CLEVELAND—The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage and the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland are proud to partner in bringing award-winning writer, director, producer, and actor Howard Rosenman to Cleveland in celebration of LGBTQ History month. The event will take place Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 pm at the community center’s new building in Gordon Square (6705 Detroit Ave, Cleveland 44102). Tickets are $15 general, $10 Maltz Museum Members and can be purchased through the Maltz Museum by calling 216-593-0575 or visiting www.maltzmuseum.org.
Rosenman will share his remarkable story of being raised in a Hasidic Jewish home in New York to becoming an activist and advocate for LGBTQ+ voices through his work in the film industry. A career choice influenced by a chance encounter with the legendary maestro, Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story), who is the subject of the Maltz Museum’s newest special exhibition.
This will be one of the first major events to take place in the LGBT Community Center’s new building. Executive Director, Phyllis Harris said, “We are very excited to partner with the Maltz Museum to host Howard Rosenman. We couldn’t be more pleased that this event is taking place during LGBTQ History month in our beautiful new community center.”
Howard Rosenman has created over 43 films, which have been honored by Academy Awards, by multiple Peabody Awards, and by Sundance, Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals. He is best known for Call Me By Your Name(Oscar for best adapted screenplay and has won over 204 awards), Father of The Bride, Family Man, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Main Event, and five documentaries, among them Common Threads (Oscar & Peabody), Celluloid Closet (nominated for an Oscar and won him a second Peabody) with Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and Brave Miss World. Rosenman has worked with great actors such as Steve Martin, Nicolas Cage, Michael Douglas, Melanie Griffith, Tea Leoni, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Keaton, Ellen Burstyn, Albert Brooks, Sam Shepard, Dolly Parton, and Sir Ben Kingsley, and vocalists Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston. He ran RSO Films for Robert Stigwood, Sandollar for Dolly Parton, and Brillstein Grey for Bernie Brillstein.
This fall Rosenman will start production on Anita, the Anita Bryant story, starring Ashley Judd, Neil Patrick Harris, and Mayim Bialik. Chad Hodge wrote the screenplay and will direct. Darren Star is his producing partner. He has just sold two TV pilots to Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Joni Sighvaatson at Palomar Pictures.
Under the auspices of the Jewish Federation’s Tel Aviv/Los Angeles Cultural Partnership, Rosenman taught Master Classes in Creative Film Producing at Tel Aviv University. His Israeli producing students sold more than fifty TV formats to American networks and cable channels.
Rosenman, with Marianne Williamson, co-founded Project Angel Food, a lifeline to people affected by HIV/AIDS and terminal illnesses. As of now PAF has served 12 million meals. He has served on the board of directors of the AIDS Research Alliance, Bet Tzedek Legal in Los Angeles, DIFFA, and Youth AIDS Services.
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is proud to partner with the LGBT Community Center of Cleveland in addition to Literary Cleveland for,“Behind the Lens with Oscar Award Winning Filmmaker, Howard Rosenman.” The event will take place Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 pm at the community center’s new building in Gordon Square (6600 Detroit Ave, Cleveland 44102). Tickets are $15 general, $10 Maltz Museum Members and can be purchased through the Maltz Museum by calling 216-593-0575 or visiting www.maltzmuseum.org.
