Frank Wilton Marshall (born September 13, 1946) is an American film producer and director, often working in collaboration with his wife, Kathleen Kennedy. With Kennedy and Steven Spielberg, he was one of the founders of Amblin Entertainment. In 1991, he founded, with Kennedy, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, a film production company which has a contract with DreamWorks Studios. Since May 2012, with Kennedy taking on the role of co-chair at Lucasfilm, Marshall has been Kennedy/Marshall's sole principal. Marshall has consistently collaborated with directors Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, Peter Bogdanovich and Robert Zemeckis.
Marshall, Spielberg and Kennedy are the executive producers of Joe Dante's movies, such as Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Innerspace.
Life and career[]
Born in Glendale, California, Marshall is the son of guitarist, conductor and composer Jack Marshall. His early years were spent in Van Nuys, California. In 1961, his family moved to Newport Beach, where he attended Newport Harbor High School, and was active in music, drama, cross country, and track. He entered UCLA in 1964 as an engineering major, and graduated in 1968 with a degree in Political Science. While at UCLA, he was initiated into Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and he helped create its first NCAA soccer team, and played collegiate soccer there in 1966, 1967 and 1968.
In 1967, he met film director Peter Bogdanovich at a birthday party for the daughter of director John Ford, a friend of his father. Marshall volunteered to work on Bogdanovich's first film, "Targets", which became his apprenticeship in film production, as he assumed various productions roles, even appearing in a bit part. Following graduation from UCLA, Marshall spent the next 2 years working in Aspen and Marina del Rey, as a waiter/guitar player at the "The Randy Tar," a steak and lobster restaurant. While traveling through Europe in March 1970, he received another call from Bogdanovich, offering him a position on The Last Picture Show. Three days later he would arrive in Archer City, Texas, doubling as location manager and actor in this seminal film. Under Bogdanovich's guidance, Marshall would work his way up from producer's assistant to associate producer on five more films. He branched out to work with Martin Scorsese as a line producer on the music documentary "The Last Waltz" (1978) and as an associate producer on director Walter Hill's gritty crime thriller, "The Driver" (1978). The following year, Marshall earned his first executive producer credit on Hill's cult classic street gang movie "The Warriors" (1979). He continues to collaborate with Bogdanovich, working to finish their tenth film together, Orson Welles' unfinished film, The Other Side of the Wind.
In 1981, together with his future wife Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg, he co-founded Amblin Entertainment, one of the industry's most productive and profitable production companies. Along the way, Marshall has received five Oscar nominations as a producer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Seabiscuit (2003), The Sixth Sense (1999), The Color Purple (1985), and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
His feature film directing debut was Arachnophobia (1990), starring Jeff Daniels. The film did well at the box office, and in 1991 he and Kennedy created the Kennedy/Marshall Company and began producing their own films. Marshall directed the company's first film, Alive (1993), about a rugby team struggling to survive in the snow after their plane crashes in the Andes. Next, he directed Congo (1995), based on Michael Crichton's novel, and most recently, Eight Below (2006), an adventure about loyalty and the bonds of friendship set in the extreme wilderness of Antarctica. He also directed an episode, "Mare Tranquilitatis", from the Emmy Award winning 1998 HBO miniseries, From The Earth to the Moon. As part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series, Marshall directed a documentary about Olympian Johann Olav Koss entitled "Right to Play" (the name of Koss's humanitarian organisation). Marshall stated that the documentary, broadcast in 2012, sought to capture not only Koss' sporting career and the ideals behind his nonprofit organization, but also his "drive and how it has changed the world."
Marshall is a former VP, member of the board of directors and member of the Executive Committee of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). He was awarded the Olympic Shield in 2005, and inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame class of 2008 for his years of service to the USOC.
Currently, he serves on the board of Athletes for Hope, USA Gymnastics, Governor's Council on Physical Fitness, the USAT&F Foundation, LA's Promise and the UCLA Foundation Board of Governors. He is a recipient of the American Academy of Achievement Award, the UCLA Alumni Professional Achievement Award and the California Mentor Initiative's Leadership Award. In June 2004, Marshall gave the Commencement Address at the UCLA College of Letters and Science graduation ceremony in Pauley Pavilion.
Marshall has long enjoyed magic and music and has been known to perform under the moniker of "Dr. Fantasy" or "DJ Master Frank." Combining his passion for music and sports, Marshall and America's premiere miler, Steve Scott, founded the Rock 'N' Roll Marathon, which debuted in 1998 in San Diego as the largest first time marathon in history.