"New Amsterdam
Entertainment, Inc. celebrates being based in New
York City.
As a source of creative and business talent, the
City is an unique environment."
Born in New York
City on March 20, 1995, New Amsterdam Entertainment, Inc. is an independent developer and producer of feature films, miniseries, TV movies and related media products.
New Amsterdam founder and CEO, Richard P. Rubinstein, formerly Chairman of
Laurel Entertainment (a subsidiary of
Viacom/Blockbuster/Spelling Entertainment) was
initially recognized for movies and television programming "that went bump in the night"
including "Creepshow" (Warner Bros.), the box office
smash Stephen King's "Pet Sematary" (Paramount), the hit syndicated TV series "Tales from the Darkside"
(Tribune), and the original 1979 horror classic "Dawn of the Dead,"
written and directed by George A. Romero.
Rubinstein's now diversified credits include the telefilm
"The Vernon Johns Story" (Tribune) starring
James Earl Jones (co-executive produced
with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) that won four Monte Carlo
Festival
awards and the distinguished Christopher Award; the
four-hour miniseries "A Season in Purgatory" (CBS)
based on the best-selling Dominick Dunne novel, and
the feature film "Knightriders" (United
Artists) starring Ed
Harris in his first leading role.
In 1994, New
Amsterdam's Rubinstein was Executive Producer of the
highest-rated miniseries for the broadcast season,
Stephen King's "The Stand" (ABC), a feat he repeated
the following year with Stephen King's "The Langoliers" (ABC). Building on
Rubinstein's success with adapting epic novels, New
Amsterdam produced the Emmy-winning six-hour
miniseries "Frank Herbert's Dune" in 2000, with
William Hurt leading an ensemble cast, that garnered
record-breaking ratings for the Sci Fi Channel. "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune,"
with Susan Sarandon leading the ensemble cast,
followed in March 2003 and was also an Emmy winner.
In 2004, New
Amsterdam produced, in association with Strike
Entertainment, a remake of the original George A.
Romero's "Dawn of the Dead"
(UFD). The 2004 version (Universal) starred Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames and
Mekhi Phifer. The remake was an Official
Selection of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and
grossed over $110M at the worldwide box office.
More recently, New Amsterdam co-financed documentary feature "Giving It Up,"
which is distributed by Shine Reveille outside the
U.S.A.
“Giving It Up”
imbeds us in Hollywood’s “paparazzi wars” as it
tells the story of two former LA gang members who
co-founded “JFX Direct”, an “A” list celebrity photo
agency.
The company is currently developing
a feature film adaptation of
Federico Andahazi's critically acclaimed
best-selling novel,
The Merciful Women with an English language screenplay by Lucia Puenzo.
Ms. Puenzo is best known for her feature film
"XXY," which won the Critics Week Grand
Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. The company is also developing a remake of George A. Romero's
"Martin;"
a sequel to Stephen King's "The Night Flier" with a
screenplay by Mark Pavia and Stephen King; and the
next TV incarnation of Frank Herbert's "Dune."