Eli Roth

Considered one of the most profitable directors working in Hollywood during the early years of the new millennium, horror helmer Eli Roth made his bones with two back-to-back box office hit chillers. The first - "Cabin Fever" (2002) was a surprise hit when it was released and became an even huger hit on DVD. Roth's sophomore outing - the ?ber-disturbing "Hostel" (2006) - did even better, wracking up a staggering $20 million in its opening weekend. Between them, Roth's first two films would earn over five times their production costs at the box office in their opening weekends alone. Known for his low-budget approach to filmmaking, Roth's films eschewed big-name stars in favor of original storylines, haunting moods and tight pacing.

Born on April 18, 1972, in Boston, MA, Eli Raphael Roth was the middle son of three born to psychiatrist Dr. Sheldon Roth, and his wife, Cora, a painter. Inspired by director Ridley Scott's landmark sci-fi/horror masterpiece, "Alien" (1979), Roth began making his own movies on Super-8 as a teenager. After graduating high school in 1990, Roth left for NYU Film School. There, he continued to hone his skills as a filmmaker and storyteller by making more movies. A year after graduating summa cum laude from NYU, Roth received a Student Academy Award for his thesis project, "Restaurant Dogs" - ironically, a parody of future collaborator and friend Quentin Tarantino's 1992 heist drama, "Reservoir Dogs" (1992).

After graduating film school, Roth worked in a number of menial jobs in film and theater production in and around New York City, but in 1992, Roth was hired to be head of development for producer Fred Zollo, during which time he began to concentrate more on his writing. At age 23, Roth co-wrote the script for what would eventually become "Cabin Fever" with his friend and longtime collaborator, Randy Pearlstein. To finance his writing between gigs, Roth routinely worked as a production assistant and stand-in on a number of movies, including Howard Stern's "Private Parts" (1997) and the Brad Pitt romance-drama "Meet Joe Black" (1998) - where he was charged with turning the air conditioner on and off between takes.

After struggling unsuccessfully for over two years to raise capital for "Cabin Fever," Roth left New York for Los Angeles in the late 1990s, Once there, within a matter of months, he ended up selling his own animated series called "Chowdaheads" - which would sadly never see the light of day. Still, "Chowdaheads" proved to be a valuable learning experience for Roth. A talented mimic, Roth provided many of the show's voices, in addition to writing, producing, and directing episodes. In the late 1990s, Roth got a job working as an extra on "The Practice" (ABC, 1997-2004) - thanks to the graciousness of one of its stars, Camryn Manheim. Around this same period, Roth became diagnosed with a severe form of psoriasis, a painful genetic skin condition which caused his skin to constantly crack and bleed. Incorporating his excruciating experiences into his script for "Cabin Fever," Roth made the monster of the piece a form of flesh-eating virus.

In 2001, Roth finally raised the funds to make "Cabin Fever" a reality. Filmed on a tight budget of just $1.5 million, the gruesome, low-budget horror was screened at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival, where it quickly became the subject of an intense Hollywood bidding war. The prize eventually wound up going to Lion's Gate Entertainment, which picked up the project for an impressive $3 million - twice what it cost to make. Released wide later that year, "Cabin Fever" wracked up an astounding $21 million in domestic ticket sales, making it the most profitable horror film of 2002. Praised by such leading cultural voices as The New York Times and Rolling Stone magazine, "Cabin Fever" put Eli Roth into the same elite circle as low-budget horrormeisters-turned-star directors Peter Jackson, Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper.

After sharing nearly all of his profits from "Cabin Fever" with his cast and crewmembers - as compensation for having worked for little or no pay up-front - the loyal Roth used the remainder to launch his own production company. The first film to be completed on Roth's new slate was "Hostel," an extremely violent thriller about two college students who become torture victims while traveling abroad. Costing just $4 million to make, the horror opened to boffo box office and would eventually go on to gross $80 million worldwid - and more than double that in DVD sales.

In 2007, the very much in demand Roth directed a fake trailer segment for the Quentin Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez double feature homage, "Grindhouse," entitled "Thansgiving." Although the double-billed film did middling box office, any attachment to Rodrigquez and Tarantino proved to be instant street cred in Hollywood. That same year also saw the release of his inevitable sequel, "Hostel Part II" (2007). Although the second installment performed less impressively than its predecessor did, it still wound up turning a tidy little profit - as with all major Roth films.