Background
Don Coscarelli was born on the 17th of February, 1954 in Tripoli, but his family moved to Southern California when he was only a year old; the son of Donald Anthony and Kate Mae (Tyer) Coscarelli.
2014
2500 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505, United States
Cast & crew of 'Phantasm' Gigi Bannister, David Hartman, Don Coscarelli, A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury, Angus Scrimm and Kat Lester At the Son Of Monsterpalooza Convention held at Marriott Hotel & Convention Center on September 13, 2014 in Burbank, California.
2012
961 Broxton Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024, United States
Director Don Coscarelli attends the 2012 AFI FEST featuring "John Dies At The End" midnight screeening at the Mann Theatres 6 on November 2, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
2012
Park City, Salt Lake City, Provo, Utah, United States
Don Coscarelli pose for a portrait during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival
2012
Stratton St, Mayfair, London W1J 8LT, United Kingdom
Director Don Coscarelli speaks to the media as he attends the Filmmaker Afternoon Tea during the 56th BFI London Film Festival at The Mayfair Hotel on October 14, 2012 in London, England.
2012
43 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M5G 2A7, Canada
TIFF programmer Colin Geddes and filmmaker Don Coscarelli attend the "John Dies At The End" Premiere during the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival held at Ryerson Theatre on September 15, 2012 in Toronto, Canada.
2013
822 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505, United States
Doug Jones and Don Coscarelli attend the 'John Dies At The End' DVD/Blu-Ray release party at Dark Delicacies Bookstore on April 2, 2013 in Burbank, California.
2013
11272 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025, United States
Actor Jimmy Wong, actor Rob Mayes, actor Angus Scrimm, director Don Coscarelli, actor Chase Williamson, actor Daniel Roebuck and actress Fabianne Therese attend "John Dies At The End" special screening and Q&A at Nuart Theatre on January 25, 2013 in West Los Angeles, California.
2014
2500 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505, United States
Don Coscarelli at Marriott Hotel & Convention Center on September 13, 2014 in Burbank, California.
2014
2500 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505, United States
Cast & crew of 'Phantasm' Gigi Bannister, David Hartman, Don Coscarelli, A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury, Angus Scrimm and Kat Lester At the Son Of Monsterpalooza Convention held at Marriott Hotel & Convention Center on September 13, 2014 in Burbank, California.
Don Coscarelli
Don Coscarelli
Don Coscarelli's daughter, Chloe Kay Coscarelli
Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
Coscarelli attended the University of California in Los Angeles, but upon learning he could not enter the film department until his third year, he left the University of California to direct his first feature Jim The World's Greatest.
Don Coscarelli's mother, Kate Mae (Tyer) Coscarelli.
(True Indie will prove indispensable for fans of Coscarell...)
True Indie will prove indispensable for fans of Coscarelli’s movies, aspiring filmmakers, and anyone who loves a story of an underdog who prevails while not betraying what he believes.
https://www.amazon.com/True-Indie-Life-Death-Filmmaking/dp/1250193249
2018
director editor producer writer
Don Coscarelli was born on the 17th of February, 1954 in Tripoli, but his family moved to Southern California when he was only a year old; the son of Donald Anthony and Kate Mae (Tyer) Coscarelli.
Coscarelli attended the University of California in Los Angeles, but upon learning he could not enter the film department until his third year, he left the University of California to direct his first feature Jim The World's Greatest.
Coscarelli calls the making of Jim The World's Greatest his college education.
Don Coscarelli enamored with movie making and started filming short films with his childhood friends in Long Beach, California. In 1976 he sold his independently made film “Jim the World's Greatest” which he wrote and co-directed with friend Craig Mitchell, to Universal Pictures. As a result, he became the youngest director to have a feature film distributed by a major Hollywood studio. That same year, his second film “Kenny & Company” which is about several days in the life of a typical twelve-year-old boy, was released by Twentieth Century-Fox.
Although considered a low-budget, B-movie writer and director, Coscarelli attained worldwide critical and box-office success in 1979 with his horror film Phantasm, which tells the story of young boys who battle the "Tall Man" a mysterious grave robber and killer. Coscarelli would go on over the next two decades to write and direct several sequels to the cult classic, including 1998's Phantasm IV: Oblivion.
One of Coscarelli's most successful movies is The Beastmaster, which led to two sequels and a television series based on Coscarelli's characters. The story is about a martial arts warrior who can communicate with animals, including his two amazingly cooperative ferrets.
Coscarelli also wrote and directed the oddball, low-budget film “Bubba Ho-Tep” in 2002. A truly offbeat horror comedy film made a successful run at film festivals to audiences who giddily responded to its infectious originality. Endowed with a new spark of energy, Coscarelli, soon began production on 2003's Phantasm's End.
Coscarelli directed the Showtime series “Masters of Horror” in 2005, which is based on a short story from author Joe R. Landsdale that follows a woman as she tries to escape death at the hands of a serial killer. Coscarelli went on to direct John Dies at the End in 2012, a horror-comedy following a pair of college dropouts as they to save mankind from an alien takeover.
Don was published in periodicals such as Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chicago Tribune, New Statesman, New York Times, Times-Picayune Variety, Village Voice and Washington Post. Coscarelli’s memoir “True Indie: Life and Death in Filmmaking” was published in 2018.
(True Indie will prove indispensable for fans of Coscarell...)
2018
Quotations:
“Getting movies made is difficult for everybody, independent or mainstream”.
“I guess I'm luckier than most to even have a label attached to me. There is no question though that this particular label makes it very difficult to gain respect from the people who finance movies. However, since my first exposure to the power of cinema was from genre films, I am proud to wear the label”.
“I had no plans, when I made the first Phantasm, to create a myth. I was only trying to make an effective low-budget movie, which might propel an audience member or two out of their seats on occasion. If anything, it was the fans who elevated our little tale into myth”.
“I guess if I had any regret regarding the Phantasm series, it would be that A. Michael Baldwin did not star in Phantasm II. I sometimes think I should have called Universal's bluff, and given them a take it or leave it ultimatum. However, they very well might have chosen not to make the film, and there might not have been any Phantasm sequels”.
“At the beginning, there was no master plan. The original Phantasm was intended to be a stand-alone film. However, after seeing how Phantasm II worked (starting the sequel the moment after the original ended), and the power of the fan response to the sequel and their speculations, the pattern of the storyline evolved easily”.
“Perhaps if I had focused my energies more on breaking into the system in a conventional way, and not spent as much time on the Phantasm series, I could have made more, varied, and certainly bigger budgeted films. But I have to admit making movies with balls, dwarves, hearses and four-barrel shotguns is a hoot!”.
Don Coscarelli is a member of the Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America.
Don Coscarelli is married to Shelley Kay Eskow. They have two children, award-winning vegan chef and author Chloe Coscarelli and son Andrew Coscarelli.