Robert Newmyer facts for kids

Robert F. Newmyer was an American film producer. He made both big studio movies and independent films. He lived from May 30, 1956, to December 12, 2005.

About Robert Newmyer

Robert Frederick Newmyer, also known as Bobby, was born on May 30, 1956. His parents were James and Virginia Newmyer. He grew up in Washington, D.C..

Bobby went to Sidwell Friends School and finished in 1974. He then studied economics at Swarthmore College, graduating in 1978. After college, he worked in real estate in Colorado. In 1982, he earned a master's degree in business from Harvard Business School.

A friend, Eames Yates, said that after seeing Steven Spielberg's movie E.T., Bobby knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to make movies. Newmyer worked at Columbia Pictures in different jobs. He later became a vice president, helping to choose which movies to make.

First Film Success

Newmyer's first movie as a producer was ..., Lies, and Videotape in 1989. This film was written and directed by Steven Soderbergh, who was a new filmmaker at the time. The movie won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. It earned over $24 million, even though it cost just over $1 million to make. Soderbergh said that Bobby believed his movie could be seen by many people.

Starting Outlaw Productions

Newmyer and Jeffrey Silver later started their own company called "Outlaw Productions." They named it after Josey Wales, a character played by Clint Eastwood. For a while, their company had a special deal with Warner Bros.. Amy Pascal, who led Sony Motion Pictures Group, said that Bobby was a "maverick" and liked to take risks.

Robert's Family Life

Robert Newmyer was married to Deborah Jelin Newmyer for 19 years. They had four children: Sofi, Teddy, James, and Billi. His parents and two sisters, Elsa and Lory, also survived him.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura, a producer at Paramount, worked with Newmyer. He remembered that Bobby loved whitewater rafting. He said that Bobby looked at movies and life with a lot of passion and was not afraid to take chances.

How Robert Newmyer Died

On December 12, 2005, Robert Newmyer passed away in Toronto, Ontario. He was 49 years old. Newmyer had asthma his whole life. He had a heart attack caused by his asthma while working out. He was in Toronto working on the movie Breach.

When he died, Newmyer was also working on The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. Another movie, Phat Girlz, was almost finished. He even used nearly $3 million of his own money to help make Phat Girlz. He sold things and took out new loans on his homes to pay for it. He told The New York Times that he felt a lot of stress but would keep going until the movie was done and sold.

Robert Newmyer's Legacy

Newmyer was also developing a movie about young boys from Sudan. These boys had to leave their homes because of war and hunger. He got the idea from a TV show called 60 Minutes. He became a helper for these young Sudanese immigrants, even letting some stay in his home. Some of these "Lost Boys" spoke at his funeral. The movie, originally called The Lost Boys of Sudan, was later released in 2014 as The Good Lie by Warner Bros.

After his death, the Bobby Newmyer Memorial Fund was created. This fund helps continue his work with Sudanese refugees.

Outlaw Productions Company

Outlaw Productions is a film company started in 1987 by Robert Newmyer and Jeffrey Silver. They made both independent films and big studio movies. In 2015, Robert's wife, Deb Newmyer, was the president of the company. She is also a movie and TV producer. She worked for Steven Spielberg's company, Amblin Entertainment, for 12 years. In 2006, Deb Newmyer and Outlaw Productions made a deal with Sony.

Movies Robert Newmyer Produced

Robert Newmyer was a producer for all these films unless noted otherwise.

Film List

As an Actor

Special Thanks