Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen (born October 9, 1947) is an American screenwriter, film producer and winemaker best known as creator and co-creator of The Karate Kid, Transporter and Taken franchises. He now produces wine from his vineyards near Sonoma, California.
Robert Mark Kamen | |
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Born | |
Alma mater | New York University (BA) University of Pennsylvania (PhD) |
Occupation | Screenwriter, producer, winemaker |
Known for | The Karate Kid Transporter Taken |
Early life and education
Kamen was born in 1947. He grew up in the Bronx borough of New York City.[1] He graduated from New York University in 1969.[2] He received his Ph.D. in American Studies from The University of Pennsylvania.[3]
Career
Kamen is a frequent collaborator of French writer and director Luc Besson, who co-created The Fifth Element, The Transporter, and the Taken series. The two first worked together on the Natalie Portman and Jean Reno thriller The Professional. After the success of The Fifth Element, Besson invited Kamen to join him in his goal of creating a "mini-studio" in Europe, making "movies that would travel, international movies, you know, action movies."[4]
The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid is a semi-autobiographical story based on Kamen's life. When Kamen was 17, he was beaten up by a gang of bullies after the 1964 New York World's Fair. He thus began to study martial arts in order to defend himself.[5] Kamen was unhappy with his first teacher who taught martial arts as a tool for violence and revenge.[5] So he moved on to study Okinawan Gōjū-ryū Karate under a teacher who did not speak English but himself was a student of Chōjun Miyagi.[5]
As a Hollywood screenwriter, Kamen was mentored by Frank Price who told him that producer Jerry Weintraub had optioned a news article about the young child of a single mother who had earned a black belt to defend himself against the neighborhood bullies. Kamen then combined his own life story with the news article and used both to create the screenplay for The Karate Kid.[5]
DC Comics had a character called "Karate Kid". The filmmakers received special permission from DC Comics in 1984 to use the title for the first film (and consequent sequels).[6]
Vineyards
In 1980, after being paid $135,000 for his first screenplay (which was never produced), Kamen used the check to buy 280 acres of rocky land on Mount Veeder in Sonoma County, California. He hired winegrower Phil Coturri to make 46 acres into a vineyard in 1981. In 1984, the first grapes were sold to local winemakers. The vineyard suffered a fire in 1996, destroying half the vineyard. Kamen replanted the vineyard, and in 1999 he bottled his first Kamen-branded wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2002, Kamen hired Mark Herold to craft his wines.[7]
Filmography
Year | Film | Credit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1981 | Taps | Screenplay by | Co-wrote screenplay with Darryl Ponicsan and James Lineberger |
1982 | Split Image | Co-wrote screenplay with Robert Kaufman, based on a story by Scott Spencer | |
1984 | The Karate Kid | Written by | |
1986 | The Karate Kid Part II | Written by, characters created by | |
1989 | The Karate Kid Part III | ||
The Punisher | Producer, uncredited rewrite | ||
1992 | Gladiator | Screenplay by, story by | Co-wrote screenplay with Lyle Kessler, co-wrote story with Djordje Milicevic, as Robert Kamen |
The Power of One | Screenplay by | ||
Lethal Weapon 3 | Co-wrote screenplay with Jeffrey Boam, based on a story by Jeffrey Boam | ||
Under Siege | Uncredited rewite[8] | ||
1993 | The Fugitive | ||
1994 | The Next Karate Kid | Characters created by | |
1995 | A Walk in the Clouds | Screenplay by | Co-wrote with Mark Miller & Harvey Weitzman |
1997 | The Devil's Own | Uncredited rewrite[9][10] | |
The Fifth Element | Screenplay by | Co-wrote with Luc Besson, story by Luc Besson | |
The Devil's Advocate | Uncredited rewrite[8] | ||
1998 | Left Luggage | Special thanks | |
2001 | Kiss of the Dragon | Screenplay by | Co-wrote screenplay with Luc Besson, based on a story by Jet Li |
2002 | The Transporter | Written by | Co-wrote with Luc Besson |
2005 | Unleashed | Artistic consultant, creative consultant | |
Transporter 2 | Written by, characters created by | Co-wrote with Luc Besson, characters created with Luc Besson | |
2006 | Bandidas | Written by | Co-wrote with Luc Besson |
2008 | Taken | ||
Transporter 3 | Written by, characters created by | Co-wrote with Luc Besson, characters created with Luc Besson | |
2010 | The Karate Kid | Story by | |
2011 | Colombiana | Written by | Co-wrote with Luc Besson |
2012 | Taken 2 | Written by, characters created by | Co-wrote with Luc Besson, characters created with Luc Besson |
2014 | Brick Mansions | Artistic consultant | |
Lucy | Special thanks | ||
Taken 3 | Written by, characters created by | Co-wrote with Luc Besson, characters created with Luc Besson | |
2015 | Transporter Refueled | Characters created by | Characters created with Luc Besson |
2016 | The Warriors Gate | Written by | Co-wrote with Luc Besson |
2018–present | Cobra Kai | Characters created by | Based on The Karate Kid films |
2019 | Angel Has Fallen | Screenplay by | Co-wrote with Ric Roman Waugh and Matt Cook[11] |
References
- Hartlaub, Peter, "Robert Mark Kamen established his roots in Hollywood. But his heart is in the hills of Sonoma, where he tends to his vineyard," San Francisco Chronicle, March 11, 2004.
- CAS ALUMNI RELATIONS
- "Robert Mark Kamen - Kamen Wines".
- Gotshalk, Shira, "The Script Assassin", Writers Guild of America, February, 2009.
- Prewitt, Alex (2018-05-01). "The Crane Kick Is Bogus: A Karate Kid Oral History". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
- Hodges, Christopher (2019-07-30). "20 Crazy Details Behind the Making of The Karate Kid". TheThings. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
- Brown, Sunny (2008). "Kamen Estate Wines". Winegeeks. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
- Goldstein, Patrick (March 10, 2009). "Screenwriter Kamen is taken with director Besson". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- "Devil's Own, The - Ethics & Public Policy Center". Ethics & Public Policy Center. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
- Pfeiffer, Lee; Lewis, Michael (2002-01-01). The Films of Harrison Ford. Citadel Press. ISBN 9780806523644.
- D'Nuka, Amanda (February 23, 2018). "Tim Blake Nelson Boards 'Angel Has Fallen'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
External links
- Robert Mark Kamen at IMDb
- Writers Guild of America Interview with Kamen
- The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai - Reunited Apart, December 21, 2020