Todd Durham


Todd Durham is an American filmmaker, comedy writer, and novelist, known as the creator of the Hotel Transylvania film franchise for Columbia Pictures, which he based on his book of the same name. He became the sixth sole-creator of an animated movie franchise that went on to generate over $1 billion from theatrical and ancillary markets after only one sequel. Durham's works, including over forty screenplays and books, frequently combine fantasy storylines with character comedy.

Early life

Durham studied comedy writing at USC under brothers Danny Simon, mentor of Woody Allen, and Neil Simon.
Based on a half-hour 35mm film that he wrote and directed, a North Carolina movie studio signed Todd Durham to a three-picture feature deal. Durham then wrote and directed a low-budget comedy film, Hyperspace, starring Chris Elliott and Paula Poundstone. The film was the first appearance of the "intergalactic spacelord" Lord Buckethead, a persona used by several people to stand in British elections. In 2017, Durham asserted his ownership of the character, and future incarnations have been authorised by him.
Durham signed with Rick Jaffa, then agent at William Morris, and worked as an uncredited script doctor on comedy projects. He wrote screenplays for comedy actors, directors, and producers, the National Lampoon film franchise, and Saturday Night Live alumni. Durham ghostwrote celebrity autobiographies, and authored his first novel, Mr. Smith Goes To Hell, and its screenplay.

''Hotel Transylvania''

During his years as studio script doctor, Durham created the Hotel Transylvania movie franchise, for which he outlined in a bible a series of seven animated feature films and their characters, as well as a television series, video games, merchandising, hotel chain, and theme park. After authoring the book Hotel Transylvania, he took the package unsolicited to Columbia Pictures and set it up at Sony Pictures Animation, where he became the first of several screenwriters on the project. In 2012, the first film, Hotel Transylvania, starring Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade, and Jon Lovitz, broke two box office records, received a Golden Globe nomination, and became one of the studio's highest-grossing animated films. After its release in 2015 Hotel Transylvania 2, featuring Brooks, broke box office records set by the original and became Sandler's biggest debut weekend. With theatrical markets and ancillary markets, franchise revenues have surpassed ten figures.

Awards and nominations