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2015 Austin Film Festival and Conference Schedule has ended
avatar for Daniel Petrie, Jr.

Daniel Petrie, Jr.

Enderby Entertainment; writer Beverly Hills Cop, The Big Easy; director/producer Dawn Patrol; executive producer/showrunner Combat Hospital; co-writer/director Toy Soldiers; executive producer Go With Me; former WGAw President

Screenwriter, producer and director Daniel Petrie, Jr. was nominated for an Academy Awardfor best original screenplay for his first produced script, the box-office hit Beverly Hills Cop, starring Eddie Murphy.  Next came Petrie’s original screenplay of the romantic thriller The Big Easy, starring Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin.  Petrie then served as producer of the thriller Shoot to Kill, starring Sidney Poitier and Tom Berenger, and as executive producer of the comedy Turner & Hooch, starring Tom Hanks; Petrie co-wrote both films.  Petrie also served as executive producer of The 6th Day,starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and, most recently, of the upcoming feature Go With Me, starring Anthony Hopkins, Julia Stiles, Alexander Ludwig, Ray Liotta and Hal Holbrook.  Go With Me was produced by Rick Dugdale for Enderby Entertainment, Petrie’s and Dugdale’s independent film production and financing company (see below). Go With Me, directed by Sweden’s Daniel Alfredson, is slated to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September 2015.

Petrie's directorial debut was the film Toy Soldiers, starring Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, and Louis Gossett, Jr., which he also co-wrote.  Petrie also directed the HBO film Dead Silence, starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and adapted and directed the TNT movie Framed, starring Rob Lowe and Sam Neill.

In 2011, Petrie was executive producer, showrunner and co-creator of Combat Hospital, simulcast on Canada’s Global TV and ABC in the U.S.  The 13-episode TV series, a coproduction of Canada’s Sienna Films and the U.K.’s Artists Studios, featured an ensemble cast headed by Elias Koteas, Michelle Borth, Luke Mably, Deborah Kara Unger, Terry Chen and Arnold Pinnock.

In 2006, Petrie and producing partner Rick Dugdale founded Enderby Entertainment, an independent film, television and digital media company with an old-fashioned emphasis on storytelling, on the creative side, and transparency, on the financial side. For Enderby, Dugdale and Petrie produced and Petrie directed the indie feature Dawn Patrol starring Scott Eastwood, Jeff Fahey and Rita Wilson; the film premiered at the 2014 Austin Film Festival and was released in theaters and VOD in 2015.  Enderby then produced, and Petrie wrote and directed, a second picture for Enderby, Rosemont, starring Grace Zabriskie, Brad Dourif, Michael Gross, Ayla Kell and Brendan Michael Coughlin; it is slated for release in October on Starz.

Petrie has an extensive history of service to the Writers Guild of America West, Inc., serving two terms each as president (1997-99 and 2004-2005) and as vice president (1995-97 and 1999-2001).  He also has a lengthy record of service to the Writers Guild Foundation.  In 2013, Petrie was the recipient of the Writers Guild’s Morgan Cox Award, given to that “member whose vital ideas, continuing efforts, and personal sacrifice best exemplify the ideal of service to the Guild.”

Petrie served as a Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1997-1999) and as a Trustee of the American Film Institute (2004-2011). He is a long time member of the Academy Foundation’s Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Committee (1996-2004, 2006-present).

Petrie has also long been an active volunteer for the Austin Film Festival and Screenwriting Conference, sitting on the Festival’s Board of Advisors.  In 2012, the Austin Film Festival announced the addition of a new “Enderby Entertainment Award” to the festival’s screenwriting competition.  The new award is open to feature screenplays in all genres with an original concept and distinctive voice that can be independently produced with a production budget under five million dollars.  Finalists and winners are selected by Petrie and Dugdale.

Petrie inherited his dedication to volunteer service from his parents:  Petrie’s father was the late, Emmy-winning Canadian director and long time Directors Guild of America board member Daniel Petrie, Sr.; Petrie’s mother is the Emmy-winning television producer and long time Producers Guild of America board member Dorothea Petrie.  Petrie’s brother, director Donald Petrie, also carries on this tradition through his service as a DGA board member and co-chair of the DGA Foundation.

Petrie, who has dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship, lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife of over thirty years, Constance Petrie.

 

My Panelists Sessions

Thursday, October 29
 

1:00pm CDT

2:45pm CDT

 

My Moderators Sessions

Friday, October 30
 

3:15pm CDT

 
Saturday, October 31
 

3:00pm CDT