Lisa Cholodenko

Lisa Cholodenko
Born (1964-06-05) June 5, 1964
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Residence Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater San Francisco State University
Columbia University (M.F.A.)
Occupation Director, screenwriter
Years active 1994–present
Notable work High Art
Laurel Canyon
The Kids Are All Right
Partner(s) Wendy Melvoin
Children 1

Lisa Cholodenko (born June 5, 1964)[1] is an American screenwriter and director of film and television. She has made the films High Art, Laurel Canyon and The Kids Are All Right.[2][3]

Early life

Cholodenko was born in the San Fernando Valley of California, the daughter of Marcia Cholodenko (née Elins)[1] and Paul Cholodenko.[4] She is the middle daughter of three sisters: her older sister is Karen Kardan,[5] her younger sister is Laura Cholodenko.[6][7]

Cholodenko is from a liberal Jewish family.[8][9] Her paternal grandparents emigrated from Ukraine.[10] Cholodenko's paternal great grandfather was from Kiev, Ukraine.[4][11]

Cholodenko studied anthropology, ethnic studies, and women's studies at San Francisco State University She travelled to India and Nepal and spent 18 months in Jerusalem after graduation.[7]

She then enrolled at Columbia University School of the Arts in 1992, earning an MFA in screenwriting and directing in 1997,[12] where James Schamus was one of her professors, who would later become the CEO of Focus Features.[13]

Career

She got her start in the film industry in New York in the early 1990s.[14] She worked as an apprentice editor on John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood[8] and as an assistant editor on Beeban Kidron's Used People.

Film

While at Columbia, Cholodenko wrote and directed a number of short films, including Souvenir (1994), which screened at numerous international film festivals and Dinner Party (1997), which aired on UK, French, and Swiss television, and was a winner of the British Film Institute’s Channel 4 TX prize.[15]

Miloš Forman provided mentorship and encouragement as Cholodenko made her feature film debut with High Art.[7] High Art won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival as well as the National Society of Film Critics award for Ally Sheedy's performance. Both High Art and her next film, Laurel Canyon, premiered at Cannes Director's Fortnight. The Joni Mitchell record Ladies of the Canyon was the catalyst for Laurel Canyon, which was set and filmed in the heart of the Hollywood Hills.[15]

In 2010, she was awarded the Women in Film Dorothy Arzner Directors Award.[16]

After completing Laurel Canyon, Cholodenko decided to move to LA permanently. While in the process of trying to conceive a child via anonymous sperm donor, she met with screenwriter Stuart Blumberg, who was a sperm donor in college.[17] Together, they decided to write a screenplay, which would eventually become The Kids Are All Right. However, the project took five years to get to production.[18] Filmed in 23 days, Cholodenko directed the film on a $3.5 million budget, a much smaller amount than her fellow 2011 Oscar nominees. The film was made with three different sources of equity financing, with Focus Features picking up the film for distribution.[13]

The Kids Are All Right received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay nomination. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The film was also named best screenplay by the New York Film Critics Circle and won the Independent Spirit Award for best screenplay.[19]

Cholodenko was a 2012–2013 member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[20]

In June 2014, Cholodenko was the guest director of the 20th annual Los Angeles Film Festival.[21]

Television

Cholodenko directed the 2004 film Cavedweller for Showtime; it earned Independent Spirit Award nominations for cast members Kyra Sedgwick and Aidan Quinn. She has directed episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, Six Feet Under, The L Word, and Hung.

In 2014, Cholodenko directed the HBO four-part mini-series Olive Kitteridge starring Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins. Olive Kitteridge is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth Strout.[22] Bill Murray, Jesse Plemons, Zoe Kazan, and John Gallagher, Jr. co-starred.[23] Olive Kitteridge premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival to overwhelmingly positive reviews.[24][25] The show received widespread critical acclaim when it premiered on television in November. It received three Golden Globe nominations, and Cholodenko received a Directors Guild Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for her work on the miniseries.[26][27]

Cholodenko was an executive producer, and directed the first episode, of the 2015 eight-part NBC miniseries The Slap, which was based on the Australian miniseries of the same name.[28]

Themes

Cholodenko has written all of three of her films, and there are some thematic similarities as a result. Each of them are psychological character studies, revolving around a small cast of characters, and as the films progress the audience observes how the characters interact amongst each other. Her films address the fluidity of human sexuality and desire, and Cholodenko's work has helped give the LGBTQ community visibility in mainstream culture.[29]

Controversy

Though The Kids Are All Right was generally applauded by critics and audiences alike, garnering a Metacritic score of 86[30] and a Rotten Tomatoes Top Critics score of 95%,[31] the film received differing opinions from the LGBTQ community, particularly for the plot device of a homosexual woman truly enjoying heterosexuality. Some critics[32] saw this as a trope used in mainstream Hollywood,[33] citing films like Kissing Jessica Stein and Chasing Amy. However, other critics[34] defended Cholodenko's artistic choice, and found her approach realistic and well-handled.[33]

Personal life

Cholodenko gave birth to a son, Calder,[35] by way of an anonymous sperm donor, while in a relationship with musician Wendy Melvoin.[14]

Cholodenko lives in the Beachwood Canyon area of Los Angeles.[36]

Filmography

Feature films

Television

Shorts

Production work

References

  1. 1 2 "Lisa Cholodenko - California, Birth Index, 1905-1995". FamilySearch. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Tabach-Bank, Lauren (13 August 2014). "Flipping the Script: Lisa Cholodenko". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Olozia, Jeff (13 August 2014). "Sam Taylor-Johnson, Lisa Cholodenko, Sarah Polley and Other Female Directors on the Movies That Influenced Them". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Paul Cholodenko in household of Hyman Cholodenko - United States Census, 1940". FamilySearch. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "Karen Cholodenko - California, Birth Index, 1905-1995". FamilySearch. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Laura Cholodenko - California, Birth Index, 1905-1995". FamilySearch. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Cooke, Rachel (2 October 2010). "Lisa Cholodenko: 'I wanted to make a film that was not sanctimonious or sentimental'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  8. 1 2 Gross, Terry (8 July 2010). "Director Lisa Cholodenko On Conceiving 'The Kids'". Fresh Air. NPR. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  9. ↑ Greenberg, Brad A. (3 June 2009). "State Senate Hearing on Madoff Losses". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Dateline New York: New Yorkers bring culture to Catskills by Helen Smindak". The Ukrainian Weekly (Press release). 13 September 1998.
  11. ↑ "CoverItLive: Lisa Cholodenko live chat" (Live Chat). Los Angeles Times. 23 July 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  12. ↑ "Lisa Cholodenko". Columbia University School of the Arts: Film. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  13. 1 2 Simpson, David (20 December 2010). "Awards Watch Roundtable: The Directors (full video)" (video). Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  14. 1 2 Toumarkine, Doris (28 June 2010). "Family dynamic: Lisa Cholodenko explores modern parenthood in 'The Kids Are All Right'". Film Journal International. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  15. 1 2 "Cast & Crew: Lisa Cholodenko, Director/Screenplay". The Kids Are Alright. Focus Features. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  16. ↑ "Past Recipients: Crystal Award". Women in Film. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  17. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (6 July 2010). "Interview: Lisa Cholodenko". A.V. Club. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  18. ↑ Hill, Logan (7 July 2010). "Director Lisa Cholodenko on The Kids Are All Right and Making a Funny Movie About Lesbians". Vulture. New York Magazine. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  19. ↑ Smith, Damon (7 July 2010). "Lisa Cholodenko, "The Kids Are All Right"". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  20. ↑ Curtis, Tarrah Lee (17 July 2012). "Academy Elects 2012 – 2013 Board Of Governors". Oscars.org. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  21. ↑ McNary, Dave (8 April 2014). "Lisa Cholodenko Set as Guest Director for L.A. Film Festival". Variety. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  22. ↑ Guidry, Ken (2 May 2013). "Lisa Cholodenko To Direct HBO Miniseries 'Olive Kitteridge' Starring Frances McDormand & Richard Jenkins". Indiewire. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  23. ↑ Dionne, Zach (15 August 2013). "HBO’s Olive Kitteridge Adds Jesse Plemons". Vulture. New York Magazine. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  24. ↑ Bray, Catherine (2 September 2014). "Review: Frances McDormand's new mini-series 'Olive Kitteridge' is a perfect storm of talent". HitFix. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  25. ↑ Christie, Tom (1 September 2014). "Lisa Cholodenko & Frances McDormand's 'Olive Kitteridge' Impresses in Venice". Indiewire. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  26. ↑ "Directors Guild Award Winners 2015". Deadline. February 7, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Emmy Awards 2015: The complete winners list". CNN. September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  28. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (19 May 2014). "‘The Slap’". Deadline. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  29. ↑ Anderson, Jeffrey M. "Interview: Lisa Cholodenko: Feelin' All Right". Combustible Celluloid. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  30. ↑ "The Kids Are All Right Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  31. ↑ "The Kids Are All Right - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  32. ↑ "It’s a Family Affair". Lesbian Dad. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  33. 1 2 Sexsmith, Sinclair (21 July 2010). "Sugarbutch Says: The "Lesbian Who Sleeps With a Man" Trope in "The Kids Are All Right"". AfterEllen.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  34. ↑ Snarker, Dorothy (10 July 2010). "All Right Now". Dorothy Surrenders. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  35. ↑ Hirschberg, Lynn (1 December 2010). "The Family Issue". W Magazine. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  36. ↑ Ross, Matthew (27 February 2003). "The Mystique of The Hollywood Hills; Lisa Cholodenko on "Laurel Canyon"". Indiewire. Retrieved 29 October 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.