- Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips (born
December 20 ,1970 inBrooklyn, New York ) is anAcademy Award -nominated writer and a director.Biography
Early life
Born in
1970 inBrooklyn, New York , Todd attendedNYU Film School under his real name, Todd Bunzl, but dropped out just prior to graduating in order to focus on completing his first film, "". He was a regular at Tompkins Square Park and was there during the infamous riots.He worked at an all night video store on St. Marks Place which specialized in explicit material and hard to find films.
While attending NYU, he was often found photographing punk rock bands at venues like
ABC No Rio andCBGB's . He hung around with downtown filmmaker/photographerRichard Kern in the early1990s .Career
He started his career as a
documentary film maker. His first feature length documentary, "", chronicled the life and death of punk rockerGG Allin . He made the film while still a Junior atNYU . It would go on to become the highest grossing student film at the time of its release.In 1994 Phillips founded the
New York Underground Film Festival as an alternative to established film festivals and to offer a festival venue for films likeHated . He also helped distribute a controversial documentary aboutNAMBLA , "Chicken Hawk: Men Who Love Boys", directed by Adi Sideman which premiered at the 1994New York Underground Film Festival .His career followed with "
Frat House " a documentary about fraternities that he produced and directed with then-partner, Andrew Gurland. "Frat House " premiered at the 1998Sundance Film Festival and would win the Grand Jury Prize for documentary features.He met
Ivan Reitman at theSundance Film Festival and directed his first two features, "Road Trip " and "Old School" for Reitmans' Montecito Picture Company.He worked on "" (
2006 ); however, he resigned his position as director of the movie in early 2005, due to creative differences. Nevertheless, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for his role in fashioning the story.Filmography as director
*"" (
1994 )
*"Frat House " (1998 )
*"Road Trip " (2000 )
*"Bittersweet Motel " (2000 )
*"Old School" (2003 )
*"Starsky & Hutch" (2004 )
*"School for Scoundrels " (2006 )External links
* [http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/HATED%20Director%20Todd%20Phillips/ Interview via SuicideGirls]
*imdb name|id=0680846|name=Todd Phillips
* [http://www.dvdtalk.com/roadtrip.html DVD Talk Interview]
* [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=49438 Hendon Mob tournament results]
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