Sheldon Lettich
Encyclopedia
Sheldon Lettich is a screenwriter
, film director
and producer
.
, but moved to California
at a young age and grew up in the Los Angeles
area. After graduation from high school he spent nearly four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving as a radio operator in South Vietnam
with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, and later with the elite 1st Force Reconnaissance Company based at Camp Pendleton, California.
He worked his way through college as a professional photographer, and attended the AFI Conservatory
’s Center for Advanced Film Studies as a Cinematography
Fellow. Although his initial career goal was to become a director of photography, at the AFI his interests branched out to encompass writing and directing, which became the two fields where he found eventual success in the entertainment business.
’s Public Theater in New York City, the Steppenwolf Theater
in Chicago
(directed by Gary Sinise
), the Royal Court Theater in London
, and numerous venues worldwide. It received both Drama Desk Awards and L.A. Drama Critics Awards, and is still being performed throughout the world.
, subsequently became the cult classic, Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except
(also known as Stryker's War), which starred Bruce Campbell
, and directed by Becker, both frequent collaborators of Sam Raimi
.
Eventually his screenplays began attracting the attention of producers in Hollywood. He co-authored the Cold War
drama, Russkies
, which was the first starring role for a young Joaquin Phoenix
. Around the same time he wrote the screenplay for the now-classic martial arts film, Bloodsport, which launched the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme
. One of his Vietnam-based screenplays caught the eye of Sylvester Stallone
, which resulted in an overall deal with Stallone’s White Eagle Productions, and led to him co-writing Rambo III
with Stallone.
The success of Bloodsport not only turned Jean-Claude Van Damme into an international action star, but it also forged a long and ongoing friendship with the man who wrote it. Van Damme helped to launch Lettich’s directing career with the film, Lionheart
, which became Van Damme’s first movie to be released theatrically by a major U.S. studio. This was followed by Double Impact
, which was filmed in Hong Kong
, with Lettich directing Van Damme in a challenging double role as twin brothers seeking revenge for their parents’ murder.
Lettich next discovered Mark Dacascos
, who made his starring debut in Only the Strong, a film that introduced the Brazil
ian martial art of Capoeira
to international audiences. He also directed Dolph Lundgren
in The Last Patrol
, and Daniel Bernhardt in Perfect Target.
Continuing his long association with Van Damme, Lettich was a writer and a producer on the historical French Foreign Legion
film, Legionnaire
, which was filmed on location in Morocco
. And he directed The Order
, an action-thriller starring Van Damme and Charlton Heston
, which was filmed on locations in Israel
and Bulgaria
.
His most recent directorial effort, which he also co-wrote, is The Hard Corps
, an urban action-romance. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Vivica Fox, the film was shot on locations around Vancouver
, Canada
, and on sound stages in Romania
, and was financed and released worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment
.
He has always wanted to make a Vietnam War
movie he wrote, but after seeing Tropic Thunder
he felt that no one would take a Vietnam war movie seriously anymore.
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:...
, 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:...
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...
.
Early life
He was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, but moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
at a young age and grew up in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area. After graduation from high school he spent nearly four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving as a radio operator in South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, and later with the elite 1st Force Reconnaissance Company based at Camp Pendleton, California.
He worked his way through college as a professional photographer, and attended the AFI Conservatory
AFI Conservatory
The AFI Conservatory is a division of the American Film Institute founded in 1969, located in Hollywood's Griffith Park. The school is the only existing Master of Fine Arts conservatory in advanced film education...
’s Center for Advanced Film Studies as a Cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
Fellow. Although his initial career goal was to become a director of photography, at the AFI his interests branched out to encompass writing and directing, which became the two fields where he found eventual success in the entertainment business.
Writing for the stage
Based partly upon his experiences in Vietnam, he co-authored the renowned play Tracers with a group of Vietnam vets who were also aspiring actors. First performed July 4, 1980 at the Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles, the play then traveled to Joseph PappJoseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
’s Public Theater in New York City, the Steppenwolf Theater
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Tony Award-winning Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry in the basement of a church in Highland Park, Illinois. It has since relocated to Chicago's Halsted Street, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Its name comes from...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
(directed by Gary Sinise
Gary Sinise
Gary Alan Sinise is an American actor, film director and musician. During his career, Sinise has won various awards including an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1992, Sinise directed, and played the role of George Milton in the successful film adaptation of...
), the Royal Court Theater in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and numerous venues worldwide. It received both Drama Desk Awards and L.A. Drama Critics Awards, and is still being performed throughout the world.
Screenplays
Around the same time, Lettich was writing numerous spec screenplays. One of these, co-written with Josh BeckerJosh Becker
Josh Becker is a writer and director, of films and television, whose credits include episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess and his collaborations with Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi.-Writing:...
, subsequently became the cult classic, Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except
Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except
Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except, given theatrical release in Detroit as Stryker's War, is an American low budget action / horror film, originally released in 1987. The film was written by Josh Becker and Scott Spiegel, with a story by Becker, actor Bruce Campbell, and Sheldon Lettich...
(also known as Stryker's War), which starred Bruce Campbell
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
, and directed by Becker, both frequent collaborators of Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
.
Eventually his screenplays began attracting the attention of producers in Hollywood. He co-authored the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
drama, Russkies
Russkies
Russkies is a 1987 film starring Whip Hubley and Joaquin Phoenix . It was directed by Rick Rosenthal, with cinematography by Reed Smoot...
, which was the first starring role for a young Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix , formerly credited as Leaf Phoenix, is an American film actor. He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and his family returned to the continental United States four years later...
. Around the same time he wrote the screenplay for the now-classic martial arts film, Bloodsport, which launched the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...
. One of his Vietnam-based screenplays caught the eye of Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
, which resulted in an overall deal with Stallone’s White Eagle Productions, and led to him co-writing Rambo III
Rambo III
Rambo III is an American Action film released on May 25, 1988. It is the third film in the Rambo series following First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II...
with Stallone.
The success of Bloodsport not only turned Jean-Claude Van Damme into an international action star, but it also forged a long and ongoing friendship with the man who wrote it. Van Damme helped to launch Lettich’s directing career with the film, Lionheart
Lionheart (film)
Lionheart is a 1990 film, directed by Sheldon Lettich, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and co-starring Brian Thompson...
, which became Van Damme’s first movie to be released theatrically by a major U.S. studio. This was followed by Double Impact
Double Impact
The score by Kempel was released as the Double Impact Original Soundtrack Recordings on 1993 by Silva America. The soundtrack was released on CD contained twelve tracks with a runtime of 40 minutes....
, which was filmed in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, with Lettich directing Van Damme in a challenging double role as twin brothers seeking revenge for their parents’ murder.
Lettich next discovered Mark Dacascos
Mark Dacascos
Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor and martial artist. He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18....
, who made his starring debut in Only the Strong, a film that introduced the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian martial art of Capoeira
Capoeira
Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century...
to international audiences. He also directed Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, and martial artist. He belongs to a generation of film actors who epitomise the movie action hero stereotype including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme.A graduate in chemical...
in The Last Patrol
The Last Patrol
The Last Patrol is a 2000 action movie directed by Sheldon Lettich, produced as a collaboration between USA an Israel.-Cast:* Dolph Lundgren as Nick Preston* Sherri Alexander as Sarah McBride* Joe Michael Burke as Lucky Simcoe* Rebecca Cross as Candy...
, and Daniel Bernhardt in Perfect Target.
Continuing his long association with Van Damme, Lettich was a writer and a producer on the historical French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
film, Legionnaire
Legionnaire (film)
Legionnaire is a 1998 film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a 1920s boxer who wins a fight after having been hired by gangsters to lose it, then flees to join the French Foreign Legion. The cast includes Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Steven Berkoff, Nicholas Farrell and Jim Carter...
, which was filmed on location in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. And he directed The Order
The Order
The Order can refer to:in comics* The Order , the name of two fictional comic-book superhero teams in the Marvel Comics universein computer and video games...
, an action-thriller starring Van Damme and Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
, which was filmed on locations in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
.
His most recent directorial effort, which he also co-wrote, is The Hard Corps
The Hard Corps
The Hard Corps is a 2006 action movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Vivica A. Fox. It is directed by Sheldon Lettich.-Synopsis:Phillip Sauvage is an American soldier suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by his time in Iraq and Afghanistan.Sauvage snaps out of his stupor just...
, an urban action-romance. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Vivica Fox, the film was shot on locations around Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and on sound stages in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, and was financed and released worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
.
He has always wanted to make a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
movie he wrote, but after seeing Tropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder is a 2008 American action satire comedy film written, produced, and directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black. The main plot revolves around a group of prima donna actors who are making a Vietnam War film...
he felt that no one would take a Vietnam war movie seriously anymore.
Credits
- FirefightFirefightFirefight may refer to:* firefight, a large exchange of bullets between two sides * Firefighting, process of extinguishing destructive flames* A game mode in Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach video games...
(short) (director, screenwriter) - Thou Shalt Not Kill... ExceptThou Shalt Not Kill... ExceptThou Shalt Not Kill... Except, given theatrical release in Detroit as Stryker's War, is an American low budget action / horror film, originally released in 1987. The film was written by Josh Becker and Scott Spiegel, with a story by Becker, actor Bruce Campbell, and Sheldon Lettich...
(screenwriter) - BloodsportBloodsport (film)Bloodsport is a 1988 American martial arts film directed by Newt Arnold and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb and Leah Ayres. The film is based on the claimed adventures of Frank Dux, and was followed by three sequels Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite , Bloodsport III and Bloodsport 4: The...
(screenwriter) - Rambo IIIRambo IIIRambo III is an American Action film released on May 25, 1988. It is the third film in the Rambo series following First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II...
(screenwriter) - Lionheart (director, screenwriter)
- Double ImpactDouble ImpactThe score by Kempel was released as the Double Impact Original Soundtrack Recordings on 1993 by Silva America. The soundtrack was released on CD contained twelve tracks with a runtime of 40 minutes....
(director, screenwriter) - Only the Strong (director, screenwriter)
- Perfect Target (director)
- LegionnaireLegionnaire (film)Legionnaire is a 1998 film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a 1920s boxer who wins a fight after having been hired by gangsters to lose it, then flees to join the French Foreign Legion. The cast includes Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Steven Berkoff, Nicholas Farrell and Jim Carter...
(screenwriter, producer) - The Last Patrol (director)
- The OrderThe Order (2001 film)The Order is a 2001 20M action thriller film about a religious order, written by Jean-Claude Van Damme and Les Weldon and directed by Sheldon Lettich and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The cast also includes Sofia Milos, Brian Thompson, Ben Cross, Vernon Dobtcheff and Charlton Heston...
(director) - The Hard CorpsThe Hard CorpsThe Hard Corps is a 2006 action movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Vivica A. Fox. It is directed by Sheldon Lettich.-Synopsis:Phillip Sauvage is an American soldier suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by his time in Iraq and Afghanistan.Sauvage snaps out of his stupor just...
(director, screenwriter) - Metro Dog (director) (planning)
- Double Impact 2 (director, screenwriter) (planning)