Sean Daniel

Sean Peter Daniel (born August 15, 1951)[1] is an American film producer and movie executive.

Sean Daniel
Born
Sean Peter Daniel

(1951-08-15) August 15, 1951 (age 72)
EducationHigh School of Music & Art
Alma materCalifornia Institute of the Arts
Occupation(s)Film producer, film executive
SpouseRuth Hunter

Life and career

Born to a Jewish family,[2][3] Daniel attended Manhattan's High School of Music & Art, graduating in 1969.[4] He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film from the California Institute of the Arts in 1973.[citation needed]

In 1976, he joined Universal Pictures as a film production executive and in 1985, at the age of 34, he became production president,[5] the youngest in the studio's history, a position he held for five years.[citation needed] At Universal he supervised the financing and production of such acclaimed films as National Lampoon's Animal House, Coal Miner's Daughter, The Blues Brothers, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Brazil, Field of Dreams, Do the Right Thing, Back to the Future, Out of Africa, Midnight Run, Born on the Fourth of July, Missing, Weird Science, Uncle Buck, The Great Outdoors, Born in East L.A., Fletch, Gorillas in the Mist, Darkman, and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.[citation needed]

Following his tenure as an executive at the studio, Daniel started Alphaville Films with James Jacks. The production company was formed around the development and production of the first Mummy film that, based on its success, created a franchise yielding The Mummy Returns, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and The Scorpion King. Through their company, Daniel and Jacks also produced such films as Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, the renowned western Tombstone; Nora Ephron’s comedy Michael, which starred John Travolta; Sam Raimi’s A Simple Plan; the Coen BrothersIntolerable Cruelty; the Chris Rock/Weitz Brothers comedy Down to Earth; the rap-music comedy CB4, also with Chris Rock; Jerry Zucker’s Rat Race; John Woo’s first American film, Hard Target; The Jackal, which starred Richard Gere and Bruce Willis; Sam Raimi's The Gift starring Cate Blanchett; and American Me which starred and was directed by Edward James Olmos.

Daniel's 2016 films are Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some!!, and Ben-Hur, an adaptation that returns to the original novel, with Timur Bekmambetov directing a script by Academy Award-winner John Ridley.

Daniel is currently the principal in The Sean Daniel Company, an independent production company that is developing projects at several studios and networks. At Universal, Daniel partnered with the producing team of Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan to create a new series of re-imagined Mummy movies, starting with 2017's The Mummy. In development is the follow-up to Universal's The Best Man Holiday which Daniel produced alongside writer/director/producer Malcolm D. Lee.

Daniel is the Executive Producer of the TV series The Expanse, for SyFy and Alcon Television Group. Based on the New York Times Best-Selling franchise by James S. A. Corey and adapted to screen by Academy Award-nominated screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (Children of Men, Iron Man), the sci-fi thriller series is among the cable networks most ambitious project to date. The Expanse first aired December 2015 and stars Thomas Jane, Steven Strait, and Shohreh Aghdashloo. In addition to The Expanse, The Sean Daniel Company's television credits include Graceland, from Jeff Eastin, the creator of White Collar, now in its third season on the USA Network. The Sean Daniel Company has also just partnered with Google to develop a TV drama based on Ingress, a game with millions of participants, that uses real locations and social media activity. Additionally, Daniel has executive produced the TNT original film Freedom Song, directed by Phil Alden Robinson and which starred Danny Glover; HBO's Everyday People; and the USA Network’s four-hour mini series Attila, starring Gerard Butler.

Among the company's other projects is a partnership with independently funded Valiant Entertainment to make films based on their comic book characters, and Agent 13, based on the novel series, with Charlize Theron starring and producing with The Sean Daniel Company and Rupert Wyatt directing.

Daniel has been a participant in the debate about media and culture, appearing on TV’s The McLaughlin Group and NPR’s Which Way L.A., and in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Huffington Post.

Personal life

Daniel is married to Ruth Hunter, a staffer for the NRDC.[6]

Selected filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

YearFilmCreditNotes
1991Pure Luck
1992American Me
1993CB4Executive producer
Dazed and Confused
Heart and Souls
Hard Target
Tombstone
1995Village of the DamnedCo-executive producer
Mallrats
1996Michael
1997The Jackal
1999The Mummy
2000Lucky Numbers
The GiftExecutive producer
2001Down to Earth
The Mummy Returns
Pootie TangExecutive producer
Rat Race
2002The Scorpion King
Dark Blue
2003The HuntedExecutive producer
Intolerable CrueltyExecutive producer
2004AlfieExecutive producer
2008The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a WarriorDirect-to-video
2010The Wolfman
2012The Scorpion King 3: Battle for RedemptionExecutive producerDirect-to-video
2013The Best Man Holiday
2015The Scorpion King 4: Quest for PowerExecutive producerDirect-to-video
2016Everybody Wants Some!!Executive producer
Ben-Hur
Hard Target 2Executive producerDirect-to-video
2017The Mummy
2018The Scorpion King: Book of SoulsExecutive producerDirect-to-video
2019Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
2021The Witcher: Nightmare of the WolfExecutive producer
Production manager
YearFilmRoleNotes
1980Coal Miner's DaughterExecutive in charge of productionUncredited
1984Sixteen Candles
1988The Great Outdoors
1990Darkman
As an actor
YearFilmRole
1985Spies Like UsAce Tomato Driver
1990DarkmanPoliceman #2
Thanks
YearFilmRole
1995MallratsThe director would like to thank: For bringing a pedigree to the project
1998A Simple PlanThanks

Television

YearTitleCreditNotes
1996Don't Look BackExecutive producerTelevision film
2000Freedom SongExecutive producerTelevision film
2001AttilaExecutive producer
2004Everyday PeopleExecutive producerTelevision film
2013−15Graceland
2015−2022The ExpanseExecutive producer
2019The WitcherExecutive producer
2022The Witcher: Blood OriginExecutive producer

References