Stanley Robinson(II)

Stan Robinson, a native of Chicago, began his career in production in 1970 as a student at the Community Film Workshop of Chicago, under the direction of the noted photographer/cinematographer, Jim Taylor. Stan's 2 minute short (a requirement to graduate from the workshop) was entered in the "Young Chicago Filmmakers Festival" in 1972, where it won 1st place in the "light comedy" category! Roger Ebert was one of the judges.

The win in the film festival led to an internship in 1972 in the news department of WMAQ-TV Chicago, NBC Network "O & O" (owned & operated station). After his internship Stan Robinson was offered the position of Assistant Film Editor in the news department. A promotion followed to Film Editor, including working on "The Today Show" Chicago feeds. When videotape came to TV news, Stan was cross trained as a Videotape Editor! While working at NBC-TV, Stan received an Emmy Nomination for his work on the "The Chicago Portage Trail", the filming of the Marquette-Joliet reenactment down the Chicago River!

After a few years in TV news Stan felt a change was needed. News can be repetitive and not very rewarding if the creative aspect of production is where one is heading so after leaving NBC-TV, Stan freelanced at various Chicago television stations and production houses; provided celebrity interviews and entertainment reports on WGCI-FM Radio in Chicago., and hosted the celebrity oriented talk show "Trends & Lifestyles" on sister station WVON-AM Radio.

In 1980, Stan made his way back to his first love, "film production", when he landed an internship on the Universal Studios motion picture, "The Blues Brothers", which was shooting in Chicago! He continued to work on various film projects until 1983 when he was made an offer he couldn't refuse: Senior Producer/Director for Cablevision of Chicago!

Besides being responsible for overall production for Cablevision Local Origination Channel 3, with supervising 18 hours of original programming per week, Stan produced and hosted his own cable-TV show called "Showcase", utilizing his celebrity contacts from his radio days! His guests included Emmy winner Bill Cosby, Tony winner Ben Vareen, and Oscar winners Chuck Jones, Billy Dee Williams, and James Earl Jones, to name a few!

In 1986, Stan relocated to Central Florida and worked as an Assistant Director, and Transportation Captain in film production. Projects include the movies "The Adventures of Huck Finn", "Passenger 57", "My Girl", "To Die For", and the television series "The Adventures of Superboy", and "Super Force", a number of commercials, and was the 1st Assistant Director on Shaquille O'Neal's first music video "What's Up Doc"!

In 1997, Stan moved to Phoenix, AZ where he worked on his first project in Phoenix, AZ, a feature called "Camerahead" as 1st Assistant Director. In 1998 Stan, aligned with Caribou Moving Pictures' producers Timothy Bryant and Ralph Score, worked on the short "Way Station Detours" as Unit Production Manager/1st Assistant Director, which won 2 awards in the Saguaro 2000 international Film Festival in Phoenix, AZ! Stan's Caribou involvements include Unit Production Manager and 1st Assistant Director on Caribou's feature, "Planet of the Killer Robots. "Planet of the Killer Robots" premiered in Los Angeles in May, 2002 at the historic Vine Theater and a Phoenix, Arizona premiere January 2003. "Planet of the Killer Robots", with over 200 costumed extras, was photographed in Arizona using local actors, crew, vendors, and CJS Film Studios in west Phoenix, Arizona.

Stan also writes screenplays. Stan's writing's follows the tradition of his favorite type of stories. Rod Sterling who penned a lot of the scripts for "The Twilight Zone" television series and producer Leslie Stevens who produced "The Outer Limits" television show, are 2 of Stan's favorites.

In the spring of 2001, Stan wrote and directed the suspense thriller short, "The Lift", which tells the story of a haunted elevator that rights some of the wrongs caused by one passerby. "The Lift" is the 2nd short in the anthology series by Caribou Moving Pictures in the tradition of the "Twilight Zone" and "Outer Limits" TV series. The 3rd installment in the series, "The Message", written by Stanley Robinson, tells the story of a man who communicates a vital message to a loved one after he dies too soon. "The Message", produced by Caribou Moving Pictures, had its world premiere on Friday, February 13th, 2004.

Stan has just completed his next screenplay titled "The Visitor", which is also in the tradition of "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits". "The Visitor" tells the story of a mild mannered accountant who helps "The Visitor" repair his space craft after a forced landing on Earth.

Stan's past involvements include President, 1994, of the "Black Filmmakers Association of Central Florida", an organization he co-founded, and was Vice-President for 1992 and 1993! As Vice-President he was instrumental in forming an alliance between "Women in Film" (Orlando Chapter) and "Black Filmmakers Association"!