Name Bob Gosse | Role Film producer | |
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Education State University of New York at Purchase Nominations Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature Movies I Hope They Serve Beer in H, Niagara - Niagara, Julie Johnson, The Last Home Run, Laws of Gravity Similar People Robin Tunney, Tucker Max, Larry Meistrich, Keri Lynn Pratt, Jesse Bradford | ||
Bob Gosse (born January 9, 1963) is an American film producer, film director and actor.
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Background
Gosse was born on Long Island, New York. Gosse attended SUNY Purchase where he would meet and collaborate with artists such as Hal Hartley, Nick Gomez, Whitney Ransick, Parker Posey, Wesley Snipes and Edie Falco. After graduating with a BFA degree from the film program at SUNY Purchase in 1986, Gosse joined the independent film scene in New York City, creating short films and features. He was married to Robin Tunney but divorced in 2006. In 2010, he joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, School of Filmmaking in Producing.
New York operations
Gosse founded independent film company The Shooting Gallery with Larry Meistrich in 1991. His collaborators included Hal Hartley, Ted Hope, Nick Gomez and Michael Almereyda. The company's first feature was Gomez' Laws of Gravity (1992). He also directed The Last Home Run (filmed in 1996 and released in 1998)
Even while specializing in production, Gosse received recognition as an actor, working in such movies as Nowhere Man (2005). His notoriety in the downtown nightlife scene coupled with his performances in 1991's My Birthday Cake (directed by Whitney Ransick) and the Hartley-helmed Theory of Achievement led to his courting by William Morris Agency that same year.
Gosse pushed the boundaries of "lo-fi" filmmaking when he produced Almereyda's PixelVision feature, Another Girl, Another Planet (1992). It was cited by the National Society of Film Critics in 1992 "for expanding the possibilities of experimental filmmaking."
At The Shooting Gallery, Gosse supported other first-time filmmakers including Morgan J. Freeman, Danny Leiner and Billy Bob Thornton.
In 1995, Gosse became the one out of two co-producers involved in the Nick Gomez-directed film, New Jersey Drive, released that April. He also tried his hand at directing by shooting the first screenplay by playwright Matthew Weiss. The result, Niagara, Niagara, premiered to acclaim. Lead actress Robin Tunney took home the prestigious Volpi Cup at the 1997 Venice International Film Festival for her portrayal of a woman with Tourette syndrome. In its American premiere, the film was panned by most critics and has now been largely forgotten.
Gosse's follow-up was an adaptation of journalist Alec Wilkinson's non-fiction book A Violent Act. Meanwhile, he was still developing films at The Shooting Gallery.
By late 1999, Gosse was at work on another adaptation, a play by theater scribe Wendy Hammond. The stage play, Julie Johnson, was shot as a feature film beginning in 2000 and it starred Lili Taylor, Courtney Love, Mischa Barton and the late Spalding Gray. It was released in 2005 by Regent Entertainment.
Los Angeles operations
The Shooting Gallery went out of business in 2001, having failed to produce any hit films except Sling Blade, and Gosse moved west to Los Angeles to produce TV pilots and films. These would include Tim McCann's Runaway (2005) and Almereyda's Tonight At Noon (2006), the latter starring Connie Nielsen, Ethan Hawke, Rutger Hauer, and Lauren Ambrose.
Gosse is living in Winston-Salem, NC and collaborating on a new screenplay about a Las Vegas filmmaker during the 1960s. He has spent time working for the 2008 Democratic Party nomination of Barack Obama.
Most recently, Gosse directed Tucker Max's film, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.
Personal life
In the early 1990s, Gosse lived with actress Parker Posey, whom he met when they were both students at SUNY Purchase.
On October 5, 1997, Gosse married actress Robin Tunney in New York City; they had met while working together on Niagara, Niagara. They separated in late 2002, and divorced in 2006 but remain close friends.