Robert Tinnell
Encyclopedia
Robert Tinnell is a motion picture
screenwriter
, director
, and producer. He is also the author
of several comic book
s and graphic novel
s, notably with a horror
slant.
aficionados seek out Frankenstein and Me because of a sequence inspired by the 1960 Terence Fisher
film Brides of Dracula
, which starred Peter Cushing
. Tinnell's film actually recreates a windmill set that is used in the Hammer film. In the same film, Tinnell meticulously recreated a scene reminiscent of Night of the Living Dead
as well as other horror classics. All of the sequences featured children in the adult roles. Burt Reynolds
and Louise Fletcher
starred in Frankenstein and Me, alongside a young Ryan Gosling
. (Stars Elisha Cuthbert
and Gosling both had early film roles for Tinnell.)
As a producer, Tinnell worked in both the music video
world as well as feature films. Among his credits as producer are the MTV
Award-winning Paula Abdul
music video
"Straight Up," directed by David Fincher
, and the notorious cult film Surf Nazis Must Die
(released through Troma).
Tinnell is best known in comics for a series of horror graphic novels, including The Black Forest, The Wicked West, The Living and The Dead, and Sight Unseen. His book Feast of the Seven Fishes was nominated for an Eisner Award
for Best Graphic Album - Reprint. While promoting Feast of the Seven Fishes, Tinnell was a guest on several popular radio cooking shows, including The Splendid Table
with Lynne Rossetto Kasper
, the Rocco Dispirito
Show, and KCRW
's Good Food.
Currently, Tinnell is writing The Chelation Kid, a webcomic dealing with his son's autism
, and EZ Streets, in collaboration with Mark Wheatley
, as well as various screenwriting and directing projects. He is the director of the web series Here There Be Monsters, filmed by students of The Factory Digital Filmmaking Program at Douglas and with make-up effects created by the students of Tom Savini's Special Makeup Effects Program at Douglas Education Center.
with his wife, Shannon, and two children, Isabella and Jack. Isabella is an aspiring actress.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, 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:...
, and producer. He is also the author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of several comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s and graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s, notably with a horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
slant.
Biography
Tinnell's work as a director includes the films Kids of the Round Table (1995), Believe (2000), and Frankenstein and Me (1996), the latter of which was very popular with fans of classic horror. Tinnell has frequently acknowledged his passion for horror, particularly classic horror films. Hammer Film ProductionsHammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
aficionados seek out Frankenstein and Me because of a sequence inspired by the 1960 Terence Fisher
Terence Fisher
Terence Fisher was a film director who worked for Hammer Films. He was born in Maida Vale, a district of London, England.Fisher was one of the most prominent horror directors of the second half of the 20th century...
film Brides of Dracula
Brides of Dracula
The Brides of Dracula are characters in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. They are three seductive female vampire "sisters" who reside with Count Dracula in his castle in Transylvania, where they entrance male humans with their beauty and charm, and then proceed to feed upon them...
, which starred Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
. Tinnell's film actually recreates a windmill set that is used in the Hammer film. In the same film, Tinnell meticulously recreated a scene reminiscent of Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent black-and-white zombie film and cult film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a USD$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it...
as well as other horror classics. All of the sequences featured children in the adult roles. Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
and Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher is an American actress best known for her role as Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and as Kai Winn Adami in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She also guest starred on the science fiction television series Heroes...
starred in Frankenstein and Me, alongside a young Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling
Ryan Thomas Gosling is a Canadian actor and musician. He first came to public attention as a child star on the Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club and went on to appear in other family entertainment programmes including Are You Afraid of the Dark? , Goosebumps , Breaker High and Young Hercules...
. (Stars Elisha Cuthbert
Elisha Cuthbert
Elisha Ann Cuthbert is a Canadian film and television actress. Cuthbert is known as the former co-host of the Canadian children's television series Popular Mechanics for Kids. In 1998, she had her first film role in Airspeed. She followed this in 2003 with a role in Old School...
and Gosling both had early film roles for Tinnell.)
As a producer, Tinnell worked in both the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
world as well as feature films. Among his credits as producer are the MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
Award-winning Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
"Straight Up," directed by David Fincher
David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...
, and the notorious cult film Surf Nazis Must Die
Surf Nazis Must Die
Surf Nazis Must Die is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Peter George and starring Gail Neely, Barry Brenner, and Robert Harden. It was produced by The Institute, a production company formed by Peter George, Craig A...
(released through Troma).
Tinnell is best known in comics for a series of horror graphic novels, including The Black Forest, The Wicked West, The Living and The Dead, and Sight Unseen. His book Feast of the Seven Fishes was nominated for an Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
for Best Graphic Album - Reprint. While promoting Feast of the Seven Fishes, Tinnell was a guest on several popular radio cooking shows, including The Splendid Table
The Splendid Table
The Splendid Table is a weekly radio program about food hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. It is produced and distributed by American Public Media and airs weekends nationwide on public radio stations. It provides listeners with information on food preparation, appreciation, and culture...
with Lynne Rossetto Kasper
Lynne Rossetto Kasper
Lynne Rossetto Kasper is an award-winning American food writer and radio journalist. She is the host of the American Public Media program The Splendid Table, whose targeted audience is "people who love to eat." The weekly program features a series of interviews with chefs, restaurateurs, and wine...
, the Rocco Dispirito
Rocco DiSpirito
Rocco DiSpirito is an Italian American chef based in New York City.-Life and career:DiSpirito was born in Queens, New York City, New York. He graduated in 1986 from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and in 1990 from Boston University with a bachelor's degree in business...
Show, and KCRW
KCRW
KCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, carrying a mix of National Public Radio news, talk radio and freeform music format. The general manager of KCRW is Jennifer Ferro...
's Good Food.
Currently, Tinnell is writing The Chelation Kid, a webcomic dealing with his son's autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
, and EZ Streets, in collaboration with Mark Wheatley
Mark Wheatley (comics)
Mark Wheatley is an American illustrator, writer, editor, and publisher in the comic book field. Wheatley's comic book and pulp creations include Breathtaker, Mars, and Blood of the Innocent, all illustrated by his frequent collaborator Marc Hempel...
, as well as various screenwriting and directing projects. He is the director of the web series Here There Be Monsters, filmed by students of The Factory Digital Filmmaking Program at Douglas and with make-up effects created by the students of Tom Savini's Special Makeup Effects Program at Douglas Education Center.
Personal life
Tinnell is the brother of film producer and graphic novel publisher Jeffrey "Stinkfiller" Tinnell. Robert lives in West VirginiaWest Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
with his wife, Shannon, and two children, Isabella and Jack. Isabella is an aspiring actress.
Awards
- Tinnell received the Best Director Award from Europe's prestigious Fantasporto Film Festival for Frankenstein and Me.
- Tinnell's directorial debut, Kids of the Round Table, was nominated for a Cable ACE Award. The film, which starred Malcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
, dealt with a young boy who discovers ExcaliburExcaliburExcalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was...
, the legendary sword of King ArthurKing ArthurKing Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
. - The Black Forest won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror AwardsRondo Hatton Classic Horror AwardsThe Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award is an award presented annually by the Classic Horror Film Board to honor the top works in horror in film, television, home video, and publishing.-The award:...
for Best Horror Comic of 2004, and in 2005 The Black Forest 2 won the award again. - Rue Morgue MagazineRue Morgue MagazineRue Morgue is a Canadian magazine dedicated to covering "horror in culture and entertainment," taking its name from Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue."...
selected Sight Unseen as best horrorHorror fictionHorror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
comic of 2006.
External links
- Robert Tinnell's Feast of the Seven Fishes Blog
- Shades of Gray site (Robert Tinnell, producer)