Dean Israelite

Dean Israelite (born September 20, 1984) is a South African film director, writer, and producer, best known for directing the found footage film Project Almanac, the 2017 reboot of Power Rangers, and the 2019 reboot of Are You Afraid of the Dark. Early life Israelite was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, and studied Dramatic Art at the University of the Witwatersrand. He moved to Australia and graduated in Film and Television from Curtin University, then earned his MFA from the American Film Institute. His cousin is director Jonathan Liebesman. He is of Jewish background. Career Israelite started his career with writing and directing several short films, including Acholiland. In 2015, Israelite made his feature film directing debut with the found footage science fiction thriller Project Almanac, based on the script by Jason Pagan and Andrew Deutschman. Michael Bay produced the film, which was released on January 30, 2015 by Paramount Pictures, grossing more than $32 million with a budget of $12 million. Israelite directed Lionsgate's Power Rangers film (2017), based on the screenplay by John Gatins, with a story by Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Michelle Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney, which was released on March 24, 2017 by Lionsgate Films, grossing $142.3 million against a production budget of $100 million. It was a box office failure, losing the studio an estimated $74 million, when factoring in all revenues and expenses.