3/3/2019 Aaron Katz (filmmaker) - Wikipedia

Aaron Katz (filmmaker)
Aaron  Katz (born October 29, 1981) is an award-winning independent
Aaron Katz
American filmmaker from Portland, Oregon.[1]
Born October 29, 1981
Occupation film director,

Contents screenwriter, film

editor
Early life Years active 2006-present
Career
Filmography
Feature films as writer and director
References
External links

Early life
Aaron began his artistic career while attending Pacific Crest Community School in Portland from 1994 to 2000. He
experimented with a super 8mm camera, creating a number of short films.

He pursued filmmaking further at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he met future collaborators Brendan
McFadden, Marc Ripper, Andrew Reed, Chad Hartigan. He directed a number of short films on both Digital Video and
16mm film.

Career
Katz's breakthrough came in 2006 when his first feature Dance Party USA, premiered at the 2006 South by Southwest
Film Festival. Katz wrote and directed the film for around $2,000 and shot for two weeks in his hometown of Portland
with a small crew of friends. The film went on to play at numerous festivals all over the world and was listed as a top ten
film by the New York Sun.

Katz quickly followed it in 2007 with Quiet City. Using some of the same crew and a similar budget, he shot the film in
eight days in Brooklyn and again premiered the film at South by Southwest. Quiet  City features fellow filmmaker Joe
Swanberg in a supporting role and the two were subsequently cited as two of the founders of a new independent film
movement called "mumblecore." The film was released in theaters on August 31, 2007 and grossed $15,610 over its modest
run.[2] Katz, as well as Erin Fisher, Cris Lankenau, Brendan McFadden and Ben Stambler were nominated for the John
Cassevetes Award at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards, given to the best film produced for under $500,000, for Quiet
City.

Katz's third feature, Cold Weather opened as a Spotlight Premiere at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival and went
on to play the Los Angeles Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, and BFI London Film Festival, among others. Released
theatrically by IFC Films and dubbed by Indiewire as "2011's first great American indie," the genre-bending mystery
garnered widespread praise from critics, including Roger Ebert[3] and Manohla Dargis,[4] and ranked on several lists
among the best films of the year.

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Katz went on to co-write, co-direct, and edit the widely acclaimed Iceland-set buddy comedy Land  Ho! with Martha
Stephens. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.[5] It also
screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival, and BFI London
Film Festival. The film won the 2015 Independent Spirit Cassavetes Award and AARP's "Best Buddy Picture" Award, and
was named on several "Top 10 Films of 2014" lists including Grantland, SF Weekly, and Nashville Scene.

In 2017, Katz directed Gemini, starring Lola Kirke, Zoë Kravitz, John Cho, Greta Lee and Ricki Lake.[6] It had its world
premiere at South by Southwest on March 12, 2017.[7] It was later acquired by Neon for distribution.[8]

Katz counts The X­Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Seinfeld among his favorite shows as

a teenager in the 1990s. [1] (https://www.talkhouse.com/against­bingeing/)

Filmography

Feature films as writer and director

Dance Party USA (2006)
Quiet City (2007)
Cold Weather (2010)
Land Ho! (2014)
Gemini (2017)

References
1. " 'Land Ho!' interview: Portland-raised Aaron Katz talks about his charming new buddy film" (http://www.oregonlive.co
m/movies/index.ssf/2014/08/land_ho_interview_portland-rai.html). The Oregonian. August 15, 2014.
2. "Quiet City" at boxofficemojo (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=quietcity.htm)
3. "Review: Cold Weather" (http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cold-weather-2011). Roger Ebert. Mar 10, 2011.
4. "Review: Cold Weather" (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/movies/04cold-weather.html?_r=0). New York Times.
Feb 3, 2011.
5. "Sundance: Sony Classics Acquires Road Trip Comedy 'Land Ho!' " (http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/land-ho-sunda
nce-comedy-sony-pictures-classics/). Deadline Hollywood. Jan 22, 2014.
6. McNary, Dave (June 9, 2016). "Lola Kirke, Zoe Kravitz, John Cho to Star in Thriller 'Gemini' " (https://variety.com/2016/
film/news/lola-kirk-zoe-kravitz-john-cho-thriller-gemini-1201792190/). Variety. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
7. "Gemini" (http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/films/71457). South by Southwest. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
8. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 16, 2017). "Neon Picks Up 'Gemini' Starring Zoe Kravitz, John Cho & Lola Kirke –
SXSW" (http://deadline.com/2017/03/zoe-kravitz-john-cho-sxsw-gemini-neon-acquisition-1202045124/). Deadline
Hollywood. Retrieved March 16, 2017.

External links
Aaron Katz (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1369800/) on IMDb
Interview (11/2007) (https://web.archive.org/web/20101022164438/http://shortendmagazine.com/content/view/340/69)
Interview (09/2007) (http://blog.oregonlive.com/madaboutmovies/2007/09/sunday_extra_interview_with_aa.html)
Mumblecore Family Tree (https://web.archive.org/web/20071121002552/http://cinephiliac.com/2007/03/join_the_mum
ble.html)
Benten Films website (http://www.bentenfilms.com)

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