Todd Durham
Todd Durham is an American filmmaker, comedy writer, and novelist, best known as the creator of the concept for the Hotel Transylvania film franchise. Durham's works, including over forty screenplays and books, frequently combine fantasy storylines with character comedy.
Todd Durham
- Name
- Todd Durham
- Occupation
- * Filmmaker
- Born
- 1960
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Todd Durham • Occupation — * Filmmaker • comedy writer • novelist • Notable Works — Hotel Transylvania franchise (creator) Hyperspace AKA Gremloids Visions of Sugar-Plums Mr. Smith Goes To Hell • Website — ToddDurham.com
Education and career
Education and career
Durham studied comedy writing at USC under brothers Danny Simon and Neil Simon. In 1983, based on a half-hour 35mm film that he wrote and directed, Earl Owensby Studios, a North Carolina movie studio, signed Todd Durham to a three-picture feature deal. Durham then wrote and directed: Tales of the Third Dimension, Chain Gang, and a low-budget comedy film, Hyperspace, starring Chris Elliott and Paula Poundstone.
Lord Buckethead
Lord Buckethead
Lord_Buckethead#Mike_Lee_period_(1987—1992) The film Hyperspace was the first appearance of the "intergalactic spacelord" Lord Buckethead. To promote Hyperspace, in the UK, released as Gremloids, Mike Lee, the video distributor, stood as Lord Buckethead, as a novelty candidate, representing the Gremloids Party, against the Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher in her constituency in Finchley, London. in the 1987 general election, Lee stood as Lord Buckethead as a novelty candidate, representing the Gremloids Party. He stood against the Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher in her constituency in Finchley, London. Buckethead campaigned to demolish Birmingham to make way for a spaceport. He received 131 votes. In the 1992 general election, Lord Buckethead stood against the Conservative prime minister John Major in Huntingdon, winning 107 votes (0.1%). Lord_Buckethead#Jon_Harvey_period_(2017) In 2017, the former TV producer Jon Harvey stood as Lord Buckethead against Theresa May in Maidenhead in the 2017 general election. In 2017, Durham asserted his ownership of the character, and subsequent incarnations have been authorized by him.
Hotel Transylvania
Hotel Transylvania
During his years as a studio script doctor, Durham came up with the concept of Hotel Transylvania and brought it to Sony Pictures Animation. The first film in the series, Hotel Transylvania, was released in 2012 with mixed reviews from critics.
Writer
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 adaptation.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Todd Durham, revision 1370916394 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Columbia Pictures Press Kit - Hotel Transylvania.
- 2.Change Of Pace. The Foothills View. April 29, 1983.
- 3.Space Comedy Coming From Shelby. The Charlotte Observer. June 22, 1984.
- 4.The Dixie DeMille. Gentleman's Quarterly. August 1986.
- 5.reprobatemagazine. Lord Buckethead – The Whole Story. The Reprobate. 14 June 2017.
- 6.Phipps, John. No British election is complete without a man with a bin on his head. The Economist. 17 June 2024. 0013-0613.
- 7.Jefferson, Ed. Lord Buckethead vs Theresa May – meet the UK's weirdest political parties. New Statesman. 12 May 2017.
- 8.Waterson, Jim. A Person Called 'Lord Buckethead' Is Standing Against Theresa May in the Election. BuzzFeed News. 13 May 2017.
- 9.Matthew Engel. Engel's England: Thirty-nine counties, one capital and one man. Profile Books. 150. 23 October 2014. 978-1-84765-928-6.
- 10.Saunders, Tristram Fane. The real Lord Buckethead: the cult sci-fi film that inspired Theresa May's election rival. The Telegraph. 2017-06-09. 0307-1235.
- 11.Waterson, Jim. Double trouble: the fight to be the real Lord Buckethead. The Guardian. 2019-05-26. 0261-3077.
- 12.Todd Durham signs with WMA as writer, director. Variety. August 28, 1987.
- 13.Hyperspace. The Los Angeles Times. April 22, 1990.
- 14.(front page) Zadan's Storyline unfolds with slate of major projects. The Hollywood Reporter. November 7, 1988.
- 15.Lyons, Charles. Mouse, Keaton in talks for 'Strangers' project. Variety. 1999-10-15.
- 16.(front page) O'Donnell kids around in Nick, Dis pic projects. The Hollywood Reporter. July 8, 1999.
- 17.Rivenburg, Roy. It's Hotter Than Ever . . .HELL, : After years of neglect, Hades is making a comeback. But it's been remodeled a bit. Los Angeles Times. 1994-01-09.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
38,713 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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