Biography
Reuben Leder grew up in the movie business working with his sister Mimi Leder (now a multiple DGA and Emmy winning director) on the many low budget independent features written, produced and directed by their father, Paul Leder, (Goin' to Chicago (1990) - winner of 'Best of the Fest'/Santa Barbara Film Festival 1990). Tasks included apprenticeships in every department: camera, art, sound, editorial. And finally, writing. At first, co-writing with Paul Leder the cult 3D monster movie spoof Ape (1976) and finally by himself, the acclaimed drama Molly & Gina (1994). A number of spec feature sales ensued, followed by a lengthy career in television, including the first six years of producing, writing, and directing the award winning series Magnum, P.I. (1980). Leder received two Emmy nominations for producing "Magnum"; also, one episode that he wrote, produced and directed received multiple NAACP Image Award nominations for the guest actors. Following "Magnum" and various other show running duties (i.e. Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1993)), Leder returned to his feature roots, selling various spec features -- including Sentimental Journey (1999), (the WWII story of his parents) to Dreamworks. Other sales were "The Glory Of Love" to Dreamworks again, "Nightland" to producer Lawrence Bender at A Band Apart, and "Life After Death" to Alan Ladd Jr. and Robert Evans at Paramount. His most recent directorial project, which he also adapted from the nonfiction book by journalist Jutta Rabe, is the feature Baltic Storm (2003), a political thriller (starring Greta Scacchi, Jürgen Prochnow, and Donald Sutherland) based on the tragic sinking of the ferry boat 'Estonia' and subsequent cover-up. Presently, Leder is in pre-production on "In A Perfect World', an original comedy which he'll also direct. In 2007, Leder did the final rewrite of The Code (2009) starring Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas. Post WGA Strike, he is adapting "Woody, Cisco, & Me, a memoir by James Longhi concerning his experiences in the Merchant Marine during WWII with folksinger Cisco Houston and folk legend Woody Guthrie. This film is slated for production in Fall 2008 and is to be directed by Mimi Leder. Future projects include the writing of "One By One", a fact-based psychological drama concerning present day healing of multi-generational characters caught up in the wake of the Holocaust. Finally, keeping in the tradition of working in the family, Leder has just completed the single camera sitcom pilot "Strange Customs" written with his daughter, Stefanie Leder, a novelist and screenwriter.
