Inspired at age 6 by a viewing of ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, Frank Dietz has found success in the film industry as a writer, producer, director, actor and animator. Frank grew up on Long Island, N.Y, and then attended the State University at Oswego, where he majored in theatre and art. He starred in a series of now-cult low-budget horror films like ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE, ROCK N' ROLL NIGHTMARE, BLACK ROSES and THE JITTERS. Bitten by the film bug, Frank then moved to Los Angeles, where his screenwriting career began. He wrote the scripts for many independent features, including NAKED SOULS, COLD HARVEST and the MAGIC IN THE MIRROR series. In 1996, Frank returned to his artistic roots and joined Walt Disney Studios as an animation artist. His work can be seen in such films as HERCULES, MULAN, TARZAN, FANTASIA 2000, ATLANTIS - THE LOST EMPIRE, TREASURE PLANET and HOME ON THE RANGE. During this period Frank created the Sketchy Things series of classic monster sketchbooks, which became extremely popular with genre fans. In 2007 and 2008, Frank was awarded the very first Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards for “Artist Of The Year.” In 2009 he joined Larry Blamire’s Bantam Street troupe, and appeared in THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN and DARK AND STORMY NIGHT, which was produced by Trish Geiger. In 2011, Frank and Trish teamed up to create Benevolent Monster Productions. Their first project as co-directors and producers was BEAST WISHES - The Fantastic World of Bob and Kathy Burns. That documentary went on to win multiple awards, including the Rondo Hatton Award for "Best Documentary."
Now available to rent or buy from Amazon.com.
The following year they produced a comedy short called A ZOMBIE NEXT DOOR. They recently finished a documentary about the legacy of King Kong, entitled LONG LIVE THE KING, which has already won some "Best Documentary" awards. Now available to rent or buy from Amazon.com. LONG LIVE THE KING Facebook Page
Listen to Frank on his podcast, DAMN DIRTY GEEKS, where he discusses all kinds of cool Monster Kid stuff with his industry colleagues. It's laugh out loud fun! http://www.damndirtygeeks.com/
Released in January 2019 was the comedy feature I HATE KIDS, written by Frank and Todd Traina and directed by John Asher. The film stars Tom Everett Scott, Marisa Tomei, Tituss Burgess, Rhea Seehorn, Julie Ann Emery, Rachel Boston and Arden Myrin.
In early 2020, Frank joined the writing team of the AMC/Shudder network's CREEPSHOW television series.
JUNE 3RD, 2022: Frank is inducted into the Rondo Award Monster Kid HALL OF FAME.
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Sketchy Things: The Art and Films of Frank Dietz