Gary Fleder

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Gary Fleder (born December 19, 1962 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His most recently completed film, The Express, is based on the true story of football player Ernie Davis, and will be released by Universal Pictures in October 2008.

A graduate of Boston University and the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Fleder began his television career in 1993 with an award-winning episode of Tales from the Crypt ("Forever Ambergris", starring Steve Buscemi and Roger Daltrey)^{[citation needed]}. Since then, he has directed pilots and episodes of more than half a dozen television series, including L.A. Doctors, Blind Justice, The Evidence, and The Shield. He is an executive producer and frequent director of October Road now in its second season on ABC.

Fleder directed "The Subway" a 1996 episode of Homicide: Life on the Street that earned a Peabody Award for its guest star, Vincent D’Onofrio. He also collaborated with producer Tom Hanks to direct an episode of the Emmy Award winning mini-series From the Earth to the Moon.

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Fleder's feature film debut, premiered at Cannes in 1995. This dark comedy, written by Fleder's Boston University classmate and frequent collaborator Scott Rosenberg, remains a cult favorite^{[citation needed]} and has been credited with reviving the career of Treat Williams^{[citation needed]}. Denver marked Fleder's first work with several artists who have become recurring collaborators, including production designer/art director Nelson Coates, costume designer Abigail Murray, script supervisor Elizabeth Ludwick, and composer Steve Weisberg.

Since then, Fleder has earned a reputation for directing smart, well-paced thrillers^[who?], including Kiss the Girls (1997), starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman; Don't Say a Word (2001), featuring Brittany Murphy and Michael Douglas; Impostor (2003), a sci-fi thriller based on a Philip K. Dick short story, starring Gary Sinise, Madeleine Stowe, and Vincent D’Onofrio; and Runaway Jury (2003), starring John Cusack and Academy Award winners Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman.

The Express, scheduled for release in October 2008, stars Dennis Quaid, Rob Brown, and Charles S. Dutton. The Express tells the story of Ernie Davis (1939–1963), the first African-American winner of the Heisman Trophy.

Fleder is a member of the Directors Guild's Special Projects Committee and has served as adjunct faculty at USC School of Cinema and Television. He and Scott Rosenberg sponsor an annual short screenplay contest at the Redstone Film Festival in Boston^{[citation needed]}.

He lives in southern California with his family, including two rescue dogs.