Alan Jacobs (filmmaker)

Jacobs was born to Sara and Bernard Jacobs, in Tappan, New York. Sara was an interior designer and Bernard was a cameraman and television editor. That year he wrote the screenplays for two movies based in San Francisco, California: Nina Takes a Lover and Just One Night (then titled SFO). == Nina Takes a Lover (1994) ==

His first feature, Nina Takes a Lover (1994), was an independent film that Jacobs wrote, directed and produced for $600,000. The film features a young woman who retells the story of an affair she had when she felt that the romance had disappeared from her marriage. At the movie's end, the viewer learns that the affair was an elaborate sexual roleplay with her actual husband. Jacobs funded the film in part with help from his former classmates at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. and the Toronto International Film Festival accepted the film. At Sundance, the film was a nominee for the Grand Jury Prize in the Dramatic category. Todd McCarthy of Variety called it "a wisp of a film that leaves no indelible impression save a general attractiveness and civilized sensibility." Roger Ebert praised the acting and said the two leads "generate authentic chemistry," but said he "felt vaguely cheated and empty" when the movie concluded. TV Guide said "San Francisco's charm is well used" and the film makes it seem "like the most romantic city on earth." David Armstrong of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that while the film's twist ending didn't feel convincing, Alan Jacobs "coaxes warm yet wary performances from his actors" and "has a good ear for how lovers talk - the shyly revealed secrets, the shared code words - and a strong sense of the way newly intimate strangers peel away layers of defense, their own and the other person's." Mick LaSalle, also of the San Francisco Chronicle, called it "a nice little picture" that showed a non-tourist side of San Francisco and gave Jacobs "a good track record". == Early 2000s ==

Following the release of Nina Takes a Lover, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Jacobs was working on a picture called SFO starring Timothy Hutton, again set in San Francisco.{{cite web Moria Reviews described some of the film's early scenes as "uninvolving" and that the film's limited technology came out "looking like a Pixar test reel." However, the reviewer also praised the film's "conceptual wildness of animation" and the more exciting adventure scenes in its second half, such as a sequence with a giant robotic manta ray. Jeff Vice for Deseret News said that the technology looked "more like a video game than a movie" and disliked the acting and screenplay, though he also praised the "imaginative production design".{{cite web In 2002, Miramax Films released Jacob's next film, American Gun (2002), which he wrote and directed. Starring James Coburn, Virginia Madsen, and Barbara Bain, the film tells interwoven stories centering on a fatal shooting.{{cite web Jacobs' directing and screenplay drew a variety of reactions. David Hunter of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Jacobs was "getting a lot of quality cinema out of a tight budget" and praised the "risky" storytelling, while David Nusair at Reel Film Reviews called it a "mostly engaging and intriguing character study". However, Chris Hewitt of the St. Paul Pioneer Press criticized the film's "anti-gun message, warm family drama … and its fake-out structure." == Down for Life (2009) ==

In 2009, Jacobs released his next film, Down for Life, a docudrama chronicling the true story of Lesly Castillo, a Hispanic teenage girl who was a gang leader in South Central Los Angeles. Castillo's story gained nationwide attention in 2005 as the subject of a New York Times story by Michael Winerip, "Essays in Search of Happy Endings". After a casting search that included thousands of teenagers at Los Angeles high schools, he cast Jessica Romero in her film debut and other amateur actors in various roles. Adult cast members include Danny Glover as a supportive teacher, Kate del Castillo, Laz Alonso, Elizabeth Peña, and a cameo by rapper Snoop Dogg.{{cite web Down for Life premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009. The Toronto Globe and Mail called it "gritty, wallop-packing... Disturbingly frank, the film assaults its viewers, but in a very effective way." Reed Johnson of The Los Angeles Times described the film as "more authentic and credible than many of the countless other movies that have been made over the decades about L.A. gang life." Erin Oke of Exclaim wrote that "It's well realized and not without some hope, but the unrelenting bleakness and harsh depictions of violence make Down for Life difficult to watch."{{cite web Down for Life was included in the first film festival at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance in 2010.{{cite web ==Armadillo United==

In January 2025, it was announced that Jacobs' next project would be Armadillo United, a "fantastical sports comedy" about a youth soccer team that advances to the World Cup of Youth Soccer. The film's cast includes Rubén Blades, Danny Trejo, Danay Garcia, and Antonio Banderas, with Banderas playing an ice cream vendor who believes himself to be Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona. The film is being made in coordination with Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer.{{cite web == Other activities ==

Jacobs is the founder and president of Archer Entertainment Group, an integrated media and production company.{{cite web == Filmography ==

• Nina Takes a Lover—director, producer, writer • Mail Bonding—writer, executive producer • Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists—director • Just One Night—director, writer • American Gun—director, writer • Down for Life—director, writer == References ==