Sarah Kernochan
Encyclopedia
Sarah Kernochan (born December 30, 1947) is a documentarian
, film director
, screenwriter
and producer
from the United States
.
After graduating in 1965 from Rosemary Hall
(now Choate Rosemary Hall), where she was a classmate of Glenn Close
, and in 1968 from Sarah Lawrence College
, she worked as a ghostwriter for The Village Voice
for about a year. After quitting that job, she became interested in documentary film
making and soon gained national prominence in the United States as co-director and co-producer with Howard Smith
of the 1972 film
Marjoe
(about evangelist Marjoe Gortner
), which won an Academy Award for Documentary Feature
.
During the next two years, she released two albums on RCA Records
as a singer-songwriter
, House of Pain and Beat Around the Bushhttp://waddywachtelinfo.com/SarahKernochan.html.
In 1977 Kernochan's novel Dry Hustle (ISBN 0-688-03149-8 in hard cover, ISBN 0-425-03661-8 in paperback) was published. It was reprinted as a print-on-demand and ebook in 2011.
Kernochan's first screen credit as a screenwriter came with the 1986 film 9½ Weeks
. She commented on her contribution to that film in an interview with Salon.com
:
By the time she was brought in to work on the 1993 film Sommersby
, she had become known for a particular style of writing in Hollywood:
Since then, she has been primarily a screenwriter
. She
Her second documentary, Thoth
, also won an Academy Award in 2002, this time for Best Documentary Short Subject
.
In June 2011, Sarah released her first novel in over 35 years entitled Jane Was Here (ISBN 0980037727).
A mysterious young woman, calling herself Jane, arrives in the small rundown community of Graynier, Massachusetts. She can point out the house where she grew up, though she has never been to Graynier in her life. Jane carries with her the fragmentary memory of her former life, and refuses to adjust to her new identity. Thus begins Jane's mission, to retrieve the puzzle pieces of a former life, groping her way through the past and the present simultaneously.
Kernochan is married to director James Lapine
. The couple's daughter is food writer Phoebe Lapine.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, 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:...
, 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:...
and 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...
from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
After graduating in 1965 from Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school located in Wallingford, Connecticut...
(now Choate Rosemary Hall), where she was a classmate of Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
, and in 1968 from Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
, she worked as a ghostwriter for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
for about a year. After quitting that job, she became interested in documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
making and soon gained national prominence in the United States as co-director and co-producer with Howard Smith
Howard Smith (director)
Howard Smith is an Oscar winning film director, producer, journalist, screenwriter, actor, and radio broadcaster.-Early career:Howard Smith started his career as a photographer...
of the 1972 film
1972 in film
The year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...
Marjoe
Marjoe
Marjoe is a 1972 American documentary film produced and directed by Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan about the life of evangelist Marjoe Gortner. It won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.- Story:...
(about evangelist Marjoe Gortner
Marjoe Gortner
Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner, generally known as Marjoe Gortner , is a former revivalist who first gained a certain fame in the late 1940s when he became the youngest ordained preacher at the age of four...
), which won an Academy Award for Documentary Feature
Academy Award for Documentary Feature
The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is among the most prestigious awards for documentary films.- Winners and nominees:Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year...
.
During the next two years, she released two albums on RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
as a singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, House of Pain and Beat Around the Bushhttp://waddywachtelinfo.com/SarahKernochan.html.
In 1977 Kernochan's novel Dry Hustle (ISBN 0-688-03149-8 in hard cover, ISBN 0-425-03661-8 in paperback) was published. It was reprinted as a print-on-demand and ebook in 2011.
Kernochan's first screen credit as a screenwriter came with the 1986 film 9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
. She commented on her contribution to that film in an interview with Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
:
- I don't like the film very much, and I don't think it represents my sensibility. It was valuable to get my first screen credit as a screenwriter, and I enjoyed working with the director very much, but basically I just came in at the end and did his revisions.
By the time she was brought in to work on the 1993 film Sommersby
Sommersby
Sommersby is a 1993 romantic drama film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Richard Gere, Jodie Foster, Bill Pullman and James Earl Jones.Set in the Reconstruction period following the U.S...
, she had become known for a particular style of writing in Hollywood:
- I think people know that there's no point in calling me in if you want the other kind of women characters: a featureless "help me" character, or the saint, the whore — you know, any of the archetypes. I don't think all women are powerful, intelligent, any of those things. I just require that female characters be very real, that they have all the dimensions that the male characters do.
Since then, she has been primarily a 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:...
. She
- wrote Dancers (1987);
- wrote ImpromptuImpromptu (1991 film)Impromptu is a 1991 movie, based on a screenplay written by Sarah Kernochan, directed by James Lapine, produced by Daniel A. Sherkow and Stuart Oken, and starring Hugh Grant as Chopin and Judy Davis as George Sand. This movie was rated PG-13 by the MPAA...
(1991), the debut film directed by her husband James LapineJames LapineJames Lapine is an American stage director and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.-Biography:Lapine was born in Mansfield, Ohio and graduated...
with a script she characterized as "maybe the best thing that I will ever do"; - co-wrote the screenplay for SommersbySommersbySommersby is a 1993 romantic drama film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Richard Gere, Jodie Foster, Bill Pullman and James Earl Jones.Set in the Reconstruction period following the U.S...
(1993); - wrote and directed The Hairy BirdThe Hairy BirdThe Hairy Bird , also released under the titles Strike! and All I Wanna Do , is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Sarah Kernochan...
(19981998 in film-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
); - co-wrote the story for What Lies BeneathWhat Lies BeneathWhat Lies Beneath is a 2000 American supernatural horror-thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis. It stars veteran actors Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a well-to-do couple who experience a strange haunting that uncovers secrets about their past....
(2000); and - directed ThothThoth (film)Thoth is a documentary film by Sarah Kernochan and Lynn Appelle about the life of New York-based street performer S. K. Thoth. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in 2002....
(2002).
Her second documentary, Thoth
Thoth (film)
Thoth is a documentary film by Sarah Kernochan and Lynn Appelle about the life of New York-based street performer S. K. Thoth. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in 2002....
, also won an Academy Award in 2002, this time for Best Documentary Short Subject
Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject
This is a list of films by year that have received an Oscar together with the other nominations for best documentary short subject. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are announced and presented early in the following year.-1940s:*1941...
.
In June 2011, Sarah released her first novel in over 35 years entitled Jane Was Here (ISBN 0980037727).
A mysterious young woman, calling herself Jane, arrives in the small rundown community of Graynier, Massachusetts. She can point out the house where she grew up, though she has never been to Graynier in her life. Jane carries with her the fragmentary memory of her former life, and refuses to adjust to her new identity. Thus begins Jane's mission, to retrieve the puzzle pieces of a former life, groping her way through the past and the present simultaneously.
Kernochan is married to director James Lapine
James Lapine
James Lapine is an American stage director and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.-Biography:Lapine was born in Mansfield, Ohio and graduated...
. The couple's daughter is food writer Phoebe Lapine.