Clayton Townsend Biography

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CLAYTON TOWNSEND (Producer) is one of the film industry's most respected hands-on and creative producers, having shepherded numerous motion pictures in every genre from pre production through post production, and on locations around the world.

Townsend most recently executive-produced Iain Softley's contemporary supernatural thriller The Skeleton Key, starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, Joy Bryant and John Hurt.

Among his many other credits, Townsend served as executive producer on the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced, Joel Schumacher-directed Bad Company, starring Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock; and the MGM comedy Heartbreakers, starring Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Gene Hackman.

Previously, he continued a longtime collaboration with director Oliver Stone as producer of the hit football epic Any Given Sunday. Townsend's longstanding association with the filmmaker has resulted in eight film collaborations over a span of 12 years. He served as associate producer on Talk Radio, Born on the Fourth of July and The Doors; co-producer on JFK and Heaven & Earth; and producer on Natural Born Killers, Nixon and U Turn.

For these films, Townsend utilized his considerable logistical and organizational skills in locations as diverse as Thailand, the Philippines and the farthest reaches of the Navajo Reservation, assisting Stone in re-creating a wide range of historical and contemporary events.

Townsend's other producer credits include Abel Ferrara's The Blackout and Where's Marlowe?, directed by Daniel Pyne. In addition to feature films, Townsend has produced several high-profile television pilots for Paramount Television over the years, including the 2003 telefilm Homeland Security.

Townsend entered the motion picture business in 1979 when he joined the production team on the Warner Bros./Paul Simon film One Trick Pony, segueing into the position of location manager on such features as The Loveless, Beat Street, 9 1/2 Weeks, A Chorus Line and Angel Heart. He served as production manager of Legal Eagles, A New Life, Three Men and a Baby, Homeboy and Jacob's Ladder before beginning his association with Stone.