Stewart Raffill

Stewart Raffill

Stewart Raffill & Diane Kirman at The American Society of Cinematographers Awards Gala 2015
Born United Kingdom
Residence California
Occupation Writer, director
Notable work
Spouse(s) Producer Diane Kirman (1993)
Children Maria Raffill (1978)

Stewart Raffill is a British screenwriter and film director.[1]

Career

Raffill's The Philadelphia Experiment won the "Best Film" award of the 1985 Fantafestival. While You Were Waiting won the Silver Award in the Short Dramatic category of the 2002 Atlantic City Film Festival. In 2009, he directed and wrote a musical called Standing Ovation. 'Walt Disney’s Napoleon and Samantha was the only picture honored this month by So. California Motion Picture Council and that film was awarded four certificates by Council President Elayne Blythe. Called a 'picture of outstanding merit,' the film was honored at Walt Disney Studios "with producer Winston Hibleer, director Bernard McEveety and Scripter Stewart Raffill and composer Buddy Baker receiving awards." [2]

Raffill immigrated to the U.S. from England and has an award winning record in writing and directing. His first film, Napoleon and Samantha was made for Disney Studios and starred Michael Douglas and the then unknown actress Jodie Foster. Raffill’s lion, Major, was the inspiration for his writing this film.

Raffill’s love for wildlife and nature continues to be seen in his film Snow Tigers (aka When The North Wind Blows). Tembatoo, from the United Kingdom, says "if it were possible to award a 10+ … this would be the one film I would choose. As a wildlife film it is superb. As a film about the relationship between man and nature it surpasses anything screened before or since." [3]

Kevin Thomas reported in the Los Angeles Times about Raffill’s film The Sea Gypsies. "The Sea Gypsies (citywide) is another fine family film from writer-director Stewart Raffill and actor Robert Logan, whose previous collaborations have been The Adventures of the Wilderness Family and Across the Great Divide. A skillful and imaginative film-maker, Raffill has lifted the nature film above the travel reel of the dry travelogue while sacrificing none of the glorious scenery and wildlife characteristic of the genre." [4]

Hege in Variety Magazine Film Review reports about The Sea Gypsies saying: "It’s a superior effort in every way – credible story, effective acting, first-rate technical credits. Thomas McHugh’s photography is worthy of picture postcards and Stewart Raffill’s direction is expertly paced. The Raffills have worked before as producers of outdoor adventure films and as suppliers of animals for Disney productions. But their technical achievement here simply as filmmakers who know their craft and who can develop an engaging story and work with actors is also formidable.[5] Wednesday 10 May 1978's edition of Variety Magazine lists The Sea Gypsies as number 16 on their 50 the Top-Grossing Films List.

Stewart Raffill wrote and directed the film Lost in Africa produced by Henry Percy, 11th Duke of Northumberland in an effort to raise awareness of the conservation needs in Africa.[6]

Boxoffice reported that The Adventures of the Wilderness Family, written and directed by Raffill, continued its record breaking pace in theaters. "Every performance was a complete sellout, with people standing in line for blocks to buy tickets to screenings." [7] Variety Magazine reported that The Adventures of the Wilderness Family opened big in Australia and set new records.[8] Raffill’s next film, Across the Great Divide broke box office records in New Zealand and Variety Magazine said in 1978 "The total gross is the highest ever recorded by any film in a week in this country." [9]

Stewart Raffill directed and co-wrote (with Steve Feke) Mac and Me (aka MAC and Me), a 1988 American science fiction adventure film about a "Mysterious Alien Creature" (MAC). Variety Magazine Weekly Edition's headline read "Mac and Me is Making Splash in Foreign Bows. The film was released by Orion Pictures and a portion of the film’s profits went to the Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities." The film is widely regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, with a 0% rating on the critical review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. [10]

According to Variety Magazine, Raffill had four films on its All-Time Rental Champs list. These include: Across The Great Divide, The Adventures of the Wilderness Family, The Philadelphia Experiment and Ice Pirates.[11]

Sheila Benson reports in the Los Angeles Times about Raffill’s film High Risk and says "this unpretentious comedy-action-thriller is a far cut above the usual adventure film. It has a first-rate cast down to the smallest roles,; interesting characters, spectacular locations (Durango, Mexico, doubling for Columbia), excellent direction, and camera work. Writer-Director Raffill is best known for well-plotted, sympathetically directed family adventure films Across the Great Divide, The Adventures of the Wilderness Family." The photography by Alex Phillips Jr. is notably fine, and the film contains one spectacular stunt as memorable as Butch Cassidy leap, except this one was real. (I think.) The location and action sequences are marvelous." [12]

Screen International reports "Experiment opens well.” The Philadelphia Experiment from New World Pictures directed by Stewart Raffill has scored impressive initial box-office grosses in simultaneous openings in Germany and Hong Kong." [13]

Raffill is a credited writer on the film Passenger 57 which was released theatrically by Warner Brothers and stars Wesley Snipes. It opened number one at the box office.[14][15] In addition, LA TIMES reported "Figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed that this 1982 action film, “Passenger 57” was the top-rated program of the night and finished sixth among the week’s 89 prime-time network offerings." [16]

As a director and writer, he has worked with Academy Award and Emmy Award winning actors that include: Michael Douglas, Anjelica Huston, Richard Harris, Jodie Foster, Jane Seymour, Bryan Brown, James Brolin, Rod Steiger, Billy Zane, Michael Madsen, Dee Wallace Stone, Michael Parè, Anthony Quinn, Denise Richards, and Paul Walker. Warner Brothers, MGM/UA, Orion, New World, Disney ABC and Twentieth Century Fox have distributed films written and directed by Raffill. He has filmed around the globe including: Africa, Canada, Thailand, The Caribbean, Mexico and numerous locations throughout the United States.

Filmography

Year Film Director Screenwriter Notes
1972 Napoleon and Samantha
No
 Starring Michael Douglas and Jodie Foster. Produced by Disney Studios.
National Association of Theater Owners Movie of the Month
1974 Snow Tigers (aka When the North Wind Blows)
No
No
 Distributed by NBC
1975 The Adventures of the Wilderness Family
No
No
1976 Across the Great Divide
No
No
 Winner - Outstanding Merit Award - So. California Motion Picture Council
1978 The Sea Gypsies
No
No
 Winner - Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence
1981 High Risk
No
1984 The Philadelphia Experiment
No
 Winner - Best Science Fiction Rome International Film Festival
Fantafestival Award for Best Film
The Ice Pirates
No
No
1988 Mac and Me
No
No
 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director (Tied with Blake Edwards of Sunset)
Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay (with Steve Feke)
1991 Mannequin Two: On the Move
No
1992 Passenger 57
No
 #1 at the Box office on opening weekend (boxofficemojo.com)
1994 Tammy and the T-Rex
No
No
1994 Lost in Africa
No
No
1998 The New Swiss Family Robinson
No
No
 Premiered on ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney
1999 Grizzly Falls
No
 Award of Excellence Winner - Heartland Film Festival
Marco Island Film Festival - Audience Winner [17]
Golden Reel Award Nominee[18]
2001 Adjustments
No
No
 Dramatic Short Film
A Month of Sundays
No
 Winner - Feature Film Award for Best Actor - Rod Steiger - 2001 New York International Independent Film and Video Festival
Winner - Best of the Festival - Feature Film - Stewart Raffil - 2002 Atlantic City Film Festival
2002 While You Were Waiting
No
 Winner - Silver Award for Dramatic Short Atlantic City Film Festival
2006 Survival Island
No
No
2007 Croc
No
 Telemovie - Aired on Sci Fi Channel
Sirens of the Caribbean
No
No
 Shot on location in the Bahamas
2010 Standing Ovation
No
No
 Official Selection - Cape May Film Festival 2011
2014 New York City Cowboys
No
No
 Currently in development.
2015 Through Maria's Eyes
No
No
 Currently in development.

TV Credits

Year Show Episode
1999-2000 Pensacola: Wings of Gold Episodes: True Stories, A Wing and a Prayer, Cuba Libre, Busted
2000-2001 18 Wheels of Justice Episodes: Two Eyes for an Eye, Through a Glass, Darkly, A Place Called Defiance, Hot Cars, Fast Women, Dance With the Devil

References

  1. ↑ "Stewart Raffill". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ Variety Magazine 1972
  3. ↑ "Totally my favourite film of all time". Internet Movie Database.
  4. ↑ LA Times 3 May 1978
  5. ↑ Variety Magazine Film Review 31 March 1978 page 3.
  6. ↑ HELLO! Magazine Number 176 6 November 1991.
  7. ↑ Boxoffice Magazine 19 January 1975
  8. ↑ Variety Magazine 12 October 1979
  9. ↑ Variety Magazine Daily Editions 1/29/80 and 1/30/80
  10. ↑ Variety Magazine Weekly Edition 28 September 1988.
  11. ↑ Variety Magazine 4 May 1992 Daily Edition page 74
  12. ↑ A High Risk That Really Pays Off by Sheila Benson Los Angeles Times 29 May 1981
  13. ↑ Screen International Magazine 28 February 1985 Screen International Magazine 28 February 1985
  14. ↑ IMDB
  15. ↑ Los Angeles Daily News 9 November 1992
  16. ↑ Los Angeles Times Wednesday 24 May 1995
  17. ↑ http://www.dove.org/the-story-of-the-dove-foundation/a-list-of-the-officers-advisors-and-friends-of-the-dove-foundation/cindy-bond/
  18. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303606/combined

External links

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