Father Geek here with sad news... John Carpenter's longtime writing-producing partner 54 year old DEBRA HILL has died. I've met Debra several times here in Austin when she would come here on business or to attend film fests or to visit long time friend and workmate Lynda Obst who lives nearby. She was a great lady and a very cool person. We will all miss her as well as the future films she still had in her.
Harry was talking to John Carpenter back when we 1st saw the re-make of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and John mentioned to him that Debra was in a bad way and needed some extreme surgery on her legs, I guess today's news is related to that in some way. Anyway I'm sure John is really down right now. He and Debra worked together to give us HALLOWEEN, THE FOG, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, and other genre classics. Debra worked on HALLOWEEN 2 also, as well as others in the series. She and her friend Lynda Obst gave us more fun flicks including the outstanding FISHER KING... I can't really go on with this, now...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/07/obit.debra.hill.ap/index.html has put up a story on Debra's passing, check it out... I'll put some of it up for you below...
SHOWBIZ...
In 1988 Debra Hill entered a contract with Walt Disney Pictures under which she produced the feature "Gross Anatomy," short films for the Walt Disney theme park and an NBC special for Disneyland's 35th anniversary.
Films she produced included "The Dead Zone," 1983; "Head Office," 1985; and "Clue," 1986.
"Back when I started in 1974, there were very few women in the industry, and everybody called me 'Honey,' " she recalled in 2003. "I was assumed to be the makeup and hair person, or the script person. I was never assumed to be the writer or producer. I took a look around and realized there weren't many women, so I had to carve a niche for myself."
Carpenter praised her as "a real pioneer in this business." "Unlike many producers, she came from the crew ranks. I think they're the most under-appreciated people, and they work the hardest," he said. "She had experienced the ins and the outs and had a thorough understanding of what it took to make a picture."
Hill began as a production assistant on adventure documentaries, working up to films as a script supervisor, a job that required sitting beside the director and keeping a record of each scene. From there she landed jobs as assistant director and second-unit director and became associated with Carpenter, who was then a rising young director...
When she was honored by Women in Film in 2003, Hill said, "I hope some day there won't be a need for Women in Film. That it will be People in Film. That it will be equal pay, equal rights and equal job opportunities for everybody."
Born in Haddonfield, New Jersey, Hill grew up in Philadelphia.
Hey guys, Quint here with some sad news for us genre fans. John Carpenter's long time partner in crime, Debra Hill has passed away, according to CNN. Hill was co-creator of Michael Meyers and co-wrote HALLOWEEN with Carpenter before going on to produce many of Carpenter's films, including ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and THE FOG. She went on to produce such personal favorites of mine as CLUE, THE DEAD ZONE, Robert Rodriguez's ROADRACERS and THE FISHER KING.
I don't have much to say about her other than she was instrumental in creating some of my favorite films from childhood and adolescence. Her birthplace of Haddonfield, New Jersey became one of the key town names one didn't want to inhabit in the '80s, along with Springwood and Crystal Lake. Please discuss her work below in her memory. I wish her friends, family and fans the best. She will be missed.
CLICK HERE FOR CNN'S STORY
We got this bit in from of our readers that I thought would be nice to share:
Hey Harry, you'll probably get a lot about this, but I'd like to inform your readers that the great producer Debra Hill passed away today, apparently from a 13 month battle with cancer.
I had a brief run in with Debra Hill a few years ago when she and John Carpenter became interested in a script I'd written. Nothing came of it, but they battled hard with the studios to get it financed. She always struck me as courteous but tough, smart but willing to defer. In other words, all the qualities talent searches for in a producer.
Carpenter was right when he eulogized her today as that rare breed of women producers: someone who came up from the production ranks, working her way up from p.a. to script girl to second unit director. Anyone who wants to hear the woman give a good lesson in guerilla filmmaking should put in the DVD of THE FOG and listen to how she and Carpenter engineered the quality of that movie on a low budget.
Debra Hill, passed on as 54.
Bresson
