A native of Utica, New York, STEVEN BRILL (Director) studied film, theater and acting at Boston University. Upon graduation, he moved to Los Angeles where he began auditioning as an actor and writing screenplays on spec. In his spare time, Brill would go skating at public ice rinks, which proved a fortuitous hobby. One day, while watching a peewee hockey practice, he was struck by the idea for “The Mighty Ducks.”
Brill scripted the film, recalling his own youth hockey experience, and sold it to Walt Disney Pictures in 1990. Emilio Estevez was cast as Coach Gordon Bombay in the 1992 release. One year later, The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim entered their first NUL season. Brill next wrote and executive-produced the 1994 sequel “D2: The Mighty Ducks,” and in 1996, “D3: The Mighty Ducks.”
1995 saw Brill’s motion picture directorial debut with the Disney film “Heavyweights,” a comedy about a group of kids at a weight-loss summer camp, starring Ben Stiller. He co-wrote the script with Judd Apatow, with Joe Roth’s Caravan Films serving as producer.
Brill wrote and directed “Late Last Night” in 1998 for Screenland Pictures. “Late Last Night,” starring Emilio Estevez, Steven Weber and Catherine O’Hara, chronicles one intense night in the life of a man in Los Angeles.
In 1999, Brill wrote “Ready to Rumble.” The film stars Oliver Platt and Martin Landau. Brill then directed and co-wrote “Little Nicky,” with Adam Sandier for New Line Cinema. Also starring in the picture are Harvey Keitel, Patricia Arquette and Reese Witherspoon.
Brill followed that up by directing “Mr. Deeds,” with Adam Sandier. The film, which also starred Winona Ryder, was released in June 2002 and earned over $125 million at the box office.
He is currently working on “Step-Dude” for Paramount Pictures. He is co-writing the film with Nicholas Stoller and plans to direct this original comedy in the fall of 2004.
Aside from writing and directing, Brill has kept busy as an actor on such diverse films as “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Postcards from the Edge,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Batman Returns,” “The Mighty Ducks,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “The Wedding Singer” and “Big Daddy.”
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