Director Harley Cokeliss on The Empire Strikes Back
Channel: National Science and Media Museum
Date: 18/06/2012

This film is taken from our 2012 festival. https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/cinema

Writer, director and producer Harley Cokeliss moved to the UK from Chicago at the age of 21 when he attended the London Film School. His film career began with documentary filmmaking and his early work included It's Fantastic! It's Futuristic! It's Fatalistic! It's Science Fiction! and The Need for Nightmare in 1974. After making a handful of features Cokeliss was handed second unit directorial duties on The Empire Strikes Back and from thereon much of his feature and television directorial efforts focussed on the fantasy, horror and science fiction genre.

While interviewing Roger Corman for a BBC documentary Cokeliss pitched his idea for Battletruck AKA Warriors of the 21st Century and the two went on to work together to bring the sci-fi opus to the big screen. He followed Battletruck with the futuristic John Carpenter-written Black Moon Rising in 1986, and the Timothy Spall-starring horror Dream Demon in 1988. He has since gone on to direct episodes of fantasy television classics Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. In 1992 he played a cameo part in the third part of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy Army of Darkness and can also be spotted in a cameo as a dirt eater in Battletruck!