Cooper Michael Raiff (born February 11, 1997) is an American filmmaker and actor. He has received critical acclaim for his films '' Shithouse'' (2020) and ''

Cha Cha Real Smooth ''Cha Cha Real Smooth'' is a 2022 American comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Cooper Raiff. The plot centers on a 22-year-old college graduate (Raiff) who starts making money as a party starter while he also strikes up a rel ...

'' (2022). He appeared on the 2022 ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' list of directors to watch. In August 2022, Raiff launched his production company Small Ideas.

Early life

A native of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Raiff attended the Greenhill School in

Addison, Texas Addison is an incorporated town in Dallas County, Texas, in the United States. Addison is situated to the immediate north of the city of Dallas, with a 2020 census population of 16,661. Addison and Flower Mound were the only two Texas municipaliti ...

. He participated in school theatre productions and studied at the Dallas Young Actors Studio for 4 years. During his senior year, he wrote and performed in his first play. Raiff enrolled at

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and withdrew in 2019 to focus on film.

Career

During spring break in 2018, Raiff stayed on campus to make ''Madeline & Cooper'', a 50-minute short film that he uploaded to YouTube. He then tweeted a link of the video to filmmaker

Jay Duplass Lawrence Jay Duplass (born March 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor and author widely known for his films ''The Puffy Chair'' (2005), ''Cyrus'' (2010), and ''Jeff, Who Lives at Home'' (2011), made in collaboration with his younger brother, ...

, who met with Raiff and encouraged him to adapt the project to feature-length; it became Raiff's debut feature '' Shithouse'', in which he starred, directed, wrote, produced, and co-edited. The film premiered at the 2020

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

where it was named Best Narrative Feature. Distributed by

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...

, it opened in October 2020 to positive reviews. Raiff's second film, ''

'', premiered at the

2022 Sundance Film Festival The 2022 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20 to 30, 2022. Due to COVID-19 pandemic protocol it was to have been a hybrid festival, but on January 5, 2022 it was announced that the in-person components would be scrapped in favor o ...

, where it won the Audience Award for the Dramatic Competition, and is set to be distributed by

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

. The film was reportedly purchased by the company for $15 million. Raiff's next film will be ''The Trashers'', based on the true story of the

Danbury Trashers The Danbury Trashers were a United Hockey League (UHL) professional ice hockey team located in Danbury, Connecticut, first established in 2004 as an expansion team. The team was named for its owner's business in waste management; James Galante ...

, starring

David Harbour David Kenneth Harbour (born April 10, 1975) is an American actor. He has played supporting roles in films such as '' Brokeback Mountain'' (2005), '' Quantum of Solace'' (2008), '' State of Play'' (2009), '' The Green Hornet'' (2011), ''End o ...

as mobster

James Galante James Galante (born January 5, 1953) is an American convicted felony, felon and associate of the Genovese crime family, owner of the defunct Danbury Trashers minor-league hockey team and a defunct racecar team fielding cars for Ted Christopher, a ...

and Cooper Hoffman as his son, AJ. For his first television project, Raiff is attached to direct and co-write an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

Naoise Dolan Naoise Dolan (; born 14 April 1992) is an Irish novelist. She is known for her novels '' Exciting Times'' (2020), and ''The Happy Couple'' (2023). Life and education Dolan was born in Dublin, Ireland. She experienced homophobic bullying in s ...

's novel '' Exciting Times'' starring

Phoebe Dynevor Phoebe Harriet Dynevor (; born 17 April 1995) is an English actress. Dynevor is known for her role as Daphne, the fourth Bridgerton child, in the Netflix period drama ''Bridgerton'' (2020–present). She began her career as a child actress, ...

for

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

. On August 2, 2022, it was announced that Raiff has partnered with Clementine Quittner of Black Bear Productions to launch his own production company called Small Ideas. Raiff commented on the company, and the film industry at large, saying, "There's a very good, lucrative market for making small things and flipping them, and if you're okay with them being maybe like a streamer-theatrical duo, I think everyone should be really feeling great and confident about getting their stuff made that they want to make." On October 16, 2022, Raiff was given the Maverick Award at the

Newport Beach Film Festival The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival have permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival beg ...

. On November 18, 2022, Raiff was named Forbes 30 under 30 for Hollywood & Entertainment.

Artistry

Raiff has cited

Emma Seligman Emma Seligman (born May 3, 1995) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for their feature directorial debut '' Shiva Baby'' (2020). Career As a teenager, Emma Seligman contributed film reviews to ''The Huffington Post''. They st ...

Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...

Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig (; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and director. She first garnered attention after working on and appearing in several mumblecore films. Between 2006 and 2009, she appeared in a number of films b ...

Ryan Coogler Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is a recipient of four NAACP Image Awards, four Black Reel Awards, a Golden Globe Award nomination and an Academy Award nomination for Best Pictu ...

, and the Duplass brothers as influences.

Filmography

Film

Awards and recognition

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raiff, Cooper Living people Year of birth uncertain 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American screenwriters Film directors from Texas Male actors from Dallas Screenwriters from Texas 1997 births