Paul Rapp was born in Beverly Hills, California, to father Phil and mother Mary. He is the younger brother of comedy writer Joel Rapp. Paul attended school in Beverly Hills, including Beverly Hills High School, and finished his schooling at USC, where he majored in English, Child Psychology, and Film.
In 1958, he wrote one of his most important papers about the use of 3 cameras in shooting sitcoms, assisting his father in directing 4 pilots of "The Bickersons" in 1954. That same year, he was introduced to Roger Corman, becoming head of production on many of Roger's films, both in writing and directing.
Paul worked virtually every major studio as an assistant director or unit production manager, continuing to be Roger's right-hand man. He aimed his skills at developing advanced equipment and production technologies to speed shooting and reduce costs.
From 1960 onward, Paul raised his son Brian, being the first single father to be given custody of a tender age child in California. Roger helped Paul by supplying him with plane tickets for Brian to visit Paul on location and money for Brian's nanny.
Some of Roger's earliest films were shot in five days or less, including "The Terror" with Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson, which was shot in two days using the set of the just finished "The Raven". Many technologies started with Roger, including handheld cameras on "Wild Angels" and "The Trip", and mobile studio vans on "Ski Troop Attack", "Box Car Bertha", and "Gas".
Every film was under budget and ahead of schedule. With money invested by Wilt Chamberlain, Paul decided to make a sports documentary-style film titled "Go For It" (1975). He wrote, directed, and produced this very successful film, which became a part of the language as in the teen-oriented films of the sixties such as "Girls on the Beach", "The Trip", and "Wild Angels".
Paul also directed 2nd Unit on the "Happy Days" episode where Fonzie jumps the shark, which led to another expression. Budweiser had an entire ad campaign that used the "Go For It" logo. "Go For It" spawned a completely new style of camera work where the handheld 16mm camera was put to use inside waves and mounted on skateboards.
The film would later be blown up to 35mm. Paramount Pictures had to rely on Paul's expertise using these technologies to film Fonzie jumping the shark. "Wide World of Sports" asked Paul to show them some of these camera shots for their cameraman.
While with Roger Corman, Paul was asked to help tutor the likes of Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, and others who broke into filmmaking working for Roger. When Martin Scorsese came to Paul to make "Mean Streets", Paul said it must be made in Los Angeles with four days of 2nd Unit in New York. Using the first handheld Arriflex BL, 1st unit was shot in 16 days on schedule and under budget of $350,000.
When asked to produce "Miracle on 34th Street" for Norman Rosemont, Paul showed that by shooting the film on practical locations it could be made for its license cost. Had it been done in studio at 20th Century Fox as originally planned, it would have been over budget by several hundred thousand dollars.
Between 1968 and 1972, Paul acted as Head of Production for Fanfare Films, a publicly traded company on the NYSE. There he produced "Run Angel Run", a film about a motorcycle gang that was a big winner at the box office. That was followed by another hit, "Gay Deceivers". Then Paul directed the first general release X-rated film, "Curious Female", which became a cult film in Europe.
All of the Fanfare releases were under budget and on schedule. At Fanfare, Paul initiated the use of product placement to offset costs, which was to become common practice in 21st-century TV and films. While at Fanfare, Paul was very active in distribution.
Back with Roger Corman, Paul worked as Executive Producer on "Avalanche". With a budget of $1.5 million, this film starring Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow and heavy on special effects was once again made under budget and on schedule in Durango, Colorado.
