Sheldon Lettich

Sheldon Lettich
Born	(1951-01-24) January 24, 1951 New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1982–present

Sheldon Lettich (/ˈlɛtɪtʃ/ LET-itch; born January 14, 1951) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is best known for his collaborations with Jean-Claude Van Damme and his work in the action film genre.

Early life

Born in New York City, Lettich moved to California at a young age and grew up in the Los Angeles area. After graduating from high school, he spent nearly four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving as a radio operator in South Vietnam with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, and later with the elite 1st Force Reconnaissance Company based at Camp Pendleton, California.

He worked his way through college as a professional photographer and attended the AFI Conservatory's Center for Advanced Film Studies as a Cinematography Fellow. Although his initial career goal was to become a director of photography, at the AFI his interests branched out to encompass writing and directing, which became the two fields where he found eventual success in the entertainment business.

Writing for the stage

Based partly upon his experiences in Vietnam, he co-authored the renowned play Tracers with a group of Vietnam vets who were also aspiring actors. First performed July 4, 1980 at the Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles, the play then traveled to Joseph Papp's Public Theater in New York City, the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago (directed by Gary Sinise), the Royal Court Theater in London, and numerous venues worldwide. It received both Drama Desk Awards and L.A. Drama Critics Awards, and is still being performed throughout the world.

Screenplays

Around the same time, Lettich was writing numerous spec screenplays. One of these, co-written with Josh Becker, subsequently became the cult classic Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (also known as Stryker's War), which starred Bruce Campbell, and directed by Becker, both frequent collaborators of Sam Raimi.

Eventually his screenplays began attracting the attention of producers in Hollywood. He co-authored the Cold War drama Russkies, which was the first starring role for a young Joaquin Phoenix. Around the same time he wrote the screenplay for the now-classic martial arts film Bloodsport, which launched the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme. One of his Vietnam-based screenplays caught the eye of Sylvester Stallone, which resulted in an overall deal with Stallone's White Eagle Productions, and led to him co-writing Rambo III with Stallone.

The success of Bloodsport not only turned Jean-Claude Van Damme into an international action star, but it also forged a long and ongoing friendship with the man who wrote it. Van Damme helped to launch Lettich's directing career with the film Lionheart, which became Van Damme's first movie to be released theatrically by a major U.S. studio. This was followed by Double Impact, which was filmed in Hong Kong, with Lettich directing Van Damme in a challenging double role as twin brothers seeking revenge for their parents' murder.

Lettich next discovered Mark Dacascos, who made his starring debut in Only the Strong, a film that introduced the Brazilian martial art of capoeira to international audiences. He also directed Dolph Lundgren in The Last Patrol and Daniel Bernhardt in Perfect Target.

Continuing his long association with Van Damme, Lettich was a writer and a producer on the historical French Foreign Legion film, Legionnaire, which was filmed on location in Morocco. And he directed The Order, an action-thriller starring Van Damme and Charlton Heston, which was filmed on locations in Israel and Bulgaria.

In 2006 he directed and co-wrote The Hard Corps, an urban action-romance. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Vivica Fox, the film was shot on locations around Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and on sound stages in Romania, and was financed and released worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Lettich stated he has always wanted to make a Vietnam War movie that he wrote, but after seeing Tropic Thunder he felt that no one would take a Vietnam war movie seriously anymore.

Filmography

Year	Film	Credit	Notes
1983	Firefight	Director, written by	Short film
1985	Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except	Story by, second unit director	Co-wrote story with Josh Becker & Bruce Campbell
1987	Russkies	Screenplay by, story by	Co-wrote screenplay with Alan Jay Glueckman and Michael Nankin, co-wrote story with Alan Jay Glueckman
1988	Bloodsport	Screenplay by, story by	Co-wrote screenplay with Christopher Cosby & Mel Friedman
	Rambo III	Written by	Co-wrote with Sylvester Stallone
1989	Cyborg	Editor	Uncredited
1990	Lionheart	Director, written by	Co-wrote with Jean-Claude Van Damme and S.N. Warren
1991	Double Impact	Director, screenplay by, screen story by, co-producer	Co-wrote screenplay with Jean-Claude Van Damme, co-wrote screen story with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes
1993	Only the Strong	Director, written by	Co-wrote with Luis Esteban
1996	From Dusk till Dawn	Special thanks	As Sheldon Lettich
	The Quest	Script polish
1997	Perfect Target	Director
1998	Legionnaire	Screenplay by, story by, executive producer	Co-wrote screenplay with Rebecca Morrison, co-wrote story with Jean-Claude Van Damme
2000	The Last Warrior	Director
2001	The Order	Director
2004	Straight Into Darkness	Special thanks
2006	Second in Command	Script polish
	The Hard Corps	Director, written by	Co-wrote with George Saunders
2011	Calibre 9	Dedicatee
2014	Black Rose	Executive producer
2015	Max	Written by	Co-wrote with Boaz Yakin
2016	Watch This	Special thanks	Short film
2018	Ouija House	Special thanks

External links

• Official website
• Sheldon Lettich's posts on VanDammeFan.net
• Sheldon Lettich at IMDb