Adam Marcus (director)

Adam Marcus (born 1970) is an American film director, writer and actor.

Early life
Marcus was born in Westport, Connecticut and attended Staples High School. Marcus was raised in Reform Judaism and has a brother, Kipp Marcus. Adam Marcus started his career at the age of fifteen, when he co-created the Westport Theatreworks Theatrical Company, where he directed and produced over fifty shows in seven years. He then attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where he won the Best Picture Award at the Student Academy Awards in 1990 for his film So You Like This Girl.

Career
In 1991, Marcus moved to Los Angeles after being hired by filmmaker Sean S. Cunningham to work on producing and directing features. That same year, he co-produced Johnny Zombie (retitled My Boyfriend's Back) for Cunningham and Disney Studios.

In 1993, Marcus wrote the story for and directed the ninth film in the Friday the 13th series, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday for New Line. He was 23 at the time and the youngest director ever hired by the studio.

Marcus and his writing partner Debra Sullivan began screenwriting for Paramount (the adaptation of James Patterson's Virgin, later titled Cradle and All) and Fox (the original Black Autumn). In 1995, Marcus created the theater company Damn Skippy Theatreworks in L.A. In the Summer and Fall of 1998, Marcus directed the independently financed feature film comedy, Let It Snow. The film screened at the Independent Feature Film Market (IFFM) in New York City where it was named the most successful film at the market by Variety, Time Out IndieWire. Let It Snow had its world premiere at the American Film Institute's Los Angeles International Film Festival (AFI's LAIFF) in the New Visions Category; the film won Best New Writer and Best Editing. It was an official selection of Sundance 2000 in the American Spectrum section where it was given two extra screenings and sold out all seven of its showings. Let It Snow received positive reviews from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Ain't It Cool News, The New York Times, and The Gore Score.

Television and Sony Pictures
Marcus began working in television, where he sold several series to Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, Imagine Television, NBC, Fox and The WB. In 2008, Marcus directed the feature film Conspiracy for Sony Pictures, which he co-wrote with Sullivan. The film was shot in Santa Fe, New Mexico with Val Kilmer, Jennifer Esposito and Gary Cole. In 2009, he gave his comments in a documentary His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th.

Marcus completed the pilot presentation Fitz and Slade and co-wrote, directed and executive produced the web series Connected.

Partnership with Sullivan
In 2013, Marcus co-wrote the sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Texas Chainsaw 3D with partner Sullivan and Stephen Susco, which was the first number-one box office film in North America of the year. He co-wrote with Sullivan the feature film Cabin Fever: Outbreak and is directing and co-writing The Plantation, an adaptation of Val Lewton's RKO classic I Walked with a Zombie.

Adam's script for Momentum (aka Gravity), co-written by Sullivan, began production in South Africa starting January 2014. The film was the directorial debut of Stephen Campanelli and stars Morgan Freeman, James Purefoy and Olga Kurylenko. The film premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival in 2015.