Pen Densham

Pen Densham
Pen Densham attends The Canadian Film Centre cocktail reception celebrating the Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab held at Avalon Hotel on 9 March 2011 in Beverly Hills, California
Born	(1947-10-14) 14 October 1947 (age 69) Ruislip, Middlesex, United Kingdom
Occupation	film and television writer, producer, and author

Pen Densham (born 14 October 1947, Ruislip, Middlesex, United Kingdom) is a British-Canadian-American film and television writer, producer, director and author, known for writing and producing films such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and television revivals of The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone, as well as writing, producing and directing MGM's Moll Flanders.

Born in England in 1947, to parents Raymond Densham who both worked in the British film industry, Densham left school at age 15 and was hired by British TV to photograph The Rolling Stones, selling pictures to national magazines. At 19 he moved to Canada where he directed commercials and documentaries, working with Marshall McLuhan.

Densham went on to found Insight Productions in Toronto with John Watson. The company gained recognition for documentaries such as Life Times Nine, one of two Insight films that earned Academy Award nominations. In total, Densham and Watson received over 70 international awards for their works as well as medals from the Queen of England for their contribution to the Arts of Canada. The first drama Densham wrote and directed, If Wishes Were Horses, won 14 awards, was reviewed by TV guide as "The best film of any length shown on Canadian TV", and brought Densham's work to the attention of Norman Jewison. Jewison, with Telefilm Canada, sponsored Densham to move to Hollywood.

In Hollywood Densham and Watson founded Trilogy Entertainment Group. They were employed as creative consultants on films such as Rocky II and Footloose. In 1988 Densham directed Trilogy's first studio feature, The Kiss, for Tri-Star. In 1990 Densham re-envisioned the Robin Hood story, creating a new characterization and adding new concepts. Densham and Watson sold their spec script for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and produced the film for Morgan Creek Productions and Warner Brothers. The film became one of Warner Brothers' largest grossing movies ever, spinning off games, toy lines and the No. 1 music single from Bryan Adams, "Everything I Do, I Do It For You". In the same year they were producers on Backdraft with Ron Howard directing for Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Backdraft generated one of the longest-lasting attractions at the Universal Studios Tour.