# Rodman Flender
**Rodman Flender** (born 1962) is an American filmmaker and actor whose work spans horror features, television comedy and drama, and documentary. He directed the features *The Unborn* (1991), *Leprechaun 2* (1994), and *Idle Hands* (1999), the documentary *Conan O'Brien Can't Stop* (2011), and episodes of series including *The Office*, *Ugly Betty*, *Gilmore Girls*, and *Scream: The TV Series*.[1](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/rodman-flender/credits/3000314369/) He was born in New York City.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/rodman_flender)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962, New York City, New York, USA[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/rodman_flender) |
| Feature directing debut | *The Unborn* (1991), a Corman-produced thriller[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/253029-Rodman-Flender?isMiscCredit=False) |
| Signature documentary | *Conan O'Brien Can't Stop* (2011), on Roger Ebert's list of the best documentaries of 2011[4](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/78697-exclusive-rodman-flender-on-conan-obrien-cant-stop) |
| Recent feature | *Eat, Brains, Love* (2019), Best Picture at the 2019 Screamfest Horror Film Festival[5](https://filmfreeway.com/RodmanFlender392) |
## Early life and education
Flender was born and raised in a Jewish family in New York City. At Harvard he majored in Visual and Environmental Studies, studied documentary filmmaking with Ed Pincus and Ross McElwee, and wrote for *The Harvard Lampoon*, where he met his close friend [Conan O'Brien](https://www.edgepedia.org/conan-obrien); he graduated in 1984.[6](https://ultimatepopculture.fandom.com/wiki/Rodman_Flender) His father was the writer and screenwriter Harold Flender.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0281869/bio/)
## The Corman years and feature debut
Independent filmmaker [Roger Corman](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-corman) hired Flender out of university to run the advertising department of Concorde-New Horizons Films. The [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute) catalog records his producing credits from this period as associate producer on *Stripped to Kill II* and *The Terror Within* (both 1989), executive producer on *Body Chemistry* and *Full Fathom Five* (1990), and producer on *The Unborn* (1991).[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/253029-Rodman-Flender?isMiscCredit=False)
Over the following decade he directed *Leprechaun 2* for Trimark and the [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures) release *Idle Hands*, a comedy-horror film starring [Devon Sawa](https://www.edgepedia.org/devon-sawa), Seth Green, and [Jessica Alba](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-alba).[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/idle-hands/credits/) On *Idle Hands* he also appears in a small on-screen role as a silhouette outside a front window.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/idle-hands/credits/)
## Television directing
Flender became a director of television episodes and pilots across comedy, drama, and horror. Episode-level listings show, for example, two episodes of *The Office* in 2012 and 2013 ("The Whale" and "Lice"), single episodes of *Gilmore Girls* (2000), *The O.C.* (2003), and *Ugly Betty* (2006 and 2007), and episodes of *Party of Five*, *Dawson's Creek*, *Millennium*, and *Dark Skies* in the 1990s.[9](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-29328/filmografia/) • [10](https://devx.shotonwhat.com/o/136886/rodman-flender)
## Documentaries
Flender's documentary work grew out of his undergraduate training.
After the 2010 *Tonight Show* conflict, in which NBC removed Conan O'Brien from *The Tonight Show*, Flender joined O'Brien, whom he had known since Harvard, on the 32-city Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour and filmed the events behind the scenes, onstage, and between shows.[4](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/78697-exclusive-rodman-flender-on-conan-obrien-cant-stop) The resulting documentary, *Conan O'Brien Can't Stop*, debuted at the South by Southwest Film Festival and was released in select theaters on June 24, 2011; Roger Ebert included it on his list of the best documentaries of 2011.[4](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/78697-exclusive-rodman-flender-on-conan-obrien-cant-stop) On that film Flender is also credited as cinematographer and editor.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/253029-Rodman-Flender?isMiscCredit=False)
## Later work
In 2019 Flender completed *Eat, Brains, Love*, which mixes romantic comedy, horror, and road movie. It premiered at the FrightFest film festival to positive reviews and won Best Picture at the 2019 Screamfest Horror Film Festival.[5](https://filmfreeway.com/RodmanFlender392) On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, *Eat, Brains, Love* is listed as his highest-rated film at 100 percent with critics, and *Leprechaun 2* as his lowest at 6 percent.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/rodman_flender)
## Personal life
Flender lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the writer and producer Amy Lippman, whom he married on June 16, 1990; the couple also own a house in Carpinteria, California. They have a son, Haskell, named after cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who attended Harvard and joined *The Harvard Lampoon*.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0281869/bio/) Flender is the uncle of actors [Timothée Chalamet](https://www.edgepedia.org/timothee-chalamet) and [Pauline Chalamet](https://www.edgepedia.org/pauline-chalamet); their mother, Nicole Flender, is his sister.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0281869/bio/)
## References
1. [Rodman Flender List of Movies and TV Shows, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/rodman-flender/credits/3000314369/)
2. [Rodman Flender Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/rodman_flender)
3. [Rodman Flender, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/253029-Rodman-Flender?isMiscCredit=False)
4. [Exclusive: Rodman Flender on Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/78697-exclusive-rodman-flender-on-conan-obrien-cant-stop)
5. [Rodman Flender, FilmFreeway](https://filmfreeway.com/RodmanFlender392)
6. [Rodman Flender, Ultimate Pop Culture Wiki](https://ultimatepopculture.fandom.com/wiki/Rodman_Flender)
7. [Rodman Flender Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0281869/bio/)
8. [Idle Hands Cast & Crew, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/idle-hands/credits/)
9. [Rodman Flender: Filmografía, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-29328/filmografia/)
10. [Rodman Flender, ShotOnWhat?](https://devx.shotonwhat.com/o/136886/rodman-flender)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Film and television directors › Directors of the United States and Canada › Television directors › Live-action scripted television directors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license