Robert Gerard Tapert (born May 14, 1955) is an American film and television producer, writer and director, best known for co-creating the television series Xena: Warrior Princess. He is also one of the founding partners of the film production companies Renaissance Pictures and Ghost House Pictures. Personal life Tapert has two sisters, Dorothy and Mary Beth Tapert. He also has a younger brother, Jeff Tapert. He has been married to actress Lucy Lawless since 28 March 1998; the couple has two sons. Lawless played the title character in Xena: Warrior Princess. Film Tapert first became involved with filmmaking while attending Michigan State University where he was studying economics. Through his friend and roommate Ivan Raimi, Tapert would meet future longstanding filmmaking partners Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. Tapert and director Sam Raimi experimented on several short films before endeavoring on their first feature-length picture, a graphic horror film titled The Evil Dead, which Tapert produced, Raimi directed, and Bruce Campbell starred. It was a success with the crowd at the Cannes Film Festival in France, and a glowing review from horror author Stephen King saw the film given a cinematic release in the USA, and later internationally. Although not a favorite of critics at the time, it gained a cult following and was later critically acclaimed as a horror classic. The film was successful enough to spawn two sequels, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, a remake in 2013, and a television series titled Ash vs Evil Dead. Tapert continued on to produce numerous other films, typically involving Raimi and/or Campbell in some capacity, such as Crimewave, Easy Wheels, Darkman, Hard Target, Timecop, The Quick and the Dead, A Simple Plan, and The Gift. Tapert co-founded film production company Ghost House Pictures in 2002. Their first release, The Grudge, grossed nearly $200 million internationally. They followed up that success with Boogeyman, Rise, The Messengers, 30 Days of Night, Drag Me to Hell which Raimi directed, The Possession, and a remake of Tobe Hooper's seminal film Poltergeist. In 2013, Tapert and Raimi tapped Uruguayan director Fede Álvarez, after seeing his short, Panic Attack!, to reimagine The Evil Dead. Diablo Cody contributed a polish to help Americanize the script. Tapert would re-collaborate with Álvarez and writer Rodo Sayagues in 2016 on the breakout film Don't Breathe that grossed $157 million worldwide. Television In the 1990s, Tapert produced and/or wrote several television