Peter Sollett (born January 1, 1976) is an American film director and screenwriter known for his feature films Raising Victor Vargas (2002) and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008).
Peter Sollett | |
|---|---|
 Sollett at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival | |
| Born | February 9, 1976 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Spouse | Eva Vives |
| Children | 1 |
Early life and education
editSollett was born on January 1, 1976[1] in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York. He is Jewish.[2] His father is a newspaper photographer, which he says inspired him to pick up a camera.[3]
Career
editSollett's first film was Five Feet High and Rising, a 26-minute short film about the growth and coming-of-age of teenager Victor Vargas.[3] He and Eva Vives wrote Five Feet High and Rising as their thesis film in 1998 at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and he served as the film's director, cinematographer and editor.[2] After he had the opportunity to work with professionals in the film industry at the Cannes Residence Programme,[4] the short film went on to screen on the festival circuit and won a number of awards at the Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Aspen Shortsfest, Valencia International Film Festival, South by Southwest Film Festival and Cinema Jove International Film Festival. Two years after the release of Five Feet High and Rising, Sollett and Vives reunited to collaborate on a follow-up project that became Raising Victor Vargas, originally named Long Way Home.[3][5] While Sollett says that Five Feet High and Rising was purely autobiographical and based on the Italian, Jewish neighborhood he grew up in Brooklyn,[2][6] he and Vives decided to create another film directly about the experiences of the main characters Victor and Judy, continuing on two years after the film left off.[3] Using the same cast as the original short film, he wrote an action-and-dialogue screenplay which he did not give to any of the actors to encourage them to improvise and create a feeling of spontaneity and authenticity.[5][2] Raising Victor Vargas earned Sollett three Independent Spirit Award nominations in the categories of Best Film, Best Director and Best First Screenplay,[7] as well as other awards and nominations at the Viennale, San Sebastián International Film Festival, Online Film Critics Society Awards, Deauville Film Festival, Gotham Awards and the Humanitas Prize.
Sollett directed the 2008 film Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, also set in New York City.[8] Though he did not write the film, only directed Lorene Scafaria's script, based on a novel of the same name by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, he drew from his own experiences when making the film. The film takes place over one night in Manhattan, where a number of New Jersey teenagers have commuted in for the night—something Sollett was familiar with and often did himself, having lived in Brooklyn as a child and Staten Island as an adult.[9] Many of his personal favorite Manhattan locations also featured in the film, including Katz's Deli and the Lower East Side's Mercury Lounge.[9]
Sollett was a member of faculty at Columbia University School of the Arts.[10] He now teaches at USC School Of Cinematic Arts.
In January 2019, it was reported that Sollett would be directing the film adaptation of Minecraft.[11] However, as of April 2022, he was replaced by Jared Hess.[12]
Personal life
editSollett says that the character of Victor Vargas is his fantasy of his teenage self and that Victor is the boy he would like to have been, much more confident than his actual self, describing himself as "the kid in [his] neighbourhood who watched all that stuff going on between boys and girls but could never access whatever juice those guys had to do it."[2] In contrast, he felt that Nick O'Leary of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is "not dissimilar" to his teenage self.[13]
Influences
editSollett was influenced by François Truffaut, John Cassavetes, Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese and Ingmar Bergman.[3][5]
Filmography
editFilms
edit| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Raising Victor Vargas | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2006 | Cinema 16: American Short Films | Yes | No | No | Short film |
| 2008 | Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist | Yes | No | No | |
| 2015 | Freeheld | Yes | No | No | |
| 2022 | Metal Lords | Yes | No | No |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Episode(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Ben and Kate | "Emergency Kit" |
| 2016 | Vinyl | "He in Racist Fire" |
| 2018 | The Path | "The Gardens at Giverny" and "The Door" |
| Rise | "This Will God Willing Get Better" | |
| 2019 | The Village | "Good Thing" and "In Your Bones" |
| Almost Family | "Fertile AF" | |
| 2019-2020 | Evil | "Rose390" and "Room390" |
| 2021 | Ordinary Joe | "Happy Birthday Jenny" |
| 2025 | Peacemaker | (season 2) episode 4 |
References
edit- ^ "Peter Sollett". AlloCiné. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Gilbey, Ryan (September 12, 2003). "Peter Sollett and Victor Rasuk: Mad about the boy". The Independent. Retrieved April 5, 2008.[dead link]
- ^ a b c d e Shyman, Carol & Gatto, Robin (January 16, 2003). "Peter Sollett's Raising Victor Vargas". FilmFestivals.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
- ^ "Cannes Residence Program". FilmFestivals.com. May 15, 2002. Archived from the original on December 29, 2005. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
- ^ a b c Chambers, Bill (September 10, 2002). "CIRCUS VARGAS: Film Freak Central Interviews Writer-Director Peter Sollett". Film Freak Central. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
- ^ Dawson, Tom (September 15, 2003). "Peter Sollett". BBC. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
- ^ Susman, Gary (December 3, 2003). "'American' Beauties". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
- ^ McNary, Dave; Siegel, Tatiana (October 8, 2007). "Cera and Dennings to star in 'Playlist'". Variety. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
- ^ a b Zacharek, Stephanie (September 30, 2008). "Isn't it romantic?". Salon.com. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ "Faculty Biography: Peter Sollett". Columbia University School of the Arts.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Kroll, Justin (January 11, 2019). "Peter Sollett to Direct Warner Bros.' 'Minecraft' Movie (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ Couch, Aaron (April 18, 2022). "Jason Momoa to Star in 'Minecraft' Movie for Warner Bros". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ Kelly, Kevin (September 2008). "Peter Sollett Interview, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Toronto 2008". Spout.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
External links
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