Rodney Rothman

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title: "Rodney Rothman" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["21st-century-american-jews", "american-animated-film-directors", "american-animated-film-producers", "american-male-screenwriters", "american-male-television-writers", "american-television-writers", "animation-screenwriters", "annie-award-winners", "directors-of-best-animated-feature-academy-award-winners", "hugo-award–winning-writers", "jewish-american-screenwriters", "living-people", "middlebury-college-alumni", "nebula-award-winners", "sony-pictures-animation-people", "year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)"] description: "American filmmaker and author" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Rothman" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American filmmaker and author ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Rodney Rothman
image	Rodney Rothman by Gage Skidmore.jpg
caption	Rothman at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
birth_place	United States
occupation	Filmmaker, writer
::

| name = Rodney Rothman | image = Rodney Rothman by Gage Skidmore.jpg | caption = Rothman at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con | birth_date = | birth_place = United States | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Filmmaker, writer | spouse = | website = | children = Rodney Rothman is an American filmmaker and author. He is known for his work on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) (which served as his feature directorial debut), Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016), 22 Jump Street (2014), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), and Get Him to the Greek (2010), as well as being part of the writing staff of the shows Undeclared and Late Show with David Letterman. He has been nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series.

Rothman is the author of the best-selling nonfiction humor book Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement. His writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, GQ, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, and McSweeney's Quarterly. His piece "My Fake Job" was included in The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He has also written for other books, Such as Camp Camp by Rodger Bennet.

His work on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse earned him the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and Annie Awards for Directing and Writing in a Feature Production.

Career

In 2005, Rothman wrote the book Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement. He has been nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, and also wrote the scripts for Grudge Match, 22 Jump Street and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which served as his feature directorial debut. He co-directed the film with Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey, and co-wrote with Phil Lord. His work on the film earned him the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and Annie Awards for Directing and Writing in a Feature Production.

In 2021, Rothman partnered with former MGM Co-President of Production Adam Rosenberg to form Modern Magic, a media company focused "on creating event entertainment for the 21st-century audience, across animation and live-action". Upcoming projects include collaborations with Stephen Curry, Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell, Neal Stephenson, Ricky Williams, Junji Ito, an original animated feature inspired by the music of the late rapper Juice WRLD, an animated feature based on the SXSW award-winning short film Nuevo Rico, another animated series with hour-long episodes based on Wendy and Richard Pini’s influential comic series Elfquest, and a live-action feature that Quinta Brunson is currently scripting for Sony Pictures.

In August 2022, Rothman revealed on Twitter that he was the person who Chris Farley picked up and threw into a dumpster during Farley's appearance on Late Show with David Letterman in February 1996. Rothman was a writer at the Late Show at the time.

Filmography

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Writer	Producer	Notes
1995–2000	Late Show with David Letterman			Apprentice writer (1995–1996);
Staff writer (1996–1998);
Head writer (1998–2000);
Producer (1999–2000)
2001–2002	Undeclared
2004	Game Over
$5.15/hr.			TV pilot for HBO
2005	Early Bird			Creator;
TV pilot for NBC
Committed
2006	Help Me Help You
The 78th Annual Academy Awards
::

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Notes
2013	Grudge Match
2014	22 Jump Street
2018	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse			Co-director with Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey
::

Executive producer

• Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
• Year One (2009)
• The Five-Year Engagement (2012)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
• Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2027) Producer
• Get Him to the Greek (2010)
• Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
• Goat (2026)

References

References

1. [http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/19184 'Something' Discovered in Space... It's a Horror/Comedy!]
2. Grobar, Matt. (20 July 2021). "Modern Magic: Adam Rosenberg & Rodney Rothman Launch Company Focused On Event Animation And Live-Action".
3. "Register".
4. {{usurped
5. (30 May 2024). "'Goat': Sony Pictures Animation Sets Release Tied To 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend From Director Tyree Dillihay; Stephen Curry & Erick Peyton's Unanimous Media".

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