Stephanie Rothman

Stephanie Rothman (born November 9, 1936 Paterson, New Jersey) is a film director, producer and screenwriter, known for her low-budget independent exploitation films made in the 1960s and 1970s. Rothman studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California and became the first female to be awarded the Directors Guild of America fellowship. This saw her receive a job offer from Roger Corman in 1964 to work as his assistant. "I did everything: write new scenes, scout locations, cast actors, direct new sequences and edit final cuts," said Rothman. "It was a busy, exhilarating time." Corman had Rothman reshoot large segments of the movie that became Blood Bath (1966), which impressed him enough to give her her first full directing job on It's a Bikini World (1967), which he financed. In 1970 Corman established his new production and distribution company New World Pictures and hired Rothman to write and direct its first film, The Student Nurses (1970). Although an exploitation movie, Rothman was given creative freedom to explore political and social issues which interested her such as abortion and immigration.

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