Joe Roth

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For the American quarterback, see Joe Roth (American football).

Joe Roth (born June 13, 1948) is an American producer and film director.

Roth co-founded Morgan Creek Productions in 1987 and was chairman of Twentieth Century Fox (1989–1993), Caravan Pictures (1993–1994), and Walt Disney Studios (1994–2000) before founding Revolution Studios in 2000.

Over the course of his career, he has produced over 40 films, and has directed four to date, including 1990's Coupe de Ville (in which a Cadillac Coupe de Ville plays a big part) and 2000's America's Sweethearts.

Roth, who was ranked 6th in Premiere Magazine's 2003 Hollywood Power List, produced the 76th annual Academy Awards.

Roth announced that in October 2007, when Revolution's distribution deal with Sony Pictures ends, Revolution Studios will close and he will join Sony as a producer.

[edit] Family background

Joe Roth was born in New York City. In 1959, Roth's father volunteered his son to be a plaintiff in the ACLU's effort to abolish prayer in public schools. The case, filed in New York, wound its way through the system, finally reaching the U.S. Supreme Court in 1962. The Court ruled that such prayer was unconstitutional under the First Amendment, in the landmark case of Engel v. Vitale.^[1]

His father-in-law is movie producer Samuel Z. Arkoff.