Dror Soref (Hebrew: דרור סורף) is a filmmaker and social reformer who made his directorial debut with the I Love Rocky Road music video for a then unknown "Weird Al" Yankovic in 1983, after attending USC School of Cinema.
In 2009 Soref wrote, directed and produced the critically acclaimed and Saturn Award nominee for Best Science Fiction Not Forgotten starring Simon Baker, Paz Vega and Chloë Grace Moretz.
His studies were interrupted when as a lieutenant in the elite Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, Soref was called for service during several military conflicts, including the Yom Kippur War.
While a student, Soref wrote frequently on Israeli–Palestinian relations, and during his second year at university, with fellow IDF retired officers and others, he founded a new national political party which played a key role in the future coalition government of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the early nineties.
University, State and Society in Israel by Professor Shlomo Swirski, outlines the political consciousness and insight of a movement mainly formed by Latin American and Arab students and some Israelis.
To pursue film studies, Soref emigrated to the United States, first attending San Francisco Art Institute, and then the Cinema School of the University of Southern California (USC).
In the mid-eighties, following USC, Soref was hired to direct "I Love Rocky Road", a music video for an unknown rock parodist at the time, "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Success in music video field lead Soref to directing Platinum Blonde, an inspirational short film starring Karen Black and a fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Berkley.
[12] Soref has been a campaigner for humanitarian endeavors since youth, from caring and feeding the homeless on skid row locally, to support causes in the third world, while fighting injustice anywhere.
His activity with non-profit organizations includes the Aleph Institute (a Jewish-based association providing crucial assistance to families whose loved ones are in prison or serve in the US Armed Forces), Equal Justice Under the Law (dedicated to ending inequality in the justice system), and the Greater Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce (where he served as a Director of the Institute's Board, promoting job opportunities and internships for Los Angeles youth.)
Most recently Soref founded RCI (Rebel with a Cause Institute) dedicated to guiding aspiring talent to create movies, TV and other content fostering principled ideals.