Joss Whedon Net Worth, Money and More
Net Worth: $45 Million
Profession: Directing and Film Producing
Versatile Personality:
Joseph Hill Whedon is an American screenwriter, director, executive producer, comic book writer, actor as well as an occasional composer. Joseph, well known as ‘Joss’, is the founder of Enemy Productions and co creator of Bellwether Pictures. Joss earned his industry standing as a writer, director and producer from his well known series ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ which was based on his movie of the same name from 1992. He has seen several ups and downs in his career but now he has made his place among one of the most successful filmmakers of Hollywood.
Joss grew up in Manhattan and studied at an all-boys school. After his higher education at Connecticut’s Wesleyan University, where he took his A levels, he almost spent a year mired in career frustration. He was ordered an honorary Letters of Doctorate by the Wesleyan University in 2013. The ordeal decided when he then decided to trod the footsteps of his grandfather and father (both of them worked as television writers too). He is recognised to be world’s first third generation writer. His first break was when he was hired as a television writer for the sitcom Roseanne. He not only earned high screenwriting credits for high profile productions such as Alien: Resurrection (1997) and Toy Story (1995), but was also Oscar nominated for these productions.
Family Background:
Joss is the middle of five brothers. Both his father, Tom Whedon and grandfather, John Whedon were very successful television writers. Joss’s mother, Lee, was a history teacher and also wrote novels as Lee Whedon. Joss was raised in New York and did his schooling from Riverdale Country School, where his mother also taught. Whedon is married to Kai Cole, producer and co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and resides in Los Angles. Jed Whedon, the music composer of video game is his brother.
Joss is a man of a strong personality. He is an active supporter of gay rights. He is influenced by Ray Bradbury, James Cameron, Rod Serling, William Shakespeare, Stephen Sondheim and Steven Spielberg. He identifies himself as an atheist, absurdist and humanist. In April, 2009 he was awarded with the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University.
The Journey:
He started his career as a writer with the sitcom ‘Roseanne’ (1988-1997) and then moved on to script a season of “Parenthood”. He even worked as a script doctor on various noted studio films. The major hit he first delivered was the cult hit “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2001) which was based on the campy horror comedy of the same name written by him years ago. In “Buffy”, Whedon applied a comic effect to the theme that life of an American teen could be pure hell. It not only became popular among the audiences but also gained critical appreciation. It ran for several seasons, with the last two on UPN.
In the same year, Whedon wrote the script for Alien Resurrection. In 1999, Whedon created Angel as a measure of Buffy’s success. It was nothing but a spin-off of his original show. Like Buffy it too created a loyal fan base and managed to get favourable reviews. The next year he co-wrote the script of an animated science fiction Titan A.E. He was also nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the entirely silent Buffy episode “Hush”, a major breakthrough as it was not even aired on a major network.
Though his sci-fi based opus “Firefly” and its sequel feature film “Serenity” gained critical appreciation, they were promoted poorly by the studio and hence, could not be very successful. Only 12 episodes of Firefly were aired and the remaining 3 episodes remained unaired due to its cancellation. His next sci-fi adventure “Dollhouse” was a disappointment too and was cancelled after two seasons. He also produced a TV serial titled Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D in 2013. He then made a bang on return as a co-writer of the horror movie “Cabin in the Woods” (2012) and as the writer-director of the superhero blockbuster “The Avengers” (2012). The last of the three Avenger movies were the third highest grossing films of all time. This cemented Whedon’s position among the leading filmmakers of Hollywood.
His movies being a combination of genres like science fiction, fantasy, horror and Westerns, have helped him achieve the cult status of one of the most innovative personalities of popular entertainment.
Future Endeavours:
In Your Eyes
In Your Eyes is an upcoming romantic film which is also the second feature film by Bellwether Pictures. Whedon is the writer as well as the executive producer of this film. The major part was shooted in New Hampshire with some scenes being shot at New Mexico desert. It is a story of two strangers who are intercessory linked by supernatural powers. This movie is due in 2014.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Whedon confirmed that he will write as well as direct the sequel to the Avengers. According to the deal with Marvel Studios, the film will release in 2015. Like the prequels, Avengers: Age of Ultron is also expected to do well.
