Michael Finnell

Michael Finnell is a film producer active from the 1970s to the present. He has produced several horror-comedy films, particularly with the director Joe Dante. Finnell worked for the American producer Roger Corman before emerging as a producer in his own right.

His first films were ''Avalanche'' (1978) and ''Rock 'n' Roll High School'' (1979), with Corman. One of the first without Corman was the movie ''Airplane!'', in which he was listed in the end credits as "generally in charge of a lot of things". Working with Dante, Finnell then produced the modest hit ''The Howling'' in 1981 and the blockbuster ''Gremlins'' in 1984. Dante and the special effects designer Chris Walas have said that Finnell's producing style was influenced by Corman, in that Finnell was very concerned about budgeting and wanted to make sure even cheap purchases contributed to the final film. The anecdote Walas told was of Finnell engaging in long phone calls over the purchase of a kitchen knife to be used in ''Gremlins''.

Finnell continued to produce several of Dante's films, including ''Explorers'' (1985), ''The 'Burbs'' (1989), ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990), ''Matinee'' (1993) and ''Small Soldiers'' (1998). Without Dante, Finnell's films include ''Milk Money'' (1994) and ''Teaching Mrs. Tingle'' (1999). For one of his films produced without Dante, ''Newsies'', Finnell was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Picture. Provided by Wikipedia