Bob Geil American screenwriter and producer Date of Birth: 25.05.1951 Country: USA

Biography of Bob Gale

Bob Gale, an American screenwriter and producer, was born in University City, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. From a young age, Gale became passionate about Walt Disney masterpieces and began drawing by copying images from Disney comics. He excelled in writing short stories during his school years and later combined his talents as a writer and artist by creating his own comic books at City Middle School. Intrigued by the idea of storytelling through pictures, he shifted his focus to making 8mm films with his friends. However, Gale never considered this hobby as more than just a pastime until he entered college.

Gale enrolled in the engineering school at Tulane University, but after one semester, he realized that a technical career was not for him. One day, his roommate mentioned that there were film schools in California. Out of curiosity, Gale decided to write to them, and in early September, he was accepted into the School of Cinema at the University of Southern California. It was there that he met Robert Zemeckis, another student who shared his creative ambitions. While Gale aspired to be a writer, Zemeckis wanted to direct the creative process. It was only natural for them to join forces for mutual benefit.

After completing his higher education in 1973, they attempted to make a low-budget film called "Bordello of Blood." Meanwhile, Gale continued writing his own screenplays, while Zemeckis tried his hand at directing. Zemeckis learned that television needed a script for a one-season series and immediately informed Gale. Within ten days, the duo provided a two-hour script to the series producer. The script was accepted, but Universal Studios imposed a condition: they would buy the script if Zemeckis and Gale signed a seven-year contract with them. This turn of events was not part of the two Bobs' plans, and they declined. However, this experience helped the young men find an agent who gave them additional recognition in the city. They brought their next script to John Milius, who had just finished his film "The Wind and the Lion." Milius became interested enough in the script to allow them to finish it themselves. Thus, in May 1975, "1941" was born. Milius showed the completed script to his friend Steven Spielberg, who decided to take it on after completing "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Meanwhile, Gale and Zemeckis were already working on a new script called "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." After reading the script, Spielberg decided to serve as executive producer to give Zemeckis a chance to make his directorial debut. And Bob Gale became the co-producer of this wonderful comedy about a group of Beatles fans on a trip to see their idols in concert. Despite favorable reviews, the film did not achieve box office success.

Then, Gale and Zemeckis wrote the script for the film "Used Cars". This time, Spielberg and Milius served as executive producers. The film was released in 1980 and only gained success several years later due to constant television broadcasts. Once again, Zemeckis was the director, and Gale was the producer. It was in 1980 that the duo started writing "Back to the Future" for Columbia with the intention of directing and producing the film themselves. Six months later, Columbia rejected the script, and the two Bobs decided to try their luck at other studios, but none of them were interested. Even while working on other projects, they held onto the hope of making "Back to the Future."

In May 1984, Zemeckis directed the successful film "Romancing the Stone," and he and Gale decided to once again attempt to make "Back to the Future," bringing the script to Spielberg. The filming process began in 1984 under the wing of Universal Studios. As usual, Zemeckis was the director, and Gale was the producer. Released the following summer, "Back to the Future" became the highest-grossing film of 1985, and the duo was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. After writing several unreleased screenplays over the next two years, Gale began writing the sequel to "Back to the Future" in late 1987. Eventually, this led to the creation of "Back to the Future Part II" and "Back to the Future Part III," released in November 1989 and May 1990, respectively.

Gale also became a producer of the animated series "Back to the Future," which aired every Saturday morning from 1991 to 1993. Meanwhile, Gale and Zemeckis worked on writing another screenplay and served as executive producers during the filming. This film was called "Trespass," a drama directed by Walter Hill. It was released for Christmas in 1992. In early 1993, Gale wrote the screenplay for the television series episode "House of Horror" for Tales from the Crypt, and he also directed it. After that, he wrote a high-budget screenplay for director Paul Verhoeven titled "After The Visitation," but the film was never made.

In 1994, Gale surprised Hollywood by directing the first interactive film, "Mr. Payback," for Sony New Technologies. It was released in February 1995 but did not achieve worldwide success due to the required $50,000 per theater to upgrade the equipment for viewing.

Apart from creating and producing a video game called "Tattooed Assassins" in early 1995, Gale did not write anything until 1997. In October 1997, Gale signed a contract with Disney to write several screenplays.

Since then, Gale has written several storylines for well-known comics, including Batman, Spider-Man, and Daredevil.

In September 2000, Gale decided to independently direct his film titled "Interstate 60" with producer Neil Canton.