In Memoriam Roger Corman

On May 9th, Roger Corman, the prolific American film producer and director, passed away at the age of 98. Corman’s career began in the 1950s with low-budget exploitation films that capitalized on current genre trends such as Westerns, gangster films, science fiction, and horror. These films found a devoted audience, particularly in the thriving drive-in theaters popular among young viewers. Throughout later decades, he maintained his successful approach while shifting towards video, DVD, and television as distribution channels, amassing a portfolio of several hundred films, fifty of which he directed himself.

Corman boasted an impressive success rate, with 95% of his productions turning a profit. Many aspiring filmmakers, including Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Monte Hellman, James Cameron, Peter Bogdanovich, and Jonathan Demme, gained valuable experience working with him, despite the modest pay. Corman inadvertently ran what could be considered the most influential film school of all time.

His directing career flourished from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Beyond his public image as a successful businessman, Corman was a significant artistic force in American cinema, contributing some of its most notable works from that era.

In July, the DFF cinema will feature a curated selection of his directorial works. In August, the tribute film series dedicated to Stephanie Rothman will highlight films produced by Roger Corman.