Robert Lorenz
Birthdate: Apr 1, 1965
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
Robert Lorenz (birthname: Joseph Robert Lorenz) is a veteran producer and director, who has a long track record as a producing partner with Clint Eastwood over twelve years, starting with Eastwood’s Blood Work (2002), and continuing with the Best Picture-winning Million Dollar Baby (2004), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Changeling (2008), Gran Torino (2008), Invictus (2009), Hereafter (2010), J. Edgar (2011), and Jersey Boys (2014), including Lorenz earning three Best Picture Oscar nominations as lead producer with Eastwood for Mystic River (2003), Letters from Iwo Jima (2007), and American Sniper (2015).
Before this, Lorenz worked with Eastwood as a first or second or second-second assistant director on The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Absolute Power (1997), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), True Crime (1999), Space Cowboys (2000), Blood Work, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and as a second unit director on American Sniper.
Lorenz collaborated with the Clint Eastwood family in other capacities, including as lead producer on the Allison Eastwood-directed drama, Rails & Ties (2007), starring Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden, and then in his debut as director/producer of the sports drama, Trouble with the Curve (2012), starring Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, and John Goodman, marking the first time Eastwood hadn’t directed himself since appearing in a cameo in Casper (1995).
Beyond Eastwood, Lorenz worked as an assistant director with several other major directors, including Brian DePalma (Femme Fatale in 1991), Alberto Sordi (Acquitted for Having Committed the Deed in 1992), Sam Shepard (Silent Tongue in 1993), Garry Marshall (Exit to Eden in 1994), and Tamra Davis (Crossroads in 2002).
Robert Lorenz expanded his portfolio with the action drama, The Marksman (2021), on which he was director, a co-writer, and a producer, and which marked his first collaboration with star Liam Neeson, with a supporting cast including Katheryn Winnick, Juan Pablo Raba, and Teresa Ruiz, and returned an underwhelming box-office take of $24 million on a $23-30 million budget.
Lorenz reunited with Neeson as director of the IRA-themed drama, In the Land of Saints and Sinners (2023), co-starring Kerry Condon, Jack Gleeson, Colm Meaney, Ciarán Hinds, Sarah Greene, and Niamh Cusack, which premiered at the Venice film festival.
Lorenz continued to grow his directorial credits with Unabomb (date to be announced), from a script by Randy Brown about the FBI hunt for the Unabomber killer, Ted Kaczynski, and then as director of the airplane thriller, Papa Alpha 333 (date to be announced), written by Michael Walker.
Personal Details
Robert Lorenz was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, by his parents. Lorenz attended William Fremd High School, and then the University of Iowa, where he majored in film. Lorenz is married to high school English teacher Melissa Lorenz; the couple has two children.
Known For
Awards
Three-time nominee, Best Picture, Academy Awards (2004, 2007, 2015); Two-time Winner, Best Director—Dramatic Specials/Best Director, Directors Guild of America (1997, 2005); Three-time Nominee, Best Producer, Producers Guild of America (2004, 2010, 2015).
Filmography
director
Previous (3)
- 2024 | In the Land of Saints and Sinners
In the Land of Saints and Sinners
A disillusioned hitman comes out of retirement for one last job when an IRA bomber on the run from the law arrives in his sleepy Irish village.
- 2021 | The Marksman
The Marksman
A rancher on the Arizona border becomes the unlikely defender of a young Mexican boy desperately fleeing the cartel assassins who've pursued him into the U.S.
- 2012 | Trouble with the Curve
Trouble with the Curve
A daughter tries to remedy her dysfunctional relationship with her ailing father, a decorated baseball scout, by helping him in a recruiting trip which could be his last.
producer
Previous (3)
- 2014 | American Sniper
American Sniper
Navy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle's pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home with his family after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave b...
- 2014 | Jersey Boys
Jersey Boys
The story of four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic 1960s rock group The Four Seasons.
- 2006 | Letters from Iwo Jima
Letters from Iwo Jima
The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
actor
Previous (8)
Some Facts About Robert Lorenz
Mentor: Robert Lorenz arrived in Los Angeles from the Midwest in 1989, where he gained a mentor in legendary indie producer Roger Corman, with whom he worked at his Venice-based studio in the 1990s.
