Biography
His student short "Terminal Round", a 8-minute look into boxing, appeared at the Mill Valley (California) Film Festival in 1988 and his USC thesis project "Air Time" (1991) opened eyes to his talent at the 1992 Sundance Festival. A 48-minute thriller written by pal Scott Rosenberg, "Air Time" related the story of an ex-con threatening a late-night radio-talk-show psychologist. He returned to the world of boxing when he helmed "Animal Instinct" …
Career Milestones
| Attached as director of a biopic of Janis Joplin with Brittany Murphy set to play the singer; project abandoned | ||
| Founded Mojo Films to develop projects for him to produce and direct; in 1997 signed two-year, first-look development deal with New Line | ||
| Helmed "The Runaway Jury" (lensed 2002), based on John Grisham's best-seller | ||
| Worked as commercial director in both Chicago and Minneapolis | ||
1988 | Directorial debut, "Terminal Round", 8-minute short shown at Mill Valley (CA) Film Festival | |
1992 | Returned to boxing (subject of "Terminal Round"), directing "Animal Instinct", a 30-minute documentary about Brooklyn boxer Philip Paolina (shown at 1993 Sundance Festival) | |
1992 | Short film "Air Time" debuted at Sundance Festival; first collaboration with writer Scott Rosenberg | |
1992 | TV directing debut, the "Seance" episode of HBO's "Tales From the Crypt"; written by Scott Rosenberg | |
1994 | TV-movie directing debut, USA Network's "The Companion" | |
1995 | Directed feature "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead"; scripted by Rosenberg | |
1997 | Breakthrough feature, "Kiss the Girls", a dark and moody thriller that reflected the visual influence of 70s films like "The Exorcist" and "Klute" | |
1997 | Directed the impressive "The Subway" episode of the NBC drama series "Homicide: Life on the Street" | |
1998 | Helmed pilot for the CBS drama series "L.A. Doctors" | |
2001 | Directed the thriller "Don't Say a Word", with Brittany Murphy in a co-starring role | |
2002 | Produced (with star Gary Sinise) and directed the sci-fi film "Impostor"; originally made as a 40-minute short in 1998 to be included in an anthology film called "Light Years", the footage so impressed the executives at Dimension Films that Fleder was given the go-ahead to make a feature-length version | |