Rob Cohen

Actor, Director, Producer

Date of Birth:

Mar 12, 1949

Country:

Cornwall, New York, USA

Gender:

Male

Biography

Rob Cohen is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. One of the 1970's "baby moguls", he built a thriving career as a producer, before concentrating full time on directing from the 1990's, with high adrenaline action blockbusters such as xXx (2002) and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993). He is the creator of The Fast and the Furious (2001), Universal Pictures' biggest franchise of all time.

Born on March 12, 1949 in Cornwall, New York, USA. He attended Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude in the class of '71, concentrating in a cross major between anthropology and visual studies. His first endeavor in filmmaking was a commissioned recruiting film for Harvard's Admissions Office in 1970. With a career in film and television spanning more than 40 years, Cohen has distinguished himself both as a celebrated screenwriter, producer and director. In 1973, Cohen became Fox's Vice President of TV Movies, before being poached by Gordon L. Berry and becoming Head of Production at Motown Records at the age of just 24. He went on to produce and direct some of the most iconic films and television series of the 1980's, including Miami Vice (1984), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Ironweed (1987) and The Wiz (1978)_. From 1990 onward, Cohen moved into directing full time. Much success followed with early 90's hits such as Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993), DragonHeart (1996), Daylight (1996) and the Golden Globe award winning film The Rat Pack (1998). At 52, Cohen had become a hit action director of youth films, directing the 2001 blockbuster, The Fast and the Furious (2001). With the enormous success of Fast, he partnered up with Vin Diesel again the following year to direct yet another box office hit, xXx (2002). Cohen directed the third installed of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) in 2008, grossing $405million world-wide, and Blumhouse Production's The Boy Next Door (2015) with Jennifer Lopez, which went on to gross five times it's budget.

Currently on location in Sofia, Bulgaria, Cohen is shooting his next film, The Hurricane Heist (2018). Starring Toby Kebbell, Maggie Grace, Ryan Kwanten and Ralph Ineson, the action/adventure tells the tale of a $600 million heist of a U.S. treasury facility in a small Sou then town, during the worst storm to ever hit the coastal United States. The screenplay was written by Rob Cohen, Scott Windhauser, and Jeff Dixon.

Cohen is also an accomplished commercials director, housed at Original Film, having made over 150 spots for products such as Disney's Star Wars, Verizon, Ford, GM, Mercedes, Chevy, Saab and Burger King among many others.

Spouse

Barbara Cashulin (25 March 2006 - present) ( 3 children)
Diane Mitzner (1986 - 1987) ( divorced) ( 1 child)
? (? - ?) ( 1 child)

Trade Mark

[Cameo] Usually makes a small appearance in his films
Often directs high-energy action films (Daylight (1996), The Fast and the Furious (2001), xXx (2002), Stealth (2005), The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)).

Trivia

Graduated from Harvard University.
Father of Kyle Cohen
Ranked #95 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List.
Uses Randy Edelman scores.
Became an avid surfer in 2006.
Daughter Zoe and sons Jasi and Sean Cohen born 20 March 2008.
In August 2002 he was negotiating to possibly direct Dwayne Johnson in a film based on the life of Hawaii's King Kamehamha.
Brother of Jackie Burch.
Rob Cohen aka Rob Cashulin, his original family name, is the father of four children, Kyle, 29, by his third wife and his triplets, Zoe, Sean and Jasi, 8, by his fourth, Barbara. He currently resides in Sofia, Bulgaria and London, England where he is making his new film "Riders on the Storm" and lives with his girlfriend, Roma Da Molin Taylor, a documentary producer.
Said that the box office failure of Stealth (2005) caused him to end up in Hollywood jail for years. He claims that after the success of The Fast and the Furious (2001), whenever he entered a restaurant, he would immediately be invited to join groups of people. After Stealth, people would shun him and pretend they didn't see him, "as if failure is a communicable disease".
Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 8th Beijing International Film Festival in 2018.
No relation to "Goonies" star Jeff B. Cohen, or to "It's Alive" director Larry Cohen, despite a popular misconception.

Personal Quotes

I wanted a woman who had the body and the power of a real pilot. I interviewed hundreds of woman, but Jessica just seemed perfect for the part. I couldn't get her out of my head. I continued to bother her and she finally gave in.
No two directors make the same film the same way.
Be happy or die.