Leigh Scott
Encyclopedia
Leigh Scott is an American
film director
, writer
, producer
, actor
and cinematographer
.
, he is the eldest of three children. He attended Rufus King High School
. He has two sisters, Erica and Amber, and is the son of Ben and Laura Slawner. In 1990, Scott moved to Los Angeles, California
to attend the USC School of Cinematic Arts
. Upon graduation in 1994, he went to work for Roger Corman
's Concorde Pictures. While working for Corman he learned the basics of low and no budget film production.
After leaving Concorde, he went on to produce, direct and star in two feature films Beach House and Art House. Neither film garnered financial or critical success.
After a brief hiatus, he returned to Los Angeles and went to work for independent production company The Asylum
. While at The Asylum, he worked on over fifteen films in a span of two years. He has become known for responding directly to his critics on IMDb.
Currently, Scott is the head of Blackthorn Industries L.L.C., a New York
based film production and distribution company. His films are produced under the Imaginarium Studios film banner.
genre, including horror film
s, sci-fi films and fantasy film
s.
Some films of his films include Bram Stoker's Dracula's Curse
, The Beast of Bray Road, Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers
, The 9/11 Commission Report
and Transmorphers
. He was the line producer and even made a brief appearance in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, one of three 2005
film adaptations of the H.G. Wells novel
.
Scott also directed and appeared in Pirates of Treasure Island
, an adaptation of the novel Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson
, in which Scott appeared as Ben Gunn
.
Scott has also appeared in other film productions by The Asylum
, including: Invasion of the Pod People
, The Apocalypse
, and Hillside Cannibals
.
His most recent production is The Witches of Oz
starring Christopher Lloyd
, Sean Astin
, Billy Boyd, Lance Henriksen
, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Combs
, and Ethan Embry
. The film is a modern adaptation of L.Frank Baum's world of Oz. It contains elements from the books The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
, The Magic of Oz
, Ozma of Oz
and The Road to Oz
.
's Big Hollywood, Scott has expressed his political views. He is a self described Libertarian
with some socially conservative views. His film The 9/11 Commission Report
was screened at the conservative Liberty Film Festival
. His columns have been quoted by Rush Limbaugh
, The New Yorker
, and The New York Times
and have been reposted on the popular conservative website Hot Air (news site)
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
.
Early life and career
Born in Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, he is the eldest of three children. He attended Rufus King High School
Rufus King High School
Rufus King International School--High School Campus, or Rufus King, is a public magnet high school located on the north side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, part of the Milwaukee Public Schools district. The school has been consecutively ranked the top public high school in the state of Wisconsin by...
. He has two sisters, Erica and Amber, and is the son of Ben and Laura Slawner. In 1990, Scott moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to attend the USC School of Cinematic Arts
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
. Upon graduation in 1994, he went to work for Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
's Concorde Pictures. While working for Corman he learned the basics of low and no budget film production.
After leaving Concorde, he went on to produce, direct and star in two feature films Beach House and Art House. Neither film garnered financial or critical success.
After a brief hiatus, he returned to Los Angeles and went to work for independent production company The Asylum
The Asylum
The Asylum is an American film studio and distributor which focuses on producing low-budget, usually direct-to-video productions. The studio has produced titles that capitalize on productions by major studios; these titles have been dubbed "mockbusters" by the press.-History:The Asylum was founded...
. While at The Asylum, he worked on over fifteen films in a span of two years. He has become known for responding directly to his critics on IMDb.
Currently, Scott is the head of Blackthorn Industries L.L.C., a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
based film production and distribution company. His films are produced under the Imaginarium Studios film banner.
Films
Besides the two comedies Beach House and Art House, his films have primarily been in the exploitation filmExploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
genre, including horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s, sci-fi films and fantasy film
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
s.
Some films of his films include Bram Stoker's Dracula's Curse
Bram Stoker's Dracula's Curse
Bram Stoker's Dracula's Curse is a 2006 horror film by The Asylum, written and directed by Leigh Scott. Despite featuring Bram Stoker's name in the title, the film is not directly based on any of his writings, but shares similarities to films such as Blade: Trinity, Dracula 2000, Underworld:...
, The Beast of Bray Road, Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers
Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers
Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers is a 2006 direct-to-DVD horror film by The Asylum, written and directed by Leigh Scott.-Plot:The film takes place in an undisclosed part of Florida, in which a priest, Father Thomas Bates , is called upon to help exorcise Gail Bowers , who has come to be...
, The 9/11 Commission Report
The 9/11 Commission Report (film)
The 9/11 Commission Report is a 2006 American drama film by The Asylum, written and directed by Leigh Scott. The film is presented as a docudrama based on the early findings of the 9/11 Commission Report, and deals with the events prior to the September 11 attacks, and how the attack might have...
and Transmorphers
Transmorphers
Transmorphers is a science fiction alien invasion film released direct-to-DVD on June 26, 2007. It was written and directed by Leigh Scott and produced by David Michael Latt and The Asylum. Transmorphers was developed as a mockbuster, intending to capitalize on Michael Bay's Transformers...
. He was the line producer and even made a brief appearance in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, one of three 2005
2005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
film adaptations of the H.G. Wells novel
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
.
Scott also directed and appeared in Pirates of Treasure Island
Pirates of Treasure Island
Pirates of Treasure Island is a 2006 American comedy-drama film produced by The Asylum, loosely adaptated from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island....
, an adaptation of the novel Treasure Island
Treasure Island
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
, in which Scott appeared as Ben Gunn
Treasure Island
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
.
Scott has also appeared in other film productions by The Asylum
The Asylum
The Asylum is an American film studio and distributor which focuses on producing low-budget, usually direct-to-video productions. The studio has produced titles that capitalize on productions by major studios; these titles have been dubbed "mockbusters" by the press.-History:The Asylum was founded...
, including: Invasion of the Pod People
Invasion of the Pod People
Invasion of the Pod People is a 2007 science-fiction film produced by The Asylum....
, The Apocalypse
The Apocalypse (film)
The Apocalypse is a 2007 American disaster film produced by The Asylum and released via its Faith Films label. It has heavy similarity to the 1998 film, Armageddon, however the storyline is drastically different, a reoccurring theme of some The Asylum's mockbusters.-Plot:The film takes place in the...
, and Hillside Cannibals
Hillside Cannibals
Hillside Cannibals is a 2006 American horror film directed by Leigh Scott and produced by The Asylum. The film bears some resemblance to The Hills Have Eyes, another film released in the same year, but its plot also incorporates elements from other films, including Cannibal Holocaust, The Texas...
.
His most recent production is The Witches of Oz
The Witches of Oz
The Witches of Oz is a film directed by Leigh Scott, based on the novels The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Ozma of Oz, The Road to Oz, and The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum.-Plot:...
starring Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
, Sean Astin
Sean Astin
Sean Astin is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer better known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24...
, Billy Boyd, Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen
Lance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Alan Combs is an American actor known for his horror film roles and his appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek franchise.-Early life:...
, and Ethan Embry
Ethan Embry
Ethan Philan Randall , although he is known and usually credited as Ethan Embry, is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Declan Giggs on the Showtime television series Brotherhood.-Personal life:...
. The film is a modern adaptation of L.Frank Baum's world of Oz. It contains elements from the books The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
, The Magic of Oz
The Magic of Oz
The Magic of Oz: A Faithful Record of the Remarkable Adventures of Dorothy and Trot and the Wizard of Oz, Together with the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger and Cap'n Bill, in Their Successful Search for a Magical and Beautiful Birthday Present for Princess Ozma of Oz is the thirteenth Land of Oz...
, Ozma of Oz
Ozma of Oz
Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good People too Numerous to Mention Faithfully Recorded Herein published on July 30, 1907, was the third book of L....
and The Road to Oz
The Road to Oz
The Road to Oz: In Which Is Related How Dorothy Gale of Kansas, The Shaggy Man, Button Bright, and Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter Met on an Enchanted Road and Followed it All the Way to the Marvelous Land of Oz. is the fifth of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz books...
.
Politics
Through his interviews and blogs on Andrew BreitbartAndrew Breitbart
Andrew Breitbart is an American publisher, commentator for the Washington Times, author, an occasional guest commentator on various news programs who has served as an editor for the Drudge Report website...
's Big Hollywood, Scott has expressed his political views. He is a self described Libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
with some socially conservative views. His film The 9/11 Commission Report
The 9/11 Commission Report (film)
The 9/11 Commission Report is a 2006 American drama film by The Asylum, written and directed by Leigh Scott. The film is presented as a docudrama based on the early findings of the 9/11 Commission Report, and deals with the events prior to the September 11 attacks, and how the attack might have...
was screened at the conservative Liberty Film Festival
Liberty Film Festival
Founded in July of 2004 by American independent filmmakers Jason Apuzzo and Govindini Murty, the Liberty Film Festival took place primarily in West Hollywood, CA and was active between 2004 and 2008. The LFF screened over 80 films, of which approximately fifty were premieres and thirty achieved...
. His columns have been quoted by Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and have been reposted on the popular conservative website Hot Air (news site)
Hot Air (news site)
Hot Air is a U.S. website providing news and commentary from a fiscally conservative and socially centrist point of view. It is written by Ed Morrissey, Tina Korbe and the pseudonymous Allahpundit and Jazz Shaw....
.