Robert Zemeckis

Robert Zemeckis

Born: May 14, 1951
in Chicago, Illinois, USA
Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1951) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future film series, as well as the Academy Award-winning live-action/animation epic Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), though in the 1990s he diversified into more dramatic fare, including 1994's Forrest Gump, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director.

His films are characterized by an interest in state-of-the-art special effects, including the early use of match moving in Back to the Future Part II (1989) and the pioneering performance capture techniques seen in The Polar Express (2004), Beowulf (2007) and A Christmas Carol (2009). Though Zemeckis has often been pigeonholed as a director interested only in effects, his work has been defended by several critics, including David Thomson, who wrote that "No other contemporary director has used special effects to more dramatic and narrative purpose."

Movies for Robert Zemeckis...

Tom Hanks: The Nomad
Title: Tom Hanks: The Nomad
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: May 20, 2023
Type: Movie
From humble beginnings to an aspiring thespian to acting as some of the world's most iconic and notable characters. He has picked up a reputation as 'America's Nice Guy', 'The Everyman' and a nomad of the arts. But we all know him... as Tom Hanks.
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STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Title: STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: January 20, 2023
Type: Movie
A short kid from a Canadian army base becomes the international pop culture darling of the 1980s—only to find the course of his life altered by a stunning diagnosis. What happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease?
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Title: Reunited Apart
Character: Self
Released: April 27, 2020
Type: TV
Josh Gad reunites the cast and crews of various classic movies, and discusses the the films in hilarious yet heartfelt conversations.
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Spielberg
Title: Spielberg
Character: Self
Released: October 5, 2017
Type: Movie
A documentary on the life and career of one of the most influential film directors of all time, Steven Spielberg.
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Back in Time
Title: Back in Time
Character: Self
Released: October 20, 2015
Type: Movie
Cast, crew and fans explore the 'Back to the Future' time-travel trilogy's resonance throughout our culture—30 years after Marty McFly went back in time.
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Back To the Present: The Special
Title: Back To the Present: The Special
Released: October 18, 2015
Type: Movie
Robert Zemeckis's Back To The Future was a huge box-office hit in 1985 that ultimately led to two sequels. In 1989, in Back To The Future Part II, Michael J. Fox aka Marty Mc Fly and Christopher Lloyd aka DOC, travel into the future to October 21st 2015. At the time, the movie's crazy inventions seemed far from achievable but little did we know they would actually be so close to reality!
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Title: The Director's Chair
Character: Self
Released: May 10, 2014
Type: TV
Robert Rodriguez sits down with the industry's most iconic directors and engages in a revealing and unexpected exchange about the world of filmmaking.
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Milius
Title: Milius
Character: Self
Released: March 9, 2013
Type: Movie
The life story of ‘Zen Anarchist’ filmmaker John Milius, one of the most influential storytellers of his generation.
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Persistence of Vision
Title: Persistence of Vision
Character: Himself
Released: October 4, 2012
Type: Movie
It was to be the greatest animated film of all time. Not just an eye-opener, but a game-changer. Richard Williams demanded nothing less, investing nearly three decades into his movie masterpiece. From as early as 1964 he ploughed most of the profits right back into his pet project, a feature inspired by the Arabian Nights and provisionally known as Mullah Nasruddin. He assembled a team of inspired young artists—and brought in the best Hollywood craftsmen to teach them—and devised what would be the most elaborate, kaleidoscopic, mind-boggling visual sequences ever committed to celluloid. Years passed. Potential financiers came and went. Work continued. But it was only after Roger Rabbit that Williams had a studio budget to corroborate the munificence of his imagination.
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Brian May's Brief History of 3D
Title: Brian May's Brief History of 3D
Character: Self
Released: August 4, 2011
Type: Movie
A look into the history of 3D by Brian May from Queen.
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Tales from the Future
Title: Tales from the Future
Character: Self
Released: October 26, 2010
Type: Movie
Six-part retrospective on the making of "Back to the Future" (and its two sequels) for the film's 25th anniversary.
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Waking Sleeping Beauty
Title: Waking Sleeping Beauty
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: September 5, 2009
Type: Movie
By the mid-1980s, the fabled animation studios of Walt Disney had fallen on hard times. The artists were polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old timers not yet ready to relinquish control. These conditions produced a series of box-office flops and pessimistic forecasts: maybe the best days of animation were over. Maybe the public didn't care. Only a miracle or a magic spell could produce a happy ending. Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairy tale. It's the true story of how Disney regained its magic with a staggering output of hits - "Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast ," "Aladdin," "The Lion King," and more - over a 10-year period.
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Looking Back to the Future
Title: Looking Back to the Future
Character: Self
Released: February 10, 2009
Type: Movie
A 9-part retrospective documentary from 2009 on the trilogy’s legacy.
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Behind the Ears: The True Story of Roger Rabbit
Title: Behind the Ears: The True Story of Roger Rabbit
Character: Self
Released: March 25, 2003
Type: Movie
The complete documentary on the production of the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".
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Back to the Future: Making the Trilogy
Title: Back to the Future: Making the Trilogy
Character: Self
Released: December 17, 2002
Type: Movie
This is the making of the Back to the Future Trilogy by acclaimed documentary maker Laurent Bouzereau and appears on the Back to the Future DVD set.
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From Star Wars to Star Wars: The Story of Industrial Light & Magic
Title: From Star Wars to Star Wars: The Story of Industrial Light & Magic
Character: Self
Released: June 15, 1999
Type: Movie
The incredible evolution of George Lucas' special effects dream factory, including an inside look at "Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace."
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The Making of 'The Frighteners'
Title: The Making of 'The Frighteners'
Character: Himself
Released: November 24, 1998
Type: Movie
Documentary about the making of the 1996 horror-comedy.
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The Making of '1941'
Title: The Making of '1941'
Released: May 28, 1996
Type: Movie
A non-narrated documentary, told mainly in interviews with the filmmakers, on the making of the cult comedy classic, featuring outtakes, rare behind-the-scenes home movies, and trivia facts.
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Title: MADtv
Character: Self
Released: October 14, 1995
Type: TV
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by Mad magazine. The one-hour show aired Saturday nights on Fox.
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Through the Eyes of Forrest Gump
Title: Through the Eyes of Forrest Gump
Character: Self
Released: October 1, 1994
Type: Movie
A look behind the scenes of Robert Zemeckis' 1994 Oscar-winning film, 'Forrest Gump'.
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Title: Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Character: Robert Zemeckis
Released: September 2, 1990
Type: TV
For a cool high school kid and his friends, thwarting authority figures and other enemies is not a problem.
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The Secrets of the 'Back to the Future' Trilogy
Title: The Secrets of the 'Back to the Future' Trilogy
Character: Self
Released: June 12, 1990
Type: Movie
The Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy was a program hosted by Kirk Cameron. The show answered questions that Back to the Future fans sent in by letter. It was released onto videocassette in 1990 and as a bonus feature on the disc for Back to the Future Part III in the 2002 release of the Back to the Future trilogy. It is also available in the 2010 Blu-Ray trilogy.
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Back to the Future (Part II): Behind-the-Scenes Special Presentation
Title: Back to the Future (Part II): Behind-the-Scenes Special Presentation
Character: Himself
Released: November 17, 1989
Type: Movie
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First Works
Title: First Works
Character: Self
Released: October 10, 1989
Type: Movie
It's a mixed bag in the age of illuminating DVD supplements, but First Works effectively demonstrates the early promise of 13 successful filmmakers. Culled from programs originally broadcast on Showtime in 1990, this crude compilation combines student films, early professional work, and interviews with now-famous directors at various stages of commercial and artistic achievement.
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Citizen Steve
Title: Citizen Steve
Character: Screenwriter
Released: January 1, 1987
Type: Movie
On the occasion of the 40th birthday of the almighty filmmaker Steven Allan Spielberg, inquisitive reporter Clip Maxwell attempts to uncover the truth behind his undisputed rise to the throne of the Amblin Empire.
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The Making of Back to the Future
Title: The Making of Back to the Future
Character: Self
Released: October 25, 1986
Type: Movie
The Making of 'Back to the Future'
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Title: The Oscars
Character: Self
Released: March 19, 1953
Type: TV
An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.