Stephen Sommers

Born: 20th March 1962
Where: Indianpolis, USA

Stephen attended St. Johns University in Minnesota and took a semester off to study Spanish at the University of Seville.

Following that, he spent four years performing in theatre groups and managing rock bands throughout Europe.

Relocating to L.A., he attended the University of Southern California's Film School, and during this time, he wrote and directed an award-winning short film entitled Perfect Alibi.

Stephen came straight out of film school in 1989 to direct his first feature, the low-budgeted Catch Me if You Can.

On the basis of that film and his script for The Adventures of Huck Finn, Disney offered Stephen a "director's test", a two-scene nearly £14,000 short with one day's filming.

Impressed with the results, Disney allowed Stephen to direct his script for Huck Finn, and offered him a two year production deal.

The following year he scripted the western film Gunmen, and gained critical and commercial success with his direction and co-scripting for the remake of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.

Stephen had his first real box-office success at the helm of The Mummy, and continued this success when he wrote and directed the sequel, The Mummy Returns, reuniting the original cast.