Richard P. Rubinstein, Executive Producer

Executive producer Richard P. Rubinstein is a veteran producer of feature films, network miniseries, television movies and syndicated series. Rubinstein is the former chairman of the Spelling and Blockbuster subsidiary, Laurel Entertainment, and is currently CEO of the New York City based New Amsterdam Entertainment Inc.

Rubinstein's production feature credits include Stephen King's Pet Sematary (1989), which ranked as the third-highest grossing thriller of the '80s with a $57 million domestic gross and more than $100 million worldwide. Other Stephen King-based features he produced include The Night Flier, Thinner and Creepshow. Rubinstein also produced five George Romero directed features including: Martin, Dawn of the Dead and Knightriders (United Artists, 1981). The Romero connection introduced Rubinstein to John Harrison in the late '70s. This introduction led to Rubinstein producing the Harrison-directed Paramount released feature, Tales from The Darkside - the Movie, whose production unit also included a number of the current Dune team members including Mitchell Galin, David Kappes and the KNB EFX Group.

Rubinstein's executive producer credits for long-form television include the two highest-rated miniseries on any network during their broadcast years: Stephen King's The Langoliers (1995) and Stephen King's The Stand (1994), which earned Rubinstein an Emmy nomination for best miniseries. Other credits include the CBS miniseries Season in Purgatory (1996), based on the Dominick Dunne best-seller Kiss & Tell and starring Cheryl Ladd (ABC); and Precious Victims, a 1993 highly-rated movie for CBS.

Other Rubinstein TV credits include The Vernon Johns Story, executive produced with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1994) and starring James Earl Jones. The TV movie earned Rubinstein and Abdul-Jabbar four Monte Carlo TV Festival Awards and a Christopher Award. Rubinstein also executive produced two very popular syndicated TV series distributed by Tribune Entertainment: Tales from The Darkside (90 episodes) and Monsters (72 episodes).

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1947, Rubinstein received an MBA from Columbia University in 1971. He began his film career as a production assistant for a producer of TV commercials, and in 1973 he received his first production credit as associate producer of A Night with Nicol Williamson, a made-for-cable special produced by Dore Schary. In 1974, Rubinstein executive-produced a one-hour ABC network documentary special profiling O.J. Simpson.

Said Rubinstein of Dune: "There are some movies that you basically have to lean forward in your seat to get something out of them. Then there are other movies where you can sit back and let the movie wash over you. I think Frank Herbert's Dune covers both. If you want to just get on the rollercoaster for this action-adventure love story, you don't have to work hard at all, you can just take the ride. However, if you want to lean in to find something to think about the miniseries delivers that as well. Either way it's great entertainment!"