Rodney Rothman

Rodney Rothman
Rothman at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Occupation(s)Filmmaker, writer

Rodney Rothman is an American filmmaker and author. He is known for his work on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, 22 Jump Street, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, Undeclared, and Late Show with David Letterman.

He has been nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, and also wrote the scripts for Grudge Match, 22 Jump Street and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which served as his feature directorial debut.

Rothman is the author of the best-selling nonfiction humor book Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement. His writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, GQ, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, and McSweeney's Quarterly. His piece "My Fake Job" was included in The Best American Nonrequired Reading.

His work on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse earned him the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and Annie Awards for Directing and Writing in a Feature Production.

Career

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In 2005, Rothman wrote the book Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement.[1] He has been nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, and also wrote the scripts for Grudge Match, 22 Jump Street and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which served as his feature directorial debut. He co-directed the film with Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey, and co-wrote with Phil Lord. His work on the film earned him the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and Annie Awards for Directing and Writing in a Feature Production.

In 2021, Rothman partnered with former MGM Co-President of Production Adam Rosenberg to form Modern Magic, a media company focused "on creating event entertainment for the 21st-century audience, across animation and live-action". Upcoming projects include collaborations with Stephen Curry, Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell, Neal Stephenson, Ricky Williams, Junji Ito, an original animated feature inspired by the music of the late rapper Juice WRLD, an animated feature based on the SXSW award-winning short film Nuevo Rico, another animated series with hour-long episodes based on Wendy and Richard Pini’s influential comic series Elfquest, and a live-action feature that Quinta Brunson is currently scripting for Sony Pictures.[2]

In August 2022, Rothman revealed on Twitter that he was the person who Chris Farley picked up and threw into a dumpster during Farley's appearance on Late Show with David Letterman in February 1996. Rothman was a writer at the Late Show at the time.[3]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Writer Producer Notes
1995–2000 Late Show with David Letterman Yes Yes Apprentice writer (1995–1996);
Staff writer (1996–1998);
Head writer (1998–2000);
Producer (1999–2000)[4]
2001–2002 Undeclared Yes supervising
2004 Game Over No consultant
$5.15/hr. Yes executive TV pilot for HBO
2005 Early Bird No executive Creator;
TV pilot for NBC
Committed Yes supervising
2006 Help Me Help You Yes executive
The 78th Annual Academy Awards Yes No
TBA The Promised Neverland No executive Director[5]

Film

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Year Title Director Writer Notes
2013 Grudge Match No Yes
2014 22 Jump Street No Yes
2018 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Yes Yes Co-director with Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey

Producer

References

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  1. ^ 'Something' Discovered in Space... It's a Horror/Comedy!
  2. ^ Grobar, Matt (July 20, 2021). "Modern Magic: Adam Rosenberg & Rodney Rothman Launch Company Focused On Event Animation And Live-Action". Deadline.
  3. ^ @rodneyrothman (August 15, 2022). "Register" (Tweet). Retrieved August 29, 2023 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Modest Proposal Interview
  5. ^ Sherman, Jennifer (June 11, 2020). "Amazon Develops The Promised Neverland Live-Action Series". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  6. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 30, 2024). "'Goat': Sony Pictures Animation Sets Release Tied To 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend From Director Tyree Dillihay; Stephen Curry & Erick Peyton's Unanimous Media". Deadline. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
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