Boaz Yakin
About
Biography
Biography
The first feature for this Los Angeles-based screenwriter-director, "Fresh" (1994), was a gritty depiction of a 12-year-old Brooklyn drug runner. Yakin researched his script in the drug-ravaged communities of his native New York. The picture was generally well-received and projected its helmer into the forefront of young American independents. Yakin launched his career shortly after graduation from film school, moving West to pursue opportunities as a screenwriter. In L.A., he developed projects for United Artists, Warner Brothers and White Eagle Productions, Sylvester Stallone's production company. Yakin co-wrote an action flick, "The Punisher" (1989), for New World Pictures. Based on a popular Marvel Comics vigilante character, the film starred Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr. His second co-writing credit was on "The Rookie" (1990), an underperforming cop picture co-produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also starred with Charlie Sheen.
After the success of "Fresh," Yakin had several projects in development. After a three-year hiatus, he returned to the features writing and directing "A Price Above Rubies" (1998), starring Renee Zellweger as an Hasidic wife. In 2000 Yakin scored his first mainstream success as the director of "Remember the Titans," the inspired-by-true-events story from the early 1970s, centering around a newly appointed African-American football coach (Denzel Washington) struggling to create a team at a racially fractious, newly integrated high school. Mixing racial parables into a conventional sport film format, audiences found themselves rooting for tolerance as often as for touchdowns. Under Yakin's self-assured direction and fresh interpretation of familiar trappings, the film struck a chord with audiences and critics.
After a three-year absence from the screen, Yakin next delivered the female bonding comedy "Uptown Girls" (2003) starring Brittany Murphy as a newly-broke socialite who grows up when she becomes the nanny for a precocious but uptight young girl (Dakota Fanning). He next served as executive producer Eli Roth's second film, "Hostel" (2006), a brutal horror flick about two American college buddies (Jay Hernandez and Derek Richardson) lured to an out-of-the-way hostel in a Slovakian town rumored to house desperate, but beautiful Eastern European women. Following their wrong heads, both Americans get trapped in a truly sinister situation that plunges them into the dark recesses of human nature.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Life Events
1985
Moved to Los Angeles, CA
1989
First produced screenplay, "The Punisher"
1990
Wrote the screenplay for "The Rookie," starring Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen
1994
Made feature directing debut with "Fresh"; also penned screenplay
1998
Wrote and directed "A Price Above Rubies"
2000
First film that he directed but did not write, "Remember the Titans"
2003
Directed the comedy "Uptown Girls," starring Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning
2004
Wrote "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights," a prequel to the 1987 blockbuster "Dirty Dancing"
2009
Helmed the drama "Death in Love"; also penned screenplay
2010
Penned screenplay for "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," starring Jake Gyllenhaal
2012
Wrote and directed action thriller "Safe," starring Jason Statham
