• Ira TellerNeighbor

  • Marina Del Rey, CA

Ira Teller began his career at Twentieth Century Fox where he helped launch "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” At Columbia Pictures, he worked directly with Stanley Kubrick to create the campaign for "Dr. Strangelove." As director of Advertising and Publicity for National General Pictures, he created campaigns for "Up The Sandbox" starring Barbra Streisand , "The Getaway" starring Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw and "Judge Roy Bean" starring Paul Newman. Wearing both marketing and acquisition hats at Bryanston Pictures, he successfully launched “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein” and Bruce Lee’s last completed film, Return Of the Dragon. As the Vice President of Marketing for Lorimar Pictures, he was instrumental in the release of "Joseph Wambaugh's "The Choirboys" and the acclaimed TV movie, "Sybil" starring Joanne Woodward and Sally Field .

As Creative Director of his own Marketing Company, Ira Teller was honored by the Clio Awards committee for his trailers on " The Onion Field," "Ingmar Bergman's From The Life of The Marionettes" and " David Cronenberg's Videodrome." Throughout the 1980's, he became the leading expert in Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction film marketing, creating Ad campaigns, trailers and TV spots for such original cult classics as "Halloween," "Scanners," "John Carpenter's Escape From New York," "The Howling," "Phantasm" "Prom Night," "Time Bandits" and "The Amityville Horror." Newsweek Magazine built an entire article around my copy line: "If this one doesn't scare you, you're already dead!"

In 1994, he expanded his marketing scope, producing more than 75 Behind-The-Scenes Electronic Press kits (EPKs) and documentaries, including " Pulp Fiction," "Kiss The Girls," "Highlander 2," and Imax "Mission To Mir." It was his experiences on the set of the movie "The Crow," interviewing actor Brandon Lee, days before his fatal injury due to a live round loaded revolver, that became the inspiration for his first novel, “Master Of Disaster: A Behind The Scenes Mystery."

In 2021, he published a memoir, entitled: "The Last Man Of Tomorrow: Or How I Became Marketing King of B Movies With An Assist From "Cleopatra," Barbra Streisand, Paul Newman, Stanley Kubrick...and The Mafia!" As it happens, I was the last person enrolled in a Twentieth Century Fox program entitled "Man of Tomorrow," which ended with the disastrous release of the movie "Cleopatra." Hence the title of my memoir. On display are many of my ad campaign posters, some award winning. I recount my personal involvement with many stars and directors, who put a personal stamp on my future. I reveal with candor my association with two studios, Byanston and Lorimar, with alleged connections to the Mafia.

His second novel, "Blue Blood On The Red Carpet," a sequel to "Master Of Disaster," has just been published. If you think the movie industry is in trouble now, "Blue Blood" takes place in pre-Covid 2010, when the new streaming services are seducing talent away from the major studios. To stop "the steal," a Nationwide television event is proposed to honor Production, Sales and Marketing executives, with ego boosting awards; the novel skewers all those behind-the-scenes in the making and selling of motion pictures, as it unravels a plot to derail that event. Is the target Irv North, the "Making Of" documentary film maker, who conducts the all interviews, including such legendary film personalities as Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino? Is it the movie executives? Both? And why is Irv's wife, Beverly, under siege in her Marina del Rey hi-rise condo? Is there a connection? The fun filled-thrill ride takes place on studio lots and at Los Angeles landmark locations similar to the Venice Canals, the La Brea Tar Pits, The Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Blvd and in a Western Ghost Town. Readers will enjoy more twists, turns and surprises than any 100 million dollar Hollywood epic.

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