Stephanie Rothman facts for kids

Stephanie Rothman (born November 9, 1936, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter, known for her low-budget independent exploitation films made in the 1960s and 1970s, especially The Student Nurses (1970) and Terminal Island (1974).

Biography

Early life

Rothman was raised in Los Angeles and studied sociology at UC Berkeley. She says she became interested in filmmaking after seeing The Seventh Seal (1957), "what is still my favorite film of all time... I didn't, at that point, know how to become a filmmaker. I didn't even think it was possible. When I saw it I thought to myself, 'This is what I would like to do. I would like to make a film like this.' Highly thoughtful, European-like, [laughs] small films. I wanted to be a writer-director."

Roger Corman

From 1960 to 1963, Rothman studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California where she met her husband, filmmaker Charles S. Swartz. She was mentored by the chairman of the cinema department, Bernard Cantor. She became the first woman to be awarded the Directors Guild of America fellowship, awarded annually to the director of a student film. This, along with her academic qualifications, garnered her a job offer from Roger Corman in 1964, to work as his assistant. (Corman chose her over another applicant, who later became his wife Julie.)

"It was rare for anyone who did not have family connections to find employment in the film industry, in or outside of the jurisdiction of the labor unions", recalled Rothman later. "It was even rarer for a woman to be hired. It was traditional to exclude us from nearly all types of work behind the camera."

Rothman worked in a variety of jobs for Corman, on films such as Beach Ball (1965), Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965), and Queen of Blood (1966).

Corman had Rothman reshoot large segments of the movie that became Blood Bath (1966). "I shot about another 30 minutes of original footage and it was made into what I can only call...a mish-mosh", she recalls. "Unintended joint collaboration would be a more accurate way of putting it. [laughs]" She and Jack Hill share directorial credit for the film.

It's a Bikini World

Her work impressed Corman enough to give her her first full directing job on It's a Bikini World (shot in 1965 but not released until 1967), which he financed.

Rothman returned to filmmaking on Corman's comedy Gas-s-s-s (1970), working as production associate.

The Student Nurses

In 1970, Corman established his new production and distribution company New World Pictures and hired Rothman to write and direct its second film, The Student Nurses (1970), about the adventures of four young nursing students. ..... The Student Nurses was a considerable hit, leading to a cycle of "nurse" films and helping establish New World as a viable commercial force.

The Velvet Vampire

Rothman turned down Corman's offer to make both a sequel to Student Nurses and a woman in prison film, The Big Doll House (1971) because she was not enthusiastic about either project. Instead she directed The Velvet Vampire (1971) for New World which has become a cult hit, although it was a commercial disappointment.

Dimension Pictures

Rothman and her husband left Corman in the early 1970s to help set up Dimension Pictures. While there she did not receive greater creative freedom or the opportunity to leave the exploitation field – however, she did receive more money and owned a small share of the company.

"He [Corman] wouldn't pay me anything", said Rothman. "No, he paid people very little and [Charles and I] had to make a living. We were offered better pay at Dimension Pictures, so we left for Dimension. The pull for that was economic. It was not ideological. Roger is ideologically quite progressive, but when it comes to money he is much more cautious. Let's put it tactfully that way."

Rothman directed three films for Dimension, Group Marriage (1973), Terminal Island (1973) and The Working Girls (1974). She also wrote the script for Beyond Atlantis (1973).

The films that Rothman directed – Group Marriage in particular – placed emphasis on female as well as male desire.

Film director and historian Fred Olen Ray later claimed that the best movies made by Dimension were the in-house productions from Rothman and Swartz.

Rothman says she was influenced by the work of Jean Cocteau and Georges Franju.

Later career

Rothman and Swartz left Dimension in 1975. She tried to break out of the exploitation field, but struggled.

Rothman sold a script, Carhops, which was later filmed as Starhops (1978), but it was changed to such a degree that Rothman took her name off it. There are stories that she re-shot sections of Ruby (1977) but Rothman says these are not true. Curtis Harrington did say she shot some additional scenes for the TV relief. Rothman did sign a three-picture deal with a producer but no films resulted.

In 1978 Rothman said she still hoped "to make a major motion picture. I never give up hoping... If I hang in there long enough my time will come." However she is not credited on a feature film after 1978.

Rothman ended up leaving the industry. She says, "for a few years I ran a small proto-union for a group of University of California professors, doing their lobbying and writing a political newsletter about labor issues of concern to them. Then, starting with a small inheritance, I began to invest in commercial real estate."

Acclaim

"I was never happy making exploitation films", said Rothman later. "I did it because it was the only way I could work." However her movies have come to receive much critical appraisal, particularly from feminist writers such as Pam Cook and Claire Johnson. She was honoured with a retrospective at the 2007 Vienna International Film Festival.

Legacy

Feminist writers, especially Pam Cook and Claire Johnson, have noted Rothman's role creating feminist films in the exploitation genre.

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Filmography

• Beach Ball (1965) – associate producer
• Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) – associate producer
• Queen of Blood (1966) – associate producer
• Blood Bath (1966) – co-director
• It's a Bikini World (1967) – director, co-writer
• Gas-s-s-s (1970) – production associate
• The Student Nurses (1970) – director, writer
• The Velvet Vampire (1971) – director, writer
• Group Marriage (1973) – director
• Beyond Atlantis (1973) – writer
• Terminal Island (1973) – director
• The Working Girls (1974) – director
• Starhops (1978) – writer

Unmade films

• Outlaw Mama – script by Rothman announced in 1971 for production by New World
• Mama Sweetlife – project announced for Dimension but never made

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