Gene Quintano (born 1946 as Eugene Francis Quintano Jr.) is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer and director. He is best known for writing sequels to the film Police Academy and directing the western Dollar for the Dead and action parody Loaded Weapon 1, both starring Emilio Estevez.
Career 3-D Films Quintano was a Xerox salesman who had his own office supply company and was interested in getting into filmmaking. He was partners in a publishing firm with Tony Anthony, a filmmaker who had made a number of Spaghetti Westerns. Looking for an angle they decided to make a film in 3-D, believing many younger film goers would not be familiar with it. It resulted in Comin' at Ya!. Quintano and his partners worked for four years on the film, experimenting and testing the technology. They raised money to make the films, shot it in Spain and Rome, and sold it to Filmways.TRIO TAKES 3-D FILM TO MARKETs Caulfield, Deborah. Los Angeles Times 4 Apr 1981: b13.
Quintano was a writer and producer on the film. He also starred in the film "mostly as a matter of economics."Movies' Next Dimension: Look Out, 3-D is 'Comin' at Ya!' 3-D 'Comin' at Ya!' By Christian Williams. The Washington Post 14 Aug 1981: C1. The film was a surprise success at the box office, leading to a brief revival of 3-D films.'COMIN' AT YA' A SURPRISE HIT: FOLLOW-UPS Caulfield, Deborah. Los Angeles Times 6 Sep 1981: p22.
Quintano wanted to follow it with a Topkapi-type film about people stealing an item on an island.'COMIN' AT YA' A SURPRISE HIT: FOLLOW-UPS Caulfield, Deborah. Los Angeles Times 6 Sep 1981: p22. This became Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983). Quintano helped provide the story and produced, as well as appearing in the cast. The film was a box office disappointment.3-D FILM FLOPS: EFFECT AND CAUSE Ryan, Desmond. Philadelphia Inquirer 30 Aug 1983: F.1.
Screenwriter Treasure had been distributed by Cannon Films, and Quintano wrote a series of films for that company, including the comedy Making the Grade (1984) and the adventure films King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986).MOVIE REVIEWS: AN 'F' FOR ANOTHER GROSS SCHOOL SAGA Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 18 May 1984: sd_c9.
He wrote Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) and Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987).PARTY OVER FOR THIN TEEN COMEDIES?: [Home Edition] Friendly, David T. Los Angeles Times 16 Oct 1986: 1.
Director Quintano turned director with a TV movie For Better or for Worse (1989) Honeymoon Academy.
He followed it with Why Me? (1990) and Loaded Weapon 1 (1993). He did an uncredited rewrite on Cop and a Half (1993).
He was meant to write and direct a western for TNT, Scratch. He sold a script to Cinergi called Beauty for $500,000 as a vehicle for Bruce Willis. He also wrote films for Jean-Claude Van Damme (Quest) and John Candy (Our Father) and worked on a big screen adaptation of the comic Spy vs Spy. None of these films were made.
Quintano was a writer only on Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) and Sudden Death (1995) (originally called Arena).
He wrote and directed Dollar for the Dead (1998) and wrote The Long Kill (1999). Both were westerns.ESTEVEZ MOVIE MADE FOR CABLE TV PROVIDES A FISTFUL OF SERGIO LEONE: [FIVE STAR LIFT Edition] Nye, Doug; Knight Ridder Newspapers. St. Louis Post - Dispatch; St. Louis, Mo. [St. Louis, Mo]10 Oct 1998: 37.
In 2001, Quintano wrote a kung-fu reimagining of The Three Musketeers for director Peter Hyams. The Musketeer was a critical and commercial failure.
He wrote a TV movie Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (2002).
His last credit was on the family feature Funky Monkey, which ended up being released straight-to-video, despite its $30 million budget.
Filmography +YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes1981Comin' at Ya!Role: Pike Thompson1983Treasure of the Four CrownsRole: Edmond1984Making the Grade 1985King Solomon's Mines1986Police Academy 3: Back in TrainingAllan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold 1987Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol 1990Honeymoon AcademyDirect-to-videoWhy Me?1993Loaded Weapon 1 1995Operation Dumbo DropSudden Death1998Dollar for the DeadTV movie1999Outlaw Justice2001The Musketeer 2004Funky MonkeySecond unit director: France
TV writer +YearTitleNotes2002The Wonderful World of Disney Episode "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister"
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