Kathleen Kennedy Biography

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KATHLEEN KENNEDY's (Producer) record of achievement has made her one of the most successful executives in the film industry today. Among her credits are three of the highest grossing films in motion picture history: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park and The Sixth Sense, which she produced with Steven Spielberg, Gerald R. Molen and Frank Marshall, respectively.

She currently heads The Kennedy/Marshall Company, which she founded alongside director/producer Frank Marshall in 1992. In 1999 and 2000, three films produced by The Kennedy/Marshall Company were released. The first, Universal's Snow Falling on Cedars, was directed by Scott Hicks, award-winning director of Shine. It was followed by The Sixth Sense, which starred Bruce Willis and received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Next release was A Map of the World, starring Sigourney Weaver and Julianne Moore. The Kennedy/Marshall Company also recently produced the IMAX film Olympic Glory, which was released in May, 2000.

In the summer of 1995, The Kennedy/Marshall Company released the Marshall-directed Congo, which Kennedy produced with Sam Mercer, and The Indian in the Cupboard, directed by Frank Oz and produced by Kennedy, Marshall and Jane Startz.

That same year, Kennedy produced the Amblin Entertainment/Malpaso Production The Bridges of Madison County, directed by Clint Eastwood. It was followed by Amblin Entertainment's Jan deBont-directed action thriller Twister, which Kennedy produced with Ian Bryce in 1996. Kennedy also served as executive producer on the Spielberg-directed Jurassic Park sequel The Lost World.

Kennedy began a successful association with Steven Spielberg when she served as his production assistant on 1941. She went on to become his associate on Raiders of the Lost Ark, associate producer of Poltergeist and producer of E.T. While E.T. was becoming an international phenomenon, Spielberg, Kennedy and Marshall were already in production on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which she and Marshall produced with George Lucas.

In 1982, Kennedy co-founded Amblin Entertainment with Spielberg and Marshall, for which she produced or executive-produced such films as The Flintstones, Hook, Always, Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, Young Sherlock Holmes, The Goonies, Innerspace, The Money Pit, *batteries not included, Dad, Joe Versus the Volcano, Noises Off, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, Cape Fear and We're Back.

Kennedy also teamed with Spielberg, Marshall and Quincy Jones to produce The Color Purple, which earned eleven Academy Award nominations in 1985, including Best Picture. Later that same year, Kennedy, Spielberg and Marshall produced 1985's highest grossing film, Back to the Future, and later produced its two highly successful sequels-Back to the Future, Part II and Back to the Future, Part III.

In 1998, Kennedy again earned the distinction of top grossing film of the year for Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which she produced with Marshall and Robert Watts. She then went on to produce Empire of the Sun with Spielberg and Marshall, which the National Board of Review named Best Picture of the Year.

Kennedy also served as executive producer on the critically acclaimed Spielberg-directed Holocaust drama Schindler's List, which garnered seven Academy Awards in 1993, including Best Director and Best Picture.

Kennedy also produced Marshall's 1990 directorial debut Arachnophobia with Richard Vane and re-teamed with Robert Watts to produce Marshall's second film, Alive, in 1993.

In 2001, Kennedy produced the Spielberg-directed A.I. Artificial Intelligence with Bonnie Curtis. That same year, she produced Jurassic Park III with Spielberg and Gerald Molen.

At the end of 2001, she served as executive producer on M. Night Shyamalan's Signs, staring Mel Gibson, released August, 2002. In 2003, Kennedy produced (along with Marshall, Gary Ross and Jane Sindell) the critical and popular hit Seabiscuit, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards and proved to be the biggest-selling drama on DVD for the year.

Kennedy's latest project, War of the Worlds-directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise-opened this past summer. The contemporary re-telling of H.G. Wells' seminal science fiction classic centers on the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind as seen through the eyes of one American family fighting to survive it. Kennedy produced the film, along with Colin Wilson.

Kennedy also currently serves as the president of the Producers Guild of America, as well as the Chair of the Producers Council Board of Governors.

Raised in the small Northern California towns of Weaverville and Redding, Kennedy graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in telecommunications and film. While still a student, she began working at a local San Diego television station. Following jobs as a camera operator, video editor, floor director and news production coordinator, Kennedy produced the station's talk show, You're On. She then relocated to Los Angeles and worked with director John Milius prior to beginning her association with Spielberg.