James Glickenhaus | |
|---|---|
 Glickenhaus giving an interview at Le Mans | |
| Born | July 24, 1950 New York City, New York, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Film director Film producer Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1975–present |
James Glickenhaus (born July 24, 1950) is an American[1] film producer, financier, director and automotive entrepreneur.[2]
He is currently general partner of Glickenhaus & Co., a family partnership originally started by his father Seth Glickenhaus.
Glickenhaus wrote, directed and produced a number of films in the 1980s and 1990s, including The Exterminator and the Jackie Chan vehicle The Protector. In an interview from 2012, about his movie career, he explained his reasons for retiring from the movie business: "What happened at the end was that the studios had taken over everything. And it was very difficult as an independent to compete with them. They could spend so much money that the stars you had access to as an independent were asking a mega amount money. They knew you had no choice. It became harder and harder and harder."[3]
Glickenhaus is an avid collector of former racing vehicles, especially Ferraris. The cars that Glickenhaus owns in his garage include:[4]
His coachbuilt 2006 Ferrari P 4/5 by Pininfarina, listed above, has been extensively covered by national publications like Car and Driver.
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Glickenhaus is the owner and managing member of Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, the automobile company that Glickenhaus started. Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus currently makes 5 types of cars,[5] the SCG 003, SCG 004, SCG Boot, SCG 006, and the SCG 007.[6][7][8][9][10] The race-oriented 003 takes design cues from Formula One racecars, designed to race with the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in mind. The 004 is another, toned-down supercar, more fit for driving on the street. The Boot is built for racing at the Baja 1000. The 006 is the car that takes design cues from the cars of the early to mid-20th century. The 007 is Glickenhaus's entry for Le Mans Hypercar.
Glickenhaus called his first feature film, The Astrologer, "a learning experience". For his next movie, the vigilante movie The Exterminator, he decided to concentrate more on action and less on dialogue. The movie became a commercial success and Glickenhaus was asked by Avco-Embassy to deliver a more mainstream action film as his next project. This became the spy-thriller The Soldier, starring Ken Wahl and Klaus Kinski. In a 2012 interview, Glickenhaus explained that his movie career could have turned out very differently, had he decided to move to Hollywood after the success of The Exterminator:
"I was contacted a lot by studios. But I think I was afraid of the control of the studios. I had the ability to make films independently. I enjoyed doing it that way. Another part of it was I loved New York. I loved living in New York. I had a lot of friends there. And I knew if I really wanted to be a Hollywood director I would have had to move to LA and spend a lot of time socializing to make contacts. You know, for want of a better word, networking. And I wasn’t interested in doing that."[3]
Glickenhaus made The Protector for Golden Harvest, one of several attempts by Jackie Chan to break out in the American market, on the condition that Glickenhaus "had total creative control and final cut of the movie". The version that was released internationally is the Glickenhaus version. Jackie Chan edited a different version for the Hong Kong and Japanese market.[3]
