- Walter F. Parkes
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name = Walter F. Parkes
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birthname = Walter Fishman
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awards =Walter F. Parkes (né Walter Fishman) is a
film producer .Biography
Walter F. Parkes is a motion picture producer, writer and former studio head. For the last fourteen years he has been associated with
DreamWorks Pictures, which he ran from its inception in 1994 until 2005. A three-timeAcademy Award nominee as both producer andscreenwriter , his most recent movies includeThe Kite Runner andGolden Globe -winningSweeney Todd . Other films produced or executive produced by Mr. Parkes include, theMen In Black series,Gladiator ,Minority Report ,Catch Me If You Can ,The Ring ,The Terminal ,Lemony Snicket ’sA Series of Unfortunate Events ,Road to Perdition ,A.I. ,Deep Impact ,Twister ,The Legend of Zorro andAmistad .Parkes graduated from
Yale College cum laude in 1973, and then studied communications and documentary film atStanford University where he began his first feature length film, a documentary about the rebirth of theNazi party in America,The California Reich . The film was nominated for an Oscar and was a special selection at theCannes Film Festival . His next film,WarGames , in collaboration withLawrence Lasker ’71, garnered a “Best Original Screenplay” Oscar nomination. Parkes and Lasker co-produced several films, includingSneakers andAwakenings , aBest Picture Oscar nominee in 1990.In 1994, Parkes was named President of
Steven Spielberg ’sAmblin Entertainment and later that year, he and his wife and business partnerLaurie MacDonald were tapped to help create the DreamWorks SKG motion picture studio. As the studio’s president, Parkes, in partnership with Laurie MacDonald, oversaw development and production of all DreamWorks’ film projects, including, for only the second time in the history of theMotion Picture Academy , three consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners:American Beauty , Gladiator andA Beautiful Mind -- the latter two in partnership withUniversal Studios . Other critical and commercial successes produced during their tenure include:Cameron Crowe ’sAlmost Famous ,Robert Zemeckis ’What Lies Beneath ,Adam McKay ’s ,Michael Mann ’sCollateral , and Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award®- and Golden Globe-winning dramaSaving Private Ryan , which was the top-grossing film domestically of 1998.Parkes is a member of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ,The Writers Guild of America and theGlobal Business Network . He is the president of Yale’s University Council, which advises PresidentRichard Levin and the other officers about selected academic and administrative issues. Other non-profit activities include serving on the boards ofPara Los Niños Charter School which provides services for the children of the working poor of DowntownLos Angeles , and theStarbright Foundation , an organization that develops and provides products and services for chronically sick children.Mr. Parkes and his wife live in
Santa Monica ,California , and have two children.Filmography
* "
The California Reich " (1975 )
* "WarGames " (1983 )
* "Volunteers" (1985 )
* "Project X" (1987 )
* "True Believer" (1989 )
* "Awakenings " (1990 )
* "Eddie Dodd" (TV Series) (1991 )
* "Sneakers" (1992 )
* "Little Giants " (1994)
* "Birdland" (TV Series) (1994 )
* "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar " (1995)
* "How to Make an American Quilt " (1995 )
* "Twister" (1996)
* "The Trigger Effect " (1996 )
* "The Peacemaker" (1997)
* "" (1997)
* "Men in Black" (1997)
* "Amistad" (1997)
* "Small Soldiers " (1998)
* "The Mask of Zorro " (1998)
* "Deep Impact" (1998 )
* "Gladiator" (2000)
* "" (2001 )
* "The Tuxedo " (2002)
* "The Time Machine" (2002)
* "Road to Perdition " (2002)
* "The Ring" (2002)
* "Minority Report" (2002)
* "Men in Black II " (2002)
* "Catch Me If You Can " (2002)
* "The Terminal " (2004)
* "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events " (2004 )
* "The Ring Two " (2005)
* "The Kite Runner (film) " (2007)
* "" (2007)
* "The Burning Plain" (2009)
* "The Uninvited" (2009)
* "The Ring Three" (2009)External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0662748]
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