YEAR OF THE RAT

 

By Joshua R. Marks

 

If it was up to Brett Ratner’s grandparents, this nice Jewish boy from Miami Beach would have become a doctor. Lucky for us he didn’t follow their advice. Ratner, who is the 2006 Malibu International Film Festival honoree, took the filmmaking path and has turned into one of the most successful directors in Hollywood.

“It is always rewarding to be recognized for your work, but more so it validates my choice to pursue filmmaking,” said Ratner about being honored.

At age 16 the versatile director became the youngest film major to graduate from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. While attending NYU, he made a short film called “Whatever Happened to Mason Reese,” which was funded by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. His breakthrough came when hip-hop promoter Russell Simmons saw the film. That began Ratner’s career directing music videos for multi-platinum artists such as Madonna and Jay-Z.

At 26 years old, Ratner directed his first feature film, “Money Talks,” starring Charlie Sheen and Chris Tucker. His subsequent films have gone on to gross billions of dollars at the box office. Currently he is in post-production for “X-Men: The Last Stand,” the final chapter of the X-Men trilogy. Next he will be starting pre-production on “Rush Hour 3,” starring Jackie Chan and Tucker. The affable Ratner joked about the “Rush Hour” film being his third film that has been the third in a series of three, the other being 2002’s “Red Dragon,” the final Hannibal Lecter film.

“I guess three is my lucky number,” said Ratner.

Despite forays into book publishing and still photography, Ratner’s first love is making movies.

“I dreamed my whole life of being a filmmaker and that dream has come true,” said Ratner.