Rob Cohen Facts for Kids

This page is about the film director. For other people with the same name, see Rob Cohen.

Quick facts for kids Rob Cohen
Cohen on the bridge of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) in 2004
Born	Robert Alan Cohen (1949-03-12) March 12, 1949 (age 76) Cornwall, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Harvard University
Occupation	Producer, director, screenwriter
Years active	1975–present
Notable work	Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story Dragonheart Daylight The Skulls The Fast and the Furious XXX Stealth The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Spouse(s)	Diane Mitzner (m. 1986; div. 1987) Barbara Cohen (m. 2006)

Robert Alan Cohen (born March 12, 1949) is an American film director and producer. He has worked on many popular movies and TV shows. Rob Cohen started his career as an executive producer. He helped create films like Dragonheart and The Wiz. Later, in the 1990s, he began directing movies full-time. Some of his famous action films include The Fast and the Furious and XXX.

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Early Life and Career Beginnings

Robert Alan Cohen was born in New York. He graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 1967. There, he was very active in drama and writing. He then went to Harvard University and graduated in 1971. His first filmmaking project was a recruiting film for Harvard.

After college, Cohen moved to Los Angeles. He wanted to work as a screenwriter. He took a job as a reader for a talent agent. This meant he read movie scripts. One day, he found a script that he thought was amazing. He strongly recommended it to his boss. This script became the famous movie The Sting (1973). Finding this script helped him get noticed in Hollywood.

Rob Cohen's Film Career

Producing Movies and TV Shows

Rob Cohen has worked in film and television for over 40 years. He is known as a writer, producer, and director. In 1973, he joined 20th Century Fox Television. He helped with shows like M*A*S*H. He also helped Fox start making TV movies.

Later, he became the head of the movie division at Motown. This company was famous for music. Cohen helped create the film Mahogany in 1974. He also developed The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976). For this movie, he hired John Badham to direct his first feature film.

After leaving Motown in 1978, Cohen continued to produce and direct. His work includes Miami Vice, Light of Day, and The Witches of Eastwick. In 1986, he became vice chairman of Keith Barish Productions. This company made movies with Tri-Star Pictures.

Directing Action Films

From 1990 onwards, Rob Cohen focused on directing. He directed successful films in the early 1990s. These include Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and Dragonheart. He also directed Daylight.

In 2001, Cohen directed the action film The Fast and the Furious. This movie was a big hit. It starred Paul Walker and Vin Diesel. The film made a lot of money on its opening weekend.

After this success, Cohen worked with Vin Diesel again. He directed the movie xXx in 2002. He also directed the science fiction action film Stealth in 2005.

In 2008, he directed The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. This movie earned over $400 million worldwide. In 2015, he directed The Boy Next Door, starring Jennifer Lopez.

Cohen has also directed many TV commercials. He has made ads for companies like Disney, Verizon, and Ford.

Filmography

Movies Directed

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Notes
1980	A Small Circle of Friends	Yes	No
1984	Scandalous	Yes	Yes
1993	Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story	Yes	Yes
1996	Dragonheart	Yes	No	Nominated – Sitges Maria Award for Best Film
1996	Daylight	Yes	No
1998	The Rat Pack	Yes	No	Nominated – DGA Award for Outstanding Directing
2000	The Skulls	Yes	No
2001	The Fast and the Furious	Yes	No	Also executive soundtrack producer
2002	XXX	Yes	No
2002	Tales from the Crypt: Ritual	No	Yes
2005	Stealth	Yes	No
2008	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	Yes	No
2012	Alex Cross	Yes	No
2015	The Boy Next Door	Yes	No
2018	The Hurricane Heist	Yes	No

Movies Produced

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1975	Mahogany	Berry Gordy
1976	The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings	John Badham
1978	Thank God It's Friday	Robert Klane
	Almost Summer	Martin Davidson
	The Wiz	Sidney Lumet
1985	The Legend of Billie Jean	Matthew Robbins	Also 2nd unit director
1987	Light of Day	Paul Schrader
1990	Bird on a Wire	John Badham	Also 2nd unit director
1991	The Hard Way	John Badham	Also 2nd unit director

Movies as Executive Producer

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1977	Scott Joplin	Jeremy Kagan
1984	The Razor's Edge	John Byrum
1987	The Witches of Eastwick	George Miller
	The Monster Squad	Fred Dekker
	Ironweed	Héctor Babenco
	The Running Man	Paul Michael Glaser
1988	The Serpent and the Rainbow	Wes Craven	Also 2nd unit director
1989	Disorganized Crime	Jim Kouf
2005	XXX: State of the Union	Lee Tamahori
2015	Ghoul	Petr Jákl

Television Work

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Executive Producer	Notes
1979	Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill	No	No	Yes
1984	Miami Vice	Yes	No	No	3 episodes
1987	Hooperman	Yes	No	No	Episode "Look Homeward, Dirtbag"
	Private Eye	Yes	No	No	4 episodes
	A Year in the Life	Yes	No	No	Episode "While Someone Else Is Eating or Opening a Window"
	Thirtysomething	Yes	No	No	2 episodes
1988	Almost Grown	Yes	No	No	4 episodes
1990	Nasty Boys	Yes	No	No	Episode "Fire and Ice"
1991	The Antagonists	Yes	No	No	Episode "Pilot"
1991	Eddie Dodd	Yes	No	No	Episode "Love and Death"
1994	Vanishing Son	No	Yes	Yes	Creator
2004	The Last Ride	No	Story	Yes
2014	... Prophet	No	Yes	Yes

Music Videos Directed

Rammstein for "Feuer frei!" (2002)
Rammstein for "Lichtspielhaus" (2003)

Rob Cohen facts for kids