Martin Rosen (director)


Martin Rosen is an American filmmaker and theater producer. Rosen is known for having directed the animated film adaptations of Watership Down and The Plague Dogs, both from the Richard Adams novels.

Career

Rosen originally worked as a theater agent and talent scout, before he moved with his wife to the United Kingdom.
He first produced the Canadian feature A Great Big Thing and later co-produced Ken Russell's film version of Women in Love, which won Academy Awards for Glenda Jackson and Billy Williams.
Rosen was originally the producer of Watership Down but took over as director after John Hubley, the original director, left after disagreements with Rosen. He also wrote the screenplay for it. This was the first of two novels by Richard Adams he adapted. In 1982 he also produced, directed and wrote the screenplay for another animated feature based on an Adams novel, The Plague Dogs. Rosen produced Smooth Talk, which won the Sundance Grand Prize. His last film as director was Stacking. His last project as producer was the animated Watership Down TV series in 1999.
Rosen has also worked in theater production. He was the originating producer of Michael Weller's Moonchildren'', first presented at London's Royal Court Theater before transferring to the US. He was the originating producer of Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior", presented in association with The Berkeley Rep, Boston's Huntington Theater, and the Doolittle Theater in Los Angeles.

Watership Down Ownership Controversy

On 27 May 2020, the high court in London ruled that Martin Rosen, the director of the 1978 Watership Down film adaptation, had wrongly claimed that he owned all rights to the Watership Down book, as well as terminating his contract for rights to the film. Rosen had entered into adaptation contracts worth more than $500,000, including licenses for an audiobook adaptation and the 2018 television adaptation.
In his ruling, Judge Richard Hacon ordered Rosen to pay over $100,000 in damages for copyright infringement, unauthorised license deals, and denying royalty payments to the Adams estate. Rosen was also directed to provide a record of all license agreements involving Watership Down, and pay court costs and the Adams estate's legal fees totalling £28,000.

Personal life

Rosen is married to Elisabeth Payne Rosen, an author and ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. They reside in California.

Credits

Films

Television

Theater

Awards and nominations