From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
StevenBrent Oedekerk (born November 27, 1961) is an American actor,stand-up comedian, director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. Heis best known for his collaborations with actor and comedian JimCarrey and director Tom Shadyac (particularly the Ace Venturafranchise), his series of "Thumbmation" shorts and his filmKung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002), along with his films JimmyNeutron: Boy Genius, Santa vs. the Snowman 3D, Barnyardand The Nutty Professor remake.
Early life
Oedekerk was raised in Huntington Beach, California, by his motherRena Borlandeli and father Martin Oedekerk. He attended Mater DeiHigh School in Santa Ana, California and Golden West College inHuntington Beach. He is of Dutch Frisian, Irish, Hungarian andItalian (Lombard) descent. His mother is an emigrant from Magnago,Italy. His paternal grandfather was an Afrikaner born in South Africato Dutch parents. On February 15, 2019, Oedekerk's father Martindied.
Career
Throughout his career, Oedekerk has appeared in and createdseveral television specials for NBC, ABC, and UPN. He alsocontributed his writing talents to FOX during the late 1980s andthrough the early 1990s. It was during this time that Oedekerkbefriended fellow comic/actor Jim Carrey while working on thetelevision series In Living Color during its 1990–1994 run;this was the first of numerous collaborations between the two.
Prior to his successful contributions to several unknown episodesin the Color TV series, he wrote and starred in his firstindependent/directorial film, Smart Alex (1987). It wasn'tuntil 1991 that Oedekerk was attached not only as a writer, but alsoas the protagonist, as Thane Furrows in the film High Strung.Jim Carrey also starred opposite him in the role of Death, althoughhe went uncredited. They eventually developed a strong friendship,which still exists today. Shortly afterward, Oedekerk again workedalongside Carrey as the project consultant for Tom Shadyac's firstfilm Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). The film became abreak-out success and he was given the opportunity to both direct andwrite its sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). Thistime Oedekerk directed and wrote the movie after Shadyac left beforefilming. The sequel proved to be more successful, surpassing the boxoffice gross of the original. Despite this, both Oedekerk and Carreywanted to pursue other projects, but still remained friends.
Following the Ace Ventura franchise, Oedekerk co-wrote TheNutty Professor (1996), which was also directed by Shadyac forUniversal Pictures; it became one of the highest-grossing films ofthat year. He soon wrote, directed and also had a cameo appearance inNothing to Lose (1997), starring Tim Robbins and MartinLawrence. Oedekerk took a hiatus from directing major filmproductions for the rest of the 1990s, but continued to writescreenplays, including Patch Adams (1998), Nutty ProfessorII: The Klumps (2000), Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001),Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002) (which he directed, wrote andstarred in), Bruce Almighty (2003) and Barnyard (2006)(which he directed, wrote, produced, and voiced various characters).In 2003, he signed a first look deal with Universal.
In 2007, Oedekerk produced the screenplay and story for the BruceAlmighty sequel, Evan Almighty; again, Shadyac directedboth films. He has also been commissioned to write the screenplay forthe Ripley's Believe It or Not! film adaptation; Jim Carreyhas since been cast in the title role. No news involving the projecthas been reported since.
In February 2009, Universal Pictures announced that Steve Oedekerkwould be penning a film adaptation of the Stretch Armstrong superherodoll. As of 2016, the film is left in development hell with ananimated series currently in the works.
In 2015, it was announced that a sequel to Kung Pow iscurrently in the works with him returning to write and direct.
O Entertainment
O Entertainment is a production company founded by SteveOedekerk in 1990. O Entertainment's productions include theThumbmation series (Thumb Wars, Bat Thumb, Thumbtanic,etc.), Santa vs. the Snowman 3D, Jimmy Neutron: The BoyGenius, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, Backat the Barnyard, Planet Sheen, and the movie The SuperMouse. The animation division, Omation Animation Studio, wasfounded by Oedekerk himself and hired animators who previously workedin DNA Productions after the studio closed down in 2006.
In 1990, Oedekerk founded an entertainment company, OEntertainment. In 1997, he created and starred in a variety specialfor NBC, featuring computer animation, entitled The O Show(also known as steve.oedekerk.com). He is also executiveproducer of the computer animated series The Adventures of JimmyNeutron, Boy Genius on Nickelodeon.
OmationAnimation Studio
Omation Animation Studio (commonly known as Omation)is an animation studio founded by the same founder who founded OEntertainment, Steve Oedekerk. In 2002, he founded the animationdivision of O Entertainment, Omation Animation Studio (betterknown as Omation), whose first animation project was the feature filmBarnyard (which Oedekerk wrote, directed, produced, and voiceacted in). Around 2006–2007, the studio began production on aNicktoon based on the film titled Back at the Barnyard. Theseries premiered on Nickelodeon on September 29, 2007. A secondseason followed, and six additional episodes airing on Nickelodeon'ssister channel Nicktoons from September 12, 2011, until November 12,2011.
Oedekerk also gained popularity with his series of "Thumbmation"shorts: Thumb Wars, Bat Thumb, The Godthumb,Frankenthumb, The Blair Thumb and Thumbtanic.
