.
Rubin also contributed to the psychodramas "Deceived" and "Sleeping with the Enemy" (both 1991). Unhappy with the results, he was credited as "Derek Saunders" for the former and uncredited for the latter. At the age of 50, Rubin finally made his solo directorial debut with "My Life" (1993), an emotional drama starring Michael Keaton as a terminally ill man preparing for death by videotaping his final months for his unborn child.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Sound (Feature Film)
Life Events
1970
Made film debut as an assistant director on "Hi, Mom!"
1970
Feature co-directorial debut (with Brian De Palma and Robert Fiore), "Dionysus in 69"
1976
Wrote the screenplay, "The George Dunlap Tape"
1983
First story credit, "Brainstorm"
1986
First screenplay credit, "Deadly Friend"
1990
Penned the screenplay for Adrian Lyne's "Jacob's Ladder"
1990
Received acclaim for his screenplay, "Ghost"
1991
Wrote the screenplay for "Deceived" (credited as Derek Saunders)
1993
Made directorial debut with "My Life"; also wrote the screenplay and produced
1998
Penned the sci-fi feature, "Deep Impact"
2002
Received a writing credit for the film, "Stuart Little 2"
2007
Credited as a writer on the film, "The Last Mimzy"
2009
Contributed re-writes for the screenplay adaptation of "The Time Traveler's Wife"
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"People are so sleepy in so many ways. They go through life in such a dreamlike state. One of the reasons I wanted to make ["My Life"] was to bring death into public view. Knowing death allows you to have some awareness of life." --Bruce Joel Rubin quoted in Premiere, December 1993.
"Many people's lives are based on the movies they see. And I, as a Hollywood filmmaker, have this incredible access to a mass audience. I have two hours to talk to the world. I want that two hours to be a personal expression, not corporate entertainment, which is empty entertainment. It's a meal without nourishment. I want to find new ways to get old messages across." --Rubin quoted in Movieline, December 1993.
