Amy Heckerling facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Amy Heckerling
Heckerling in 2017
Born	(1954-05-07) May 7, 1954 (age 71) New York City, New York, U.S.
Education	New York University (BA) AFI Conservatory (MFA)
Occupation	Director producer writer
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	David Brandt ​ ​ (m. 1981; div. 1983)​ Neal Israel ​ ​ (m. 1984; div. 1990)​
Children	1

Amy Heckerling (born May 7, 1954) is an American writer, producer, and director. She is known for making many popular movies, especially comedies. Amy Heckerling started her career after studying at New York University and the American Film Institute. She began by making small student films. She later received an award from the AFI for her creative talents.

It was a bit of a challenge for her to get into making big movies. Her breakthrough came with the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982. She also directed other well-known films like Johnny Dangerously (1984), National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), and Look Who’s Talking (1989). One of her most famous movies is Clueless (1995). Many of her films were so popular that they were later turned into TV shows. For example, Fast Times at Ridgemont High became the series Fast Times, and Clueless became a TV series that ran from 1996 to 1999.

Early Life and Education

Amy Heckerling was born on May 7, 1954, in The Bronx, New York City. Her mother was a bookkeeper and her father was an accountant. She grew up in a Jewish family. She remembers that her apartment building had many people who had survived the Holocaust. She felt that these people had many important stories to tell.

Both of her parents worked full-time. So, Amy often went between her home in the Bronx and her grandmother's home in Brooklyn. She enjoyed staying with her grandmother much more. In Brooklyn, she often visited Coney Island. She also stayed up late watching movies with her grandmother. Amy loved watching cartoons and old black and white movies on TV. Her favorite types of movies were gangster films, musicals, and comedies. She especially liked the actor James Cagney.

After her father became a CPA, her family had more money. They moved to Queens. Amy felt like she didn't fit in there. She didn't want to go to high school with the same kids. So, she enrolled at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan. On her first day, Amy realized she wanted to be a film director. For their first assignment, they had to write about what they wanted to do in life. Amy wrote that she wanted to be a writer or artist for Mad. She noticed a boy next to her wrote that he wanted to be a film director.

She finished high school in 1970. She decided to focus on directing and studying film. She went to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Her father earned just a little too much money for her to get financial aid. So, Amy had to take out a big loan to pay for school. This caused her a lot of stress. She couldn't pay off the loans until she was almost thirty years old.

When Amy was in high school, her father didn't like the idea of her becoming a director. He wanted her to choose a more practical job. But he still gave her a book called Classics of the Foreign Film: A Pictorial Legacy. Amy studied the book carefully. She watched almost all the films listed in it. She says that by the time she got to NYU, she had already seen most of the movies they had to watch in her classes.

Amy thought her time at NYU was great. She learned a lot and met important people. These included Martin Brest and writer Terry Southern, who was one of her professors. However, she later felt that her work there was not very professional. She used old equipment and had many technical problems. While at NYU, Amy mostly made musicals. She said her musicals were "weird" because they mixed the hippie style of the 1970s with the graceful style of the 1930s. These unique films helped her get into the AFI.

Career in Filmmaking

After graduating from NYU, Amy Heckerling wanted to go to the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles. Her friend Martin Brest was going there, and she felt there would be more chances to start her career. Moving to Los Angeles was a big change for her. In New York City, she didn't need to drive because of public transportation. When she learned to drive, she started to get used to life in LA. Her first job in a studio was helping with sound for a TV show. This helped her meet people in the film business.

During her second year at AFI, Amy made her first short film. It was called Getting it Over With. After she finished her studies at AFI, she kept working on the film. She used the editing studios at night. Right after she finished editing and sent the film to be processed, she was in a car accident. She was hurt and lost her editing job because she couldn't remember where some film footage was.

Amy finished her film, and a screening of it got a very good reaction. She called it one of the best days of her life. She then used the film to try and get a job. Thom Mount, who was the president of Universal Pictures, was very interested in Amy. But they couldn't hire her because she didn't have an agent. After months of trying to find an agent, Mount called her and asked her to make a film.

Making Feature Films

1980s Films

Amy Heckerling's first big movie was Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). This film was based on a book about a year in the lives of California high school students. When Amy first agreed to make a movie for Universal, she read many scripts. The script for Fast Times at Ridgemont High stood out to her. She loved the story, but she felt the studio had changed it too much. So, she read the original book and worked with the writer, Cameron Crowe, to make the script better.

This movie helped start the careers of many actors. These included Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, and Phoebe Cates. It also featured early appearances by actors who later became famous, like Nicolas Cage, Forest Whitaker, Eric Stoltz, and Anthony Edwards. The most notable performance was by Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli. His role made him a star. Amy Heckerling said that when she first met Sean Penn, she was amazed by his strong presence. She knew he was perfect for the role, even if other actors had read the lines better.

Amy was very particular about the movie's music. The studio wanted music by bands like the Eagles. But Amy wanted new, edgy music from the 1980s. She wanted bands like Fear, Oingo Boingo, The Go-Gos, Talking Heads, and the Dead Kennedys. She had to fight to get the Oingo Boingo song in the film. She also had to include some songs she didn't like.

The studio wasn't sure how to promote the film. Amy thought they didn't believe anyone would want to watch it. So, they first released it in only a few hundred theaters on the West Coast without much advertising. But when the movie opened, it was a huge success! The studio quickly released it in theaters across the country. It became an instant hit and a big part of pop culture. The film earned over $27 million in the USA. It also led to a short-lived TV series called Fast Times, which Amy helped write, direct, and produce.

After Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Amy Heckerling received many similar scripts. It was hard for her to find a story that wasn't about high school. Eventually, she found her next film, Johnny Dangerously (1984). This movie starred Michael Keaton, Joe Piscopo, Danny DeVito, Dom DeLuillo, and Peter Boyle. It was a comedy that made fun of old gangster movies. However, it didn't do well at the box office when it first came out. Amy believes this was because people weren't familiar with the old gangster movies it was making fun of. She said, "It was pure satire of something nobody remembers." But over the years, it has become a popular cult classic.

The next year, she directed National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985). This film starred Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo. It was a sequel to the popular National Lampoon's Vacation. This movie was another success for Amy, earning over $74 million at the box office. Like many of her films, it received mixed reviews from critics but was very popular with audiences. Amy has said that even though she is well-educated and enjoys serious writers, she also loves "silly things." This love for comedy has helped her make many successful films.

In 1989, Amy Heckerling had her biggest success with Look Who's Talking. It starred John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, and a baby whose thoughts were voiced by Bruce Willis. Amy got the idea for the film when she was expecting her daughter. She developed it into a movie. Amy loves writing comedies because she believes that when people work on a film for over a year, they should have a happy and fun experience. She was very excited to work with John Travolta. The film became Amy Heckerling's highest-grossing movie to date, earning over $296 million. After this film, Amy achieved a goal she had set in college: to have a huge hit movie, like the big hits made by male directors.

1990s Films

Two sequels to Look Who's Talking followed. The first was Look Who's Talking Too in 1990. Amy Heckerling directed this one and co-wrote it. This film added another baby to the story and was a moderate success. Amy then produced, but did not direct, the third and final sequel, Look Who's Talking Now, which was not as successful. These films also led to a short TV show called Baby Talk, but Amy was not very involved with it.

In 1995, she wrote and directed Clueless. This movie was a modern version of Jane Austen's book Emma. It was a teen comedy about rich teenagers living in Beverly Hills. Amy first thought of Clueless as a TV show. She loved writing the character of Cher, who she described as a "happy, optimistic, California girl." She wanted to explore all of Cher's adventures. But her agent told her it would make a great movie. To research for the script, Amy sat in on classes at Beverly Hills High School. She watched how teenagers acted. She said that most of the movie was made up, though. Teenagers at the high school didn't dress in high fashion every day like the characters in the film. She did use some of her observations, like how teenage girls often fix their makeup.

Like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Clueless quickly became popular with teenagers. It became a significant part of pop culture. The film earned over $56 million. It also helped launch the careers of most of the cast. These included Alicia Silverstone, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd, Donald Faison, Breckin Meyer, and Stacey Dash. The movie was also turned into a successful TV series. Amy Heckerling wrote the first episode and directed several episodes from the first season. She described the show as similar to the film, but cleaner. She still loves the characters.

2000s and Beyond

Amy Heckerling directed and produced Loser (2000). This was a romantic comedy about college life. It starred Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari. The film was not a big success with critics or audiences.

After a break, Amy Heckerling's romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007) was released. It starred Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd. This film did not open in movie theaters in the USA. Instead, it was released directly to video, even though it received good reviews. The making of the film had financial problems. For example, the rights to distribute the film were sold without Amy knowing. This made it hard for her to sell the film to a studio. At that time, Amy was also taking care of her parents, who were very ill. Even though she disliked the problems with the film, she said the experience was important to her. She loved working with Paul Rudd and Michelle Pfeiffer in England. Amy Heckerling also directed an episode of the NBC version of The Office.

In 2011, Amy Heckerling directed the horror-comedy film Vamps. It starred Sigourney Weaver, Alicia Silverstone, and Krysten Ritter. The movie was about two vampires who are best friends and roommates in New York City. The film was released in theaters in November 2012. Later, in July 2017, a musical version of Clueless was developed in New York City. Amy Heckerling wrote the story for the musical. The musical opened in November 2018.

Filmmaking Style

Amy Heckerling's films often show a strong focus on female characters and their experiences. She likes to challenge traditional ideas about women in movies and in society. Her films, like Clueless and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, often focus on young women at important times in their lives, like finishing high school and moving into adulthood. Her characters often go against what society expects of women. Amy also tends to highlight the importance of friendships between girls in her films.

Personal Life

Amy Heckerling dated fellow film director Martin Brest when she first moved to Los Angeles. They later broke up but remained good friends. Amy Heckerling was married to David Brandt from 1981 to 1983. In 1984, she married director Neal Israel, but they divorced in 1990.

Amy and Neal's daughter, Mollie Israel, was born in 1985. Amy Heckerling has included Mollie in some of her films in small roles. These include Look Who's Talking and Loser. Amy says that her daughter never wanted to be a "girly girl." Mollie often kept her distance from her mother's work. Despite this, they get along very well. Mollie often introduces her mother to new music and films.

Awards and Recognition

In 1995, Amy Heckerling won the National Society of Film Critics Best Screenplay award for her movie Clueless. She was also nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for the screenplay. In 1998, she received the Franklin J. Schaffner Medal from the American Film Institute. In 1999, she received the Women in Film Crystal Award. This award honors women who have helped expand the role of women in the entertainment industry through their hard work and excellence.

Film Work

Television Work

Acting Roles

See also

In Spanish: Amy Heckerling para niños