2015 (Production)

2015-08-10 (Production)

English (Original)

Interviewee: Stephanie Rothman
Interviewer: Maya Smukler

Professional production

United States

Director, writer and producer Stephanie Rothman is interviewed by Maya Smukler at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood, CA in 2015. Rothman discusses her upbringing in Southern California, her initial entry into filmmaking, and the proliferation of 1960s/1970s exploitation cinema. She details her works from IT'S A BIKINI WORLD (1966) to THE STUDENT NURSES (1970) and THE WORKING GIRLS (1974).

Director, writer and producer Stephanie Rothman is interviewed by Maya Smukler at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood, CA on August 10, 2015. Rothman was born in Patterson, New Jersey and moved to Southern California in 1945. She remembers her experiences as an only child and learning how to become self-reliant in social situations. With early aspirations to enter the medical profession, Rothman enrolled at UCLA then transferred to UC Berkeley as a Sociology major in 1958. She recalls the political climate during her college years and how the “spirit of the times” later influenced her filmmaking. Rothman discusses her enrollment in USC’s Cinema Department and meeting future husband Charles S. Schwartz. Based on the recommendation of a USC professor, she landed an interview with producer Roger Corman who hired her as an assistant for BEACH BALL (1965) and BLOOD BATH (1965). Rothman describes her roles as supervising editor and second unit director, which led to her directorial debut on IT'S A BIKINI WORLD (1966). She provides insight on working with Corman and the culture of low budget exploitation filmmaking, which she labels as a transgressive Hollywood genre. Corman would launch New World Pictures in 1970, tapping Rothman and Schwartz as directors, producers and writers for a slate of films, including THE STUDENT NURSES (1970) and THE VELVET VAMPIRE (1971). She explains her use of topical social issues in these and later projects, focusing on themes of feminist solidarity, pan-sexuality and political satire. Rothman and Schwartz left New World to join Dimension Pictures as creative executives and co- shareholders in 1971. With Rothman as director and Schwartz co-producing, she details the making of the unconventional sex comedy GROUP MARRIAGE (1972), action/prison feature TERMINAL ISLAND (1973), and her last film, THE WORKING GIRLS (1974). She recalls leaving Dimension following a business dispute and the difficulty in transitioning from low budget films to Hollywood. She discusses the renaissance of exploitation cinema in the following decades and the experience of seeing her films featured in retrospectives around the world. She speaks on her motivation for establishing the Charles S. Swartz Endowed Chair in Entertainment Technology at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts after his death in 2007. Rothman closes with her thoughts on the distinct legacy of 1960s/1970s exploitation films and the related preservation efforts initiated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Stephanie Rothman (born 1936) is a director, writer and producer known for her low-budget independent exploitation films. Rothman was born in Patterson, NJ, and raised in Southern California. After graduating with a degree in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, she pursued a Master’s degree in film from the University of Southern California. Rothman would leave USC in her final year to work for Roger Corman, who employed her as an associate producer on BEACH BALL (1965), VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET (1965), and BLOOD BATH (1965). She made her directorial and screenwriting debut with IT'S A BIKINI WORLD (1966), followed by QUEEN OF BLOOD later that year. After launching New World Pictures in 1970, Corman hired Rothman and her husband Charles S. Swartz to helm director and producer duties for the studio’s first film, THE STUDENT NURSES (1970) and subsequent cult classic THE VELVET VAMPIRE (1971). Rothman and Schwartz would leave New World to join Dimension Pictures, co-writing and directing exploitation films GROUP MARRIAGE (1971), TERMINAL ISLAND (1973), and THE WORKING GIRLS (1974). Despite a quiet retirement from filmmaking in the late 1970s, Rothman remains a seminal figure in the exploitation genre. Her work has been the subject of retrospectives at the Venice International Film Festival in 2007 and Museum of Modern Art in 2015. In memory of her husband and producing partner, Rothman established the Charles S. Swartz Endowed Chair in Entertainment Technology at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in 2013.

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