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Jack Rapke: Making Award-Winning Films

Jack Rapke:  Making Award-Winning Films

 

 




Introduction to Jack Rapke.  1:57 min.  Interview:  Raymond Elman + Robert Zuckerman.  Post-Production: Isaac Gomez +  Lee Skye. Music:  Alan Silvestri.  Recorded via Zoom5/18/2021.
 

 

JACK RAPKE is a film producer whose first production was the award-winning “Cast Away,” starring Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt.  Directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Upon his graduation from New York University Film School in 1974, Rapke moved to Los Angeles to embark on a lifetime career in the entertainment industry.

During a seven-year tenure as co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) motion picture department, Rapke cultivated a high-profile client list that included Jerry Bruckheimer, Ridley Scott, Michael Mann, Harold Ramis, Michael Bay, Terry Gilliam, Bob Gale, Bo Goldman, Steve Kloves, Howard Franklin, Scott Frank, Robert Kamen, John Hughes, Joel Schumacher, Marty Brest, Chris Columbus, Ezra Sacks, and Imagine Entertainment partners Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.

Rapke has produced numerous award-winning films including “Flight,” starring Denzel Washington, which was nominated for two Academy Awards; The Walk,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt;  “Allied,” starring Brad Pitt;  “Welcome to Marwen” starring Steve Carell;  “The Witches” starring starred Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer;  the upcoming “Finch” starring Tom Hanks; “What Lies Beneath” starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, the Ridley Scott-directed “Matchstick Men” starring Nicolas Cage; “The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio” starring Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson, and “Last Holiday” starring Queen Latifah.

For Television, Rapke was Executive Producer for the three seasons of “The Borgias” starring Jeremy Irons, and was Executive Producer on the documentary series “Medal of Honor.” He served as Executive Producer on “Blue Book,” and has Executive Produced all three seasons of “Manifest.”

The videos below were recorded via Zoom, are organized by Success Factor, and run between 30 seconds and 9 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.

 

 

EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES:  3:00 min.




What was your first awareness of art of any discipline?
 

 

OPEN TO CHANGE, FLEXIBILITY:  1:52 min.




Why did your parents move to Miami?
 

 

DEVELOP A VOICE:  4:07 min.




When did you start thinking that you wanted to have a career in the film industry?
 

 

SERENDIPITY:  0:56 sec.




Tell us about meeting legendary French filmmaker François Truffaut when you were young.
 

 

UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART:   6:06 min.




What are the skills you developed as a Hollywood agent and chairman of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) that helped you as a film producer?
 

 

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED:   8:42 min. 




Let’s talk about one of my all-time favorite films, “Cast Away,” starring Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt. Your first movie as a producer.
 

 

SERENDIPITY:  1:39 min.




Who came up with the idea of having Tom Hanks talk to a volleyball in “Cast Away”?
 

 

COLLABORATION:  8:09 min.




How did your relationship with “Cast Away” director Robert Zemeckis evolve?
 

 

EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES:  2:35 min.




What did you learn in NYU film school that still informs you today?
 

 

CRITICAL THINKING: 2:20 min. 




What are your thoughts regarding diversity in the movie business?
 

 

RESILIENCE:  4:27 min.




Given the amount of content available to see on TV, do you think movie theaters will make a comeback?