Joe Dante was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Livingston.
18 Facts About Joe Dante
2.
Joe Dante's father, Joseph James Dante, was a professional golfer, though Dante was more interested in becoming a cartoonist.
3.
Joe Dante began his film career working for legendary, low-budget producer Roger Corman, who provided similar opportunities to future directors Francis Ford Coppola and James Cameron.
4.
Joe Dante then worked as an editor on Grand Theft Auto after co-directing Hollywood Boulevard with Allan Arkush.
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In 1979, Joe Dante helped direct Rock 'n' Roll High School when Allan Arkush fell ill due to exhaustion, but remains uncredited as a director.
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Joe Dante enlisted John Sayles to rewrite the script for the werewolf tale The Howling, loosely based on the novel by Gary Brandner.
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Joe Dante next directed Explorers, about a group of friends who build a working spacecraft and encounter extraterrestrial life.
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In 1987, Joe Dante made the comedy adventure Innerspace, in which Dennis Quaid's character is miniaturised and injected inside a human body.
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In 1989, Joe Dante directed Tom Hanks in The 'Burbs, a black comedy in which Hanks' character deals with nightmarish neighbors.
10.
In 1990, Joe Dante directed a sequel to his film Gremlins, this time set in a New York high rise.
11.
Joe Dante was creative consultant on short-lived fantasy series Eerie, Indiana, and directed five episodes.
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In 2007, Joe Dante launched the web series Trailers from Hell, which provides commentary by directors, producers and screenwriters on trailers for classic and cult movies.
13.
In 2014, Joe Dante made Burying the Ex, a horror comedy about a young man whose controlling girlfriend suddenly dies in a freak accident but when he tries to move on with his life along with his new partner he discovers that his undead Ex has come back.
14.
Joe Dante served as executive producer on the independent feature length thriller Dark, starring Whitney Able and Alexandra Breckenridge, directed by Nick Basile.
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In 2018, Joe Dante directed a segment of Nightmare Cinema, a horror anthology film starring Mickey Rourke and featuring shorts directed by Alejandro Brugues, Mick Garris, Ryuhei Kitamura, and David Slade.
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In 2020, it was announced that Joe Dante would be returning to the world of Gremlins serving as a consultant on the HBO Max prequel series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.
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Joe Dante's films are well known for their many references to other movies and for their special effects.
18.
Joe Dante's garage is frequently mentioned in audio commentaries as holding many of the props from his various films, including the Peltzer Peeler Juicer from Gremlins, and where the mock-pornographic scene in The Howling was shot.