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{{short description|American film and television director (born 1956)}}
{{Infobox person
| image = <!-- Only freely-licensed images may be used to depict living people. See [[WP:NONFREE]]. -->
| image_size =
| other_names = Dwight Little
| birth_name = Dwight Hubbard Little
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1956|1|13}}
| birth_place = [[Cleveland]], Ohio, U.S.
| spouse =
| children = 3
| occupation = [[Film director]]
| years active = 1982−present
}}
'''Dwight Hubbard Little''' (born January 13, 1956) is an American [[film director|film]] and [[television director]], known for directing the films ''[[Marked for Death]]'', ''[[Rapid Fire (1992 film)|Rapid Fire]]'', ''[[Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home]]'', ''[[Murder at 1600]]'' and ''[[Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers]]''. He has also directed several episodes of acclaimed television series such as ''[[24 (TV series)|24]]'', ''[[Prison Break (TV series)|Prison Break]]'', ''[[Dollhouse (TV series)|Dollhouse]]'', ''[[Bones (TV series)|Bones]]'' and ''[[Nikita (2010 TV series)|Nikita]]''. Little was born in [[Cleveland]], Ohio. He studied film at [[USC Cinema|USC]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Dwight Little interview|url=https://www.flashbackfiles.com/dwight-little-interview|access-date=2021-05-23|website=THE FLASHBACK FILES|language=en-US}}</ref>
==
Dwight Little got his first break in the film business when producer [[Sandy Howard]] asked him to shoot additional material for ''[[Triumphs of a Man Called Horse]].'' Howard needed the film to be longer in order to be able to sell it overseas. When Little was finished, Howard asked him to make him an action film for the video market. Little made ''[[KGB: The Secret War]]'' for a budget of 300,000 dollars. From that film, Little edited a show-reel that got him the attention of several members of the Hunt-Hill family from Texas who asked him to make an action film. This became ''Getting Even''. According to Little, the film was devised around everything the family members owned: helicopters, a ranch, a [[Learjet]]. Little was then asked by [[Nico Mastorakis]] to direct the action adventure film [[Bloodstone (1988 film)|''Bloodstone'']] in India.<ref name=":0" />
Little's first chance at directing a union film was ''[[Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers]]''. Little rejected the treatment that was written by [[John Carpenter]] and [[Debra Hill]] and pitched producer [[Moustapha Akkad]] the idea for what became ''Halloween 4''. On the basis of ''Halloween 4'', [[Steven Seagal]] asked Little to direct his next film, which was ''[[Hard to Kill]]''. But the studio ([[Warner Bros.|Warner]]) vetoed Seagal's choice of director and went for [[Bruce Malmuth]] instead. Little went on to make [[The Phantom of the Opera (1989 film)|''The Phantom of the Opera'']] for producer [[Menahem Golan]]. Little got offered ''[[Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers]]'', but declined. He worried he would be trapped in the horror genre. Little got a chance to do another action film when Steven Seagal asked Little to direct ''[[Marked for Death]]''. The film became a modest hit and Little got a chance to make [[Rapid Fire (1992 film)|''Rapid Fire'']] for the same studio (Fox), which was an attempt to launch the career of [[Brandon Lee]] as an in-house action star for Fox.<ref name=":0" />
While reading an article on how the Navy had a term for when they lose a nuclear missile, Little got the idea for [[Broken Arrow (1996 film)|''Broken Arrow'']]. He pitched it at Fox. The studio asked writer [[Graham Yost]] to develop the script with Little, with Little being attached to direct. But when the script was finished early and Fox wanted to head into production, Little was still editing ''[[Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home]]''. He decided to finish ''Free Willy 2'' at Warner. Fox asked [[John Woo]] to direct ''Broken Arrow'', while giving Little an executive producer's credit. Little says Woo's film bares little resemblance to what he envisioned. "I wanted to do a Tom Clancy type thriller (...). John Woo made it much lighter. John Travolta played it over the top. The movie was tongue-in-cheek and campy. But you can’t blame him, because it made a lot of money."<ref name=":0" />
Because Warner was pleased with how ''Free Willy 2'' turned out, Little got the chance to direct ''[[Murder at 1600]]'', a conspiracy thriller starring [[Wesley Snipes]] and [[Diane Lane]]. The studio had promised Little that Murder at 1600 would open in January 1997, while [[Clint Eastwood]]'s ''[[Absolute Power (film)|Absolute Power]]'' would open in April of the same year. A test screening was held of ''Murder at 1600'' in December 1996. The response was positive. According to Little, somebody for Eastwood's production company [[Malpaso Productions|Malpaso]] heard about the excellent test screening of ''Murder at 1600'' and told Eastwood about it. Little: "I’m not sure Clint was even aware of our movie, but he (...) went to [[Robert A. Daly|Bob Daly]] and [[Terry Semel]], who were the chiefs at Warner Brothers, and demanded that Absolute Power be released first. He’s a smart guy. He doesn’t want to be second with another White House thriller. So we get a call that our movie was pushed back to April. It was so disappointing. Every review said: Just like last month’s ''Absolute Power''… We looked like the copycat."<ref name=":0" />
After directing mostly television for almost twenty years, Little returned to feature film making with the true crime drama ''[[Last Rampage]]'', based on the non-fiction book ''Last Rampage: The Escape of Gary Tison'' by [[University of Arizona]] [[Political science|Political Science]] Professor James W. Clarke. The film deals with events that happened in 1978, when convicted murderer [[Gary Tison]], played by [[Robert Patrick]], escaped from prison with the help of his three sons. [[Heather Graham]] stars as his wife and [[Bruce Davison]] as the lawman who heads the manhunt. Little got the book from his stepson, actor [[Jason James Richter]]. ''Last Rampage'' was reviewed favorably by [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]], who praised "the no-frills efficiency" and "the brisk and suspenseful narrative".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Leydon|first=Joe|date=2017-09-22|title=Film Review: 'Last Rampage: The Escape of Gary Tison'|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/last-rampage-the-escape-of-gary-tison-review-1202566048/|access-date=2021-05-23|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref> [[Rex Reed]] of The Observer called the film "grim and hopelessly despondent, but superbly acted and strangely effective."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-09-26|title=Grim 'Last Rampage' Saved by Superb Acting|url=https://observer.com/2017/09/review-last-rampage-is-grim-but-saved-by-superb-acting/|access-date=2021-05-23|website=Observer|language=en-US}}</ref> Little himself called it "the most honest" of his films.<ref name=":0" />
==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
!Director
!Executive<br />Producer
!Writer
! Notes
|-
| 1985
|''[[KGB: The Secret War]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{Partial|Story}}
|
|-
| 1986
|''[[Getting Even (1986 film)|Getting Even]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{Partial|Story}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1988
|''[[Bloodstone (1988 film)|Bloodstone]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|
|-
|''[[Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJ1vcmaOd7wC&q=%22Dwight+H.+Little%22&pg=PA655|title=Horror Films of the 1980s|last=Muir|first=John Kenneth|publisher=Daniel Chung|year=2007|isbn=978-0786455010|page=654}}</ref>
|-
|1989
|''[[The Phantom of the Opera (1989 film)|The Phantom of the Opera]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/interviews/schoelen-jill-final-girls|title=Schoelen, Jill (Final Girls)|publisher=Dread Central|access-date=30 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/7823994.html?dids=7823994:7823994&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+07%2C+1989&author=Kehr%2C+Dave&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=%27Phantom%27+Appeal+Is+Wearing+Thin&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130630042311/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/7823994.html?dids=7823994:7823994&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+07,+1989&author=Kehr,+Dave&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc='Phantom'+Appeal+Is+Wearing+Thin&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 30, 2013|title='Phantom' Appeal Is Wearing Thin|last=Kehr|first=Dave|date=Nov 7, 1989|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=30 May 2013}}</ref>
|-
| 1990
|''[[Marked for Death]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|
|-
| 1992
|''[[Rapid Fire (1992 film)|Rapid Fire]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|
|-
| 1995
|''[[Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|
|-
|1996
|''[[Broken Arrow (1996 film)|Broken Arrow]]''
|{{no}}
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
| Directed by [[John Woo]]
|-
|1997
|''[[Murder at 1600]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|
|-
| 2004
|''[[Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|
|-
|2010
|''[[Tekken (2009 film)|Tekken]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|
|-
|2017
|''[[Last Rampage]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|
|-
|2023
|''Natty Knocks''
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|
|}
===Television===
'''TV movies'''
* ''Papa's Angels'' (2000)
* ''[[Boss of Bosses]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Home by Spring]]'' (2018)
'''TV series'''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Notes
|-
|1989
|''[[Freddy's Nightmares]]''
| Episode: "Do Dreams Bleed?"
|-
|1997-99
|''[[Millennium (TV series)|Millennium]]''
| 3 episodes
|-
| 1998-02
|''[[The Practice]]''
| 9 episodes
|-
| 1999
|''[[Strange World (TV series)|Strange World]]''
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2001
|''[[Wolf Lake]]''
| Episode: "The Changing"
|-
|''[[Citizen Baines]]''
| Episode: "Lost and Found"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2002
|''[[The X-Files]]''
| Episode: "Scary Monsters"
|-
|''[[John Doe (TV series)|John Doe]]''
| Episode: "Low Art"
|-
| 2003
|''[[Veritas: The Quest]]''
| Episode: "Avalon"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2005
|''[[Law & Order: Trial by Jury]]''
| Episode: "Vigilante"
|-
|''[[Just Legal]]''
| Episode: "The Black Box"
|-
|2005-06
|''[[The Inside (TV series)|The Inside]]''
| 2 episodes
|-
|2005-09
|''[[Prison Break]]''
| 5 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3" |2006
|''[[24 (TV series)|24]]''
| 2 episodes
|-
|''[[Vanished (TV series)|Vanished]]''
| Episode: "The Black Box"
|-
|''[[Day Break]]''
| Episode: "What If They're Stuck?"
|-
| 2006-17
|''[[Bones (TV series)|Bones]]''
| 23 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2009
|''[[Castle (TV series)|Castle]]''
| Episode: "Inventing the Girl"
|-
|''[[Dollhouse (TV series)|Dollhouse]]''
|2 episodes
|-
|2010
|''[[Tower Prep]]''
| Episode: "Field Trip"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2011
|''[[Body of Proof]]''
| Episode: "Second Chances"
|-
|''[[Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior]]''
| Episode: "Night Hawks"
|-
|2011-13
|''[[Nikita (2010 TV series)|Nikita]]''
| 5 episodes
|-
|2011-14
|''[[Drop Dead Diva]]''
| 4 episodes
|-
| 2012
|''[[The Finder (U.S. TV series)|The Finder]]''
| Episode: "Little Mean Green"
|-
| 2014
|''[[Matador (U.S. TV series)|Matador]]''
| Episode: "Enter the Worm"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2014-16
|''[[Sleepy Hollow (TV series)|Sleepy Hollow]]''
| 3 episodes
|-
|''[[From Dusk till Dawn: The Series]]''
| 4 episodes
|-
|2014-17
|''[[Scorpion (TV series)|Scorpion]]''
| 3 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2015
|''[[Arrow (TV series)|Arrow]]''
|Episode: "Public Enemy"
|-
|''[[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.]]''
|Episode: [[Among Us Hide...]]
|-
|2017
|''[[Daytime Divas]]''
|Episode: "Truth's a Mutha"
|-
|2022
|''[[9-1-1 (TV series)|9-1-1]]''
|Episode: "Boston"
|}
=== Video game===
* ''[[Ground Zero: Texas]]'' (1993)
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0514546}}
{{Dwight H. Little}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Dwight H.}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:American television directors]]
[[Category:Artists from Cleveland]]
[[Category:Film directors from Ohio]]
[[Category:American horror film directors]]
[[Category:American action film directors]]
[[Category:Living people]]
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