Brett Ratner Director Producer And Actor

Brett Ratner has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most successful directors and producers, with eight of his feature films grossing more than $1.5 billion worldwide in a short span of time.  At 26 years old, he directed his first feature film, the surprise box-office-hit comedy Money Talks, starring Charlie Sheen and Chris Tucker.  His second film, the action-comedy Rush Hour, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, earned $250 million worldwide and paved the way for the extremely popular and lucrative Rush Hour trilogy, which grossed more than $740 million worldwide and featured an acclaimed international supporting cast.  He is also one of the only directors in history to make a $100 million-grossing film before reaching the age of 30. 

Following the success of Rush Hour, Ratner directed the romantic-fantasy drama The Family Man, a critical and box-office hit starring Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni.  Ratner’s fifth feature film and first suspense thriller was the much anticipated The Silence of the Lambs prequel Red Dragon, starring Edward Norton, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson.  Continuing his streak, his next film After the Sunset, starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson and Don Cheadle, opened to great success.

Ratner’s work has been recognized with many awards, including an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight Sequence for Rush Hour 2 and a Tony Award for producing Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam on Broadway.             

Ratner recently produced the documentary Catfish; New Line Cinema’s Horrible Bosses, starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Jason Bateman and Jamie Foxx; the sci-fi alien-invasion thriller Skyline, directed by the Brothers Strause; and a new adaptation of Snow White, scheduled for release in 2012.  Additionally, Ratner has produced the HBO documentaries Helmut by June,about the legendary photographer Helmut Newton, and I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale, as well as American Masters: Woody Allen — A Documentary, which will air on PBS.  Ratner executive produced the successful television series Prison Break and the new 2011 CBS drama series Chaos, about a ragtag group of CIA operatives tripped up by backstabbing and bureaucratic snafus.

In addition to achieving success in film and music, Ratner has also teamed up with CAA Marketing to create Brett Ratner Brands, a creative consulting company that provides brands with new and entertaining ways to market their products and services.  He has shot advertising campaigns for Activision’s Guitar Hero, Steve Wynn’s Encore hotel,Oreo cookies, Atlantis Resorts and Mitchum deodorant. 

Ratner has also segued into book publishing and photography.  Through his Rat Press imprint, he published the controversial book “Naked Pictures of My Ex-Girlfriends” and authored “Hilhaven Lodge: The Photo Booth Pictures,” which was released in October 2003.  His photographs have appeared in Vanity Fair, Interview and Heeb magazine and have graced the covers of Vogue, Homme, VLife, Haute Living and Playboy.

Ratner serves on the dean’s council of the New York University’s Tisch School of Arts and, most recently, became the youngest member of the board of trustees of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance.  He is also a board member of Best Buddies and Do Something.
In 2012, Ratner will produce the Academy Awards®, with Don Mischer, and he recently signed on to direct The 39 Clues, based on aninteractive book series that Scholastic Books developed into a multiplatform franchise, with trading cards, web sites and other online games that tie into the story.
Ratner currently resides in Los Angeles, California.