Brett Ratner

His mother was born in Cuba and immigrated to the U.S. in the 1960s with her parents, Fanita and Mario Presman (their families had originally moved to Cuba from Eastern Europe).

Ratner's mother was sixteen when he was born.

Ratner has said that he "really didn't know" his biological father, and that he considers Alvin Malnik, a lawyer and businessman with alleged organized crime ties who opened the famous Forge restaurant in Miami Beach, to be his father, "the one who raised" him.

Malnik was a friend of Lee Ratner and not romantically involved with Marsha Presman.

Ratner's biological father became homeless in Miami Beach, a situation which inspired the younger Ratner to become a board member of the nationwide nonprofit organization Chrysalis, which helps the homeless find work.

Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer.

He directed the Rush Hour film series, The Family Man, Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Tower Heist.

He is also a producer of several films, including the Horrible Bosses series, The Revenant and War Dogs, and was an executive producer of Prison Break.

Ratner attended Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy elementary school and attended Alexander Muss High School in Israel and graduated in 1986 from Miami Beach Senior High School.

While growing up in Miami Beach, Ratner was an extra on the set of Scarface and was able to watch Miami Vice film around town.

Shortly before Ratner's high school graduation, his mother and biological father married with the intention of legitimizing his status.

Ratner got his start directing with music videos in the 1990s, and directed his first motion picture, Money Talks, in 1997.

Overall, the films Ratner has directed have earned over $2 billion at the global box office.

Ratner is the co-founder of RatPac Entertainment, a film production company.

He is a 1990 graduate of New York University.

Ratner began directing music videos in the 1990s.

When he was a sophomore at New York University Tisch Schools of the Arts, he was manager and executive producer for B.M.O.C. (Big Man On Campus), one of the first white rap groups.

While a student at NYU, he released his first short film Whatever Happened to Mason Reese?.

The rap group Public Enemy attended the film's premiere and asked Ratner to make the group's music videos.

Ratner did the debut videos for Prime Minister Pete Nice before working with Redman, LL Cool J, Heavy D and Wu-Tang Clan.

He has also directed music videos for artists such as Mariah Carey Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Jay-Z and was scheduled to direct a video for Michael Jackson before its production was cancelled.

He directed Carey's "We Belong Together", "I Still Believe", "Obsessed" and "Heartbreaker" among others.

Ratner had his motion picture debut when he directed Money Talks in 1997.

The film, an action-comedy about a con-man accused of organizing a prison break, was Ratner's first collaboration with comedian Chris Tucker.

The film's budget was $25 million.

In 1998, he directed Rush Hour, the action-comedy starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, which was released in September 1998 and went on to become the studio's highest-grossing film and the highest grossing comedy at the time.

Ratner uses music on the set to inspire the production, and when filming Rush Hour, a Michael Jackson song he played for inspiration ended up in the movie after Chris Tucker began dancing in the middle of a scene.

Ratner directed The Family Man, a drama starring Nicolas Cage, in 2000.

In 2001, Ratner directed Rush Hour 2.

In 2002, he directed the prequel to Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, about Hannibal Lecter.

In 2010, he cited Martin Scorsese's 1980 film Raging Bull as his inspiration to enter the world of film.

Ratner led RatPac's partnership with Dune Entertainment in September 2013 for a co-producing deal with Warner Bros. that included 75 films.

RatPac Entertainment has co-financed 81 theatrically released motion pictures exceeding $17 billion in worldwide box office receipts.

RatPac's co-financed films have been nominated for 59 Academy Awards, 25 Golden Globes and 43 BAFTAs and have won 25 Academy Awards, 8 Golden Globes and 24 BAFTAs.

In January 2017, Ratner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture industry, located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.

In 2017, numerous women in Hollywood came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, sexual assault, or harassment against Ratner.

He has since not produced a film in Hollywood, and he emigrated to Israel in 2023.

Ratner was born and raised in Miami Beach, Florida, the son of Marsha Presman and Ronald Ratner.

He grew up in a middle-class Jewish family.

His grandfather was d-CON mail order rat poison company founder and real estate developer Lee Ratner.