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Joe Carnahan

Biography

Joe Carnahan

Overview

  • Born
    May 9, 1969 · Sacramento, California, USA
  • Birth name
    Joseph Aaron Carnahan
  • Height
    6′ 2″ (1.88 m)

Mini bio

  • Joe Carnahan is an American film director and screenwriter. He was born in California in 1969. He attended Fairfield High School in Fairfield, California. He graduated in 1987, at the age of 18. He first attended the San Francisco State University, and later transferred to California State University, Sacramento. He gained a Bachelor of Arts in Filmography.

    Following his graduation, Carnahan was hired by the television station KMAX-TV in Sacramento. He produced short films and television spots for the station. In 1997, Carnahan directed his first-feature length film "Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane". The film was screened at 1998 Sundance Film Festival, and won some acclaim.

    In 2002, Carnahan directed the neo-noir crime film "Narc". It earned about 13 million dollars in the worldwide box office, a minor box office hit. He subsequently directed or wrote the screenplays for several crime films. His name was attached to several projects that ended in development hell,

    In 2010, Carnahan directed the action thriller "The A-Team", a film adaptation of the hit television series "The A-Team" (1983-1987). It earned 177 million dollars at the worldwide box office, becoming Carnahan's highest-grossing film.
    - IMDb mini biography by: Dimos I

Family

  • Relatives
      Matthew Michael Carnahan(Sibling)

Trademarks

  • Hi-speed "zoom in" shots
  • Frequently changes the speed of some scenes
  • Often uses chop (auto) shops as a key setting to build up the story

Trivia

  • Was hired to direct Mission: Impossible III (2006) but left the project.
  • Used to move furniture for living. He did this for 8 years.
  • Worked in the promotions department at Channel 31 in Sacramento, California, during the same time frame that Mark S. Allen , Ken Rudulph and Joel McDonell worked at that station.
  • Wrote and directed two films where one character speaks to dying character to "ease" them into death. In "The Grey," Ottway does so with Lewenden, while in "Smokin' Aces," Diego does so with Bill.
  • Frequently uses rap stars as actors in his movies: Busta Rhymes was in Narc (2002) and Alicia Keys and Common were in Smokin' Aces (2006).

Quotes

  • (on current male film stars) Think about a guy like Bob Mitchum, with his kind of chest gut not defining itself one way or the other. Was there anybody tougher? Lee Marvin was a Marine sniper during the Second World War. They had this sense of themselves, and they had this product of being a man in a masculine way. I think that's why Liam Neeson is experiencing this renaissance at sixty years old, because we've run out of that ilk, man. We don't have 'em anymore. I can count 'em on one hand.

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