Rick Rosenthal

Born in 1949, Richard "Rick" L. Rosenthal Jr., graduated from The Choate School, Harvard University and the American Film Institute. He helped launch Sean Penn's career when he cast the then-unknown actor in the 1983 film Bad Boys. Rosenthal worked on the Emmy-winning ABC series Life Goes On, as well as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Smallville. In recent years, Rosenthal has turned to the independent film world. The Rosenthal Family Foundation was originally established in the late 1940s by Rick Rosenthal's parents, Richard Sr. and Hinda, who were strong patrons of the arts. The Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Fiction of $10,000 has been awarded annually since 1957 to a young novelist. The Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Painting of $10,000, meanwhile, has been awarded annually since 1960 to a young painter of distinction. Via their foundation, Rosenthal and family also fund arts nonprofits annually. Grantees include American Film Institute, Lincoln Center Theater, Utah Film Center, Film Forum Inc., Hammer Museum, Americans for the Arts, Center for Media and Democracy, and PEN Center USA, which has received particularly strong support. The foundation also makes program related investments in educational documentary films such as The Genius of Marian, a film about Alzheimer’s disease, and American Promise, a film about students of color in New York City prep schools. The Rosenthals are passionate about arts education and have funded organizations like Brooklyn Academy of Music, and California Institute of the Arts. Other grantees include Bard College, Pitzer College, Barnard College, Connecticut College and Center for Early Education.