Stephanie Rothman

Writer/director 'Stephanie Rothman' (qv) was one of the few female filmmakers who specialized in low-budget drive-in exploitation fare in the '60s and '70s. Her movies are distinguished by gutsy, strong-willed and sympathetic women main characters and a radical libertarian feminist point of view. Stephanie was born on November 9, 1936 in Paterson, New Jersey (made famous by 'Lou Costello' (qv), who mentioned it in every one of his movies). She was the first lady to be awarded the Directors Guild of America fellowship. Rothman served as an associate producer on _Queen of Blood (1966)_ (qv), _Beach Ball (1965)_ (qv) and _Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)_ (qv). She co-wrote and co-directed the fright flick _Blood Bath (1966)_ (qv) and made her solo directorial debut with the frothy "Beach Party"-type romp _It's a Bikini World (1967)_ (qv). Stephanie made two features for 'Roger Corman' (qv)'s New World Pictures: the excellent _The Student Nurses (1970)_ (qv) -- which was the first and best of the popular nurse comedy cycle -- and the offbeat and inspired horror bloodsucker outing _The Velvet Vampire (1971)_ (qv). Rothman then went to work for Dimension Pictures, in which she and her writer/producer husband 'Charles S. Swartz' (qv) had a minority share, where she made the charming _Group Marriage (1973)_ (qv), the delightful _The Working Girls (1974)_ (qv) and the gritty _Terminal Island (1973)_ (qv) (an early vehicle for 'Tom Selleck' (qv). Moreover, she wrote the story for the enjoyable fantasy adventure _Beyond Atlantis (1973)_ (qv) and penned the screenplay for the amusingly inane _Starhops (1978)_ (qv). In 2007 Stephanie was honored with a retrospective on her work at the Vienna International Film Festival.::woodyanders