Dror Soref facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dror Soref
דרור סורף
Photo for the promotion of the film Not Forgotten
Born	Dror Soref Israel
Occupation	Writer, Director, and Producer
Years active	1983–present

Dror Soref is a talented filmmaker and a person who works to make society better. He started his directing career in 1983 with a music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic called "I Love Rocky Road". This was after he studied at the USC School of Cinema.

Later, Soref directed a short film called Platinum Blonde, which was nominated for an award. This film caught the eye of the President of Paramount Studios. Because of this, Soref was hired by Paramount to create and direct his own projects.

With Paramount's help, The Seventh Coin became Soref's first full-length movie as a writer and director. This film starred Peter O'Toole and won two festival awards in 1993, including Best Picture. For the next ten years, Soref directed or helped produce over a hundred commercials and music videos.

In 2003, Soref returned to making movies. He co-produced Basic for Columbia Pictures, which starred John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. In 2009, Soref wrote, directed, and produced the movie Not Forgotten. This film was highly praised and was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction. It starred Simon Baker, Paz Vega, and Chloë Grace Moretz.

Early Life and Education

Dror Soref was born and grew up in Israel. His family has Spanish roots. He went to the University of Haifa and earned degrees in economics, sociology, and anthropology.

During his first year at university, Soref started a theater group. They performed original plays that made fun of politics. His studies were paused when he served as a lieutenant in the Golani Brigade. This is a special unit in the Israel Defense Forces. He was called to serve during several military conflicts, including the Yom Kippur War. His unit was recognized for being excellent by the army's Chief-of-Staff.

While he was a student, Soref often wrote about the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians. In his second year at university, he helped start a new political group with other retired army officers. This group later played an important part in the Israeli government led by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the early 1990s. When he was 23 and still a student, Soref was nominated by his party to run for the Knesset, which is Israel's parliament.

One of Soref's articles, "Envisioning the Israeli-Palestinian Peace," talked about ideas similar to the first peace treaty between the two sides, known as the Oslo Accords (1993). He wrote this article more than ten years before the treaty was signed.

Soref first learned about filmmaking during his last year at the University of Haifa. He was invited to a film workshop led by Benjamin Koretsky, who had been Roman Polanski's cinematography teacher. To study film further, Soref moved to the United States. He first attended the San Francisco Art Institute and then the Cinema School at the University of Southern California (USC).

A Career in Film and TV

In the mid-1980s, after finishing at USC, Soref was hired to direct "I Love Rocky Road". This was a music video for a new artist at the time, "Weird Al" Yankovic. The video helped Yankovic become a well-known star. It is even included in some of his greatest hits collections.

His success with music videos led Soref to direct Platinum Blonde. This was an inspiring short film starring Karen Black and a young Elizabeth Berkley. Because of his creative work on Platinum Blonde, Soref was featured in major entertainment magazines. The film was nominated for an award at the Chicago International Film Festival. It also caught the attention of the President of Paramount Studios. As a result, Soref signed a contract with Paramount to develop projects he would write and direct.

With Paramount's support, The Seventh Coin became Soref's first full-length movie as a writer and director. The film starred Peter O'Toole. It won two festival awards, including Best First Time Director at the Philadelphia Film Festival. It also won the Silver Award at Worldfest Houston. Even though the film cost less than $900,000 to make, it was described as a "handsomely produced" movie. It earned $3.2 million around the world. In 1997, Soref also directed several episodes of Power Rangers, a popular children's TV show.

While at Paramount, Soref started his own company called Orbit Productions. He was one of its commercial directors. Soref helped produce or directed over one hundred TV commercials and music videos. Orbit became one of the fastest-growing commercial production companies. They worked with big brands like Ford, Coca-Cola, Toyota, McDonald's, and Fujifilm. Some of Orbit's commercials were even shown during the Super Bowl and Academy Awards broadcasts.

Soref later used his success in TV and commercials to make more feature films. He signed a deal with Mike Medavoy's Phoenix Pictures to direct one of their movies. The first movie under this deal was Basic, starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. It was released by Columbia Pictures.

In early 2009, Soref finished Not Forgotten. He directed, co-wrote, and produced this film. It starred Simon Baker, Paz Vega, Claire Forlani, and Chloë Grace Moretz in one of her first big movie roles. The film was chosen for a special screening at the Slamdance Film Festival. All its screenings sold out before it was picked up for distribution by Anchor Bay Films. Both The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety gave the film excellent reviews. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in late 2009 and on streaming Netflix in early 2010.

In June 2011, Soref was one of the producers for Twist: An American Musical. This play was based on the classic story by Charles Dickens. It was written by William F. Brown (who wrote The Wiz). The show was choreographed and directed by Emmy award-winning Debbie Allen. It was performed at The Pasadena Playhouse and received great reviews.

In 2012, Soref directed an experimental short film called Morning. This film explored deep themes about love. Even though it was not widely shown, it was invited to several film festivals.

In January 2014, Soref started a new company called Nova Filmhouse, Inc. This studio creates content for many different platforms, from smartphones to movie theaters. Sara Risher, who used to be the president of production at New Line Cinema, is the President of Motion Pictures at Nova. Gil Junger is the Television president, and Evette Vargas is the Digital Media president. Charles J. Weber, who was the President/CEO of Lucasfilm Ltd., is the Chairman of the Board. Soref is the CEO of the company.

Social Work and Helping Others

Dror Soref has been involved in helping people since he was young. He has helped feed people who are homeless and supported causes in developing countries. He also works to fight unfairness wherever he sees it.

He works with several non-profit organizations. These include the Aleph Institute, which helps families of people in prison or serving in the US Armed Forces. He also works with Equal Justice Under the Law, which aims to make the justice system fair for everyone. Soref also served as a Director on the board of the Greater Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. There, he helped create job opportunities and internships for young people in Los Angeles.

Most recently, Soref founded RCI (Rebel with a Cause Institute). This organization helps new talent create movies, TV shows, and other content that promotes good values and ideas. You can find more information at SorefSocialReform.org.

Filmography

Dror Soref has directed two independent feature films. He has worked with actors like Peter O'Toole, Simon Baker, and Paz Vega.

Soref has also directed or helped produce over 100 music videos and commercials. Most of these were through his production company, Orbit Entertainment Group.