Martha Coolidge

Martha Coolidge
Martha Coolidge
	Coolidge interviewed in 2009
Born	Martha Patterson Coolidge; August 17, 1946 (age 77); New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma mater	Rhode Island School of Design, NYU Tisch School of the Arts
Occupation(s)	Film director, film editor, film producer, screenwriter, television director
Years active	1972–present
Spouse(s)	Michael Backes (divorced); James Spencer
Children	1

Martha Coolidge (born August 17, 1946)^[1] is an American film director and former President of the Directors Guild of America.^[2] She has directed such films as Valley Girl, Real Genius and Rambling Rose.

Early life

Coolidge was born in New Haven, Connecticut. She is a granddaughter of Arthur W. Coolidge, former lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, who was a fourth cousin of President Calvin Coolidge.

Coolidge studied illustration at Rhode Island School of Design, but changed majors, becoming the first film major at the school. She earned her MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Later in Los Angeles, she studied acting and other aspects of her craft with Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Joanne Baron, and David Craig.

Career

Coolidge first made her reputation by directing many award-winning documentaries in New York City. While in New York, she helped found the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF) and the IFP.

She moved to Hollywood in 1976 and spent several years as a part of the Zoetrope Studio created by Francis Ford Coppola. Her feature-length directorial debut, Not a Pretty Picture, was based on a date rape she suffered at age 16.^[3] Her breakthrough film was the independently produced Valley Girl (1983), which is best remembered for launching the career of Nicolas Cage. It also helped the popularity of the British band Modern English's hit song "I Melt with You". Her film Rambling Rose (1991) won three IFP Independent Spirit Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress for Diane Ladd and earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Ladd and Laura Dern (Best Actress). Rambling Rose was well reviewed and made many top 10 lists for the year. Despite a limited release hampered by economic problems suffered by the production company, the film played for months without advertising and earned many honors.

Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) for HBO was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards, winning five, including Best Actress for its star Halle Berry, and earned Coolidge an Emmy and DGA (Directors Guild of America) nominations for Best Director.

From 2002 to 2003 she was the Directors Guild of America's first female president.

She taught at the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.^[4]^[5]

Personal life

Coolidge was previously married to screenwriter Michael Backes, with whom she has a son, Preston, named for director Preston Sturges.^[6] She is now married to production designer James Spencer.^[7]

Awards

Online Film & Television Association ~ Best Director: Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
Independent Spirit Award ~ Best Director: Rambling Rose
Independent Spirit Award ~ Best Feature: Rambling Rose
DGA Award ~ Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award
Paris Film Festival ~ Grand Prix Award: Real Genius
Chicago Film Critics Association Award Nomination ~ Best Director: Rambling Rose
Chicago International Film Festival ~ Best Short Film: Bimbo
Chicago International Film Festival ~ Best Short Film: More Than a School
LA Femme International Film Festival ~ Maverick Award
Method Fest ~ Forerunner Award
Women in Film ~ Crystal Award

Nominations

Emmy Award Nomination ~ Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
DGA Award Nomination ~ Best Director for An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong
DGA Award Nomination ~ Best Director for If These Walls Could Talk 2
DGA Award Nomination ~ Best Director for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
CableACE Nomination ~ Best Director for Crazy in Love

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1976	Not a Pretty Picture	Yes	Yes	Yes
1983	Valley Girl	Yes	No	No
1984	City Girl	Yes	Story	Yes
1984	Joy of Sex	Yes	No	No
1985	Real Genius	Yes	No	No
1988	Plain Clothes	Yes	No	No
1991	Rambling Rose	Yes	No	No
1993	Lost in Yonkers	Yes	No	No
1994	Angie	Yes	No	No
1995	Three Wishes	Yes	No	No
1997	Out to Sea	Yes	No	No
2004	The Prince & Me	Yes	No	No
2006	Material Girls	Yes	No	No
2009	An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong	Yes	No	No	TV movie (HBO)
2019	I'll Find You^[8]	Yes	No	No

Television

Year	Title	Episodes
1986	Sledge Hammer!	"Under the Gun"
	The Twilight Zone	"Night of the Meek"
		"Quarantine"
		"Shelter Skelter"
2001	Leap Years	"Pilot"
2002	Sex and the City	"A Vogue Idea" and "I Heart New York"
2003	Hidden Hills	"The Concert"
2005	Huff	"All the Kings Horses"
2006	Related	"Not Without My Daughter"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	"Living Legend"
		"Redrum"
		"Take my life Please"
		"Fracked"
		"Maid Man"
2007	Shark	"Porn Free"
	Weeds	"Shit Highway"
	Psych	"Truer Lies"
2013	Cult	"The Good Fight"
2013	The Glades	"Glade-iators!"
2014	Killer Women	"Warrior"
	The Night Shift	"Blood Brothers"
	Madam Secretary	"Passage"
2016	Angie Tribeca	"The Famous Ventriloquist Did It"
2018	Siren	"Showdown"

TV movies

Year	Title	Notes
1989	Trenchcoat in Paradise
1991	Bare Essentials
1992	Crazy in Love
1999	Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
2000	If These Walls Could Talk 2	Segment "1972"
2001	The Flamingo Rising
2001	Masterpiece	"The Ponder Heart"
2004	The 12 Days of Christmas Eve
2009	Tribute