Biography

Harley Cokeliss

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Writer/director/producer Harley Cokeliss was born Harley Louis Cokliss on February 11, 1945 in San Diego, California. He was raised in Chicago, Illinois. He moved to England in 1966, studying at the London Film School, and started making TV documentaries in 1970, among them It's Fantastic! It's Futuristic! It's Fatalistic! It's Science Fiction! (1973) and The Need for Nightmare (1974). Cokeliss made his first foray into feature filmmaking with the family adventure outing The Battle of Billy's Pond (1977). This was followed by the charming children's science-fiction offering The Glitterball (1977) and the engaging adolescent picture That Summer! (1979). After handling second unit director duties on Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), he has gone on to make a handful of movies in the action, horror and science-fiction genres. His most notable films are the enjoyable futuristic sci-fi/action opus Battletruck (1982), the entertaining action outing Black Moon Rising (1986), the ill-received Burt Reynolds action vehicle Malone (1987) and the creepy fright flick Dream Demon (1988). Moreover, Cokeliss has also directed episodes of such TV shows as Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995), Xena: Warrior Princess (1995), The Dark Knight (2000) and The Immortal (2000). He's the owner of Barzo Productions Ltd. His latest film is the mystery/romance thriller Paris Connections (2010).
- IMDb mini biography by: woodyanders (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)

Studied at the London Film School.
Was born in San Diego and raised in Chicago.
Began his career making TV documentaries.
Cokliss and producer Milton Subotsky had plans to do a film together for United Artists but their entire budget was consumed by the production of Heaven's Gate (1980) and the project had to be canceled.
Cokliss happened to be interviewing Roger Corman for a BBC documentary and therefore had the opportunity to pitch his idea for Battletruck (1982) to Corman.