Howard Rosenman

Zvi Howard Rosenman (born February 1, 1945) is an American producer and motion picture executive. He specializes in producing romantic comedy films and documentary films. Some of his most popular productions include Father of the Bride starring Steve Martin and Diane Keaton, Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) and The Family Man (2000) starring Nicolas Cage. Rosenman's documentary film Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt won the Peabody Award and the 1990 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; his film The Celluloid Closet also won the Peabody Award.

Life and career Rosenman was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, the son of Sima (née Rosenfeld) and Morris Joseph Rosenman, Ashkenazi Jewish parents from Israel whose families had lived in the Old City of Jerusalem and Mea Shearim for seven generations, but immigrated to the United States in the wake of Arab pogroms. Rosenman graduated from Brooklyn College with a degree in European Literature in 1965. In 1967, he took a leave from medical school at Hahnemann Medical College to serve as an extern medic in the Six-Day War as a part of the Israel Defense Forces. After the war, he met his mentor, the composer Leonard Bernstein, who encouraged him to leave medical school after two years and begin his career in show business. Rosenman's first job was on Broadway assisting Katharine Hepburn in the André Previn musical Coco in 1969. Also, on Broadway, he assisted the director, Sir Michael Benthall (former head of Britain's National Theatre/Old Vic), on I'm Solomon and Her First Roman. He then became a producer of commercials for the ad agency Benton & Bowles, winning two Clio Awards on campaigns for Cool Whip and Almond Joy.

For his first feature film Sparkle, he served as its producer and collaborated with Joel Schumacher on its story. With producing partner Renée Missel, Rosenman went on to make the film The Main Event starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal and Resurrection starring Ellen Burstyn and Sam Shepard. Resurrection received two Academy Award nominations.

He served as Co-President of Production at Sandollar, manager Sandy Gallin's and performer Dolly Parton's production company, from 1985–1992. While co-heading production at Sandollar with producer Carol Baum, he produced Father of the Bride, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gross Anatomy starring Matthew Modine (about Rosenman's years in medical school), Straight Talk starring Dolly Parton, Sidney Lumet's A Stranger Among Us, Shining Through starring Melanie Griffith and Michael Douglas, and Harvey Fierstein's Tidy Endings for HBO, which garnered two Emmy Award nominations and two CableACE Awards.

Also during this time, Rosenman served as Executive Producer of the Oscar-winning Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Rosenman collaborated with Epstein and Friedman on two more documentary films: The Celluloid Closet in 1995, which was nominated for four Emmy Awards, and Paragraph 175 in 2000.

He served as President of Production at Brillstein-Grey Entertainment from 1992–1994. While at Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, he oversaw initial development of The Cable Guy starring Jim Carrey and Mike Nichols's What Planet Are You From?.

He subsequently formed Howard Rosenman Productions and produced The Family Man, Noel starring Susan Sarandon, Penélope Cruz and Robin Williams and You Kill Me starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Téa Leoni.

In 2007, Rosenman was the Executive Producer on the David Milch surfing series John from Cincinnati for HBO.

Rosenman made his acting debut in Gus Van Sant's Milk playing the role of David Goodstein (founder of The Advocate) opposite Sean Penn as Harvey Milk.

Rosenman is Co-Founder of Project Angel Food in Los Angeles, a meals-on-wheels program for people living with life-threatening diseases including AIDS and cancer.

Filmography He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film Year Film Credit 1976 Sparkle 1979 The Main Event Executive producer 1980 Resurrection 1989 Lost Angels Gross Anatomy 1991 True Identity Executive producer Father of the Bride 1992 Shining Through Straight Talk Executive producer A Stranger Among Us Buffy the Vampire Slayer 2000 The Family Man 2001 My First Mister Co-executive producer American Neurotic Executive producer 2004 Noel 2007 You Kill Me Breakfast with Scot Executive producer 2009 Jonah 2012 Sparkle Executive producer 2016 Lazy Eye Executive producer 2017 Call Me by Your Name 2019 Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog Anita

As an actor

Year Film Role 2008 Milk David Goodstein 2011 Coming & Going Creator 2012 Should've Been Romeo Henry Sparkle Landlord

As writer

Year Film 1976 Sparkle 1989 Gross Anatomy 2012 Sparkle

Television Year Title Credit Notes 1973 Isn't It Shocking? Television film 1974 Killer Bees Television film Virginia Hill Executive producer Television film 1975 All Together Now Executive producer Television film Death Scream Television film 1988 Tidy Endings Executive producer Television film 2002 Bond Girls Are Forever Co-executive producer Documentary 2007 John from Cincinnati Executive producer