Hannah Fidell
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hannah Margalit Fidell (born October 7, 1985) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Her directorial debut was the drama film ''
A Teacher ''A Teacher'' is a 2013 American drama film written and directed by Hannah Fidell, in her feature directorial debut. It revolves around a female high school teacher's illicit sexual relationship with a male student that turns from infatuation in ...
'' (2013). She also wrote and directed the romantic drama film ''
6 Years ''6 Years'' is a 2015 American romantic drama film written and directed by Hannah Fidell and starring Taissa Farmiga, Ben Rosenfield, Lindsay Burdge, Joshua Leonard, Peter Vack, and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson. Filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass served ...
'' (2015) and the comedy film ''
The Long Dumb Road ''The Long Dumb Road'' is a 2018 American road trip comedy film written, directed and produced by Hannah Fidell and co-written by Carson D. Mell. It stars Tony Revolori, Jason Mantzoukas, Taissa Farmiga, Grace Gummer, Casey Wilson, Pamela Reed, a ...
'' (2018).


Early life

Fidell was born in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and raised in
Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...
. Her mother is
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning journalist
Linda Greenhouse Linda Joyce Greenhouse (born January 9, 1947) is an American legal journalist who is the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. She is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who covered ...
and her father is lawyer
Eugene R. Fidell Eugene Roy Fidell (born March 31, 1945) is an American lawyer specializing in military law. He is currently the Florence Rogatz Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School.
. She studied film theory at
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...
, from which she graduated in 2007. After graduating, Fidell worked at
Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...
commercial production company in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, before leaving to study media at
The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
. At the time of making ''
A Teacher ''A Teacher'' is a 2013 American drama film written and directed by Hannah Fidell, in her feature directorial debut. It revolves around a female high school teacher's illicit sexual relationship with a male student that turns from infatuation in ...
'', she was working part-time at a restaurant to subsidize her filmmaking. In 2012, ''
Filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
'' named Fidell one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film. She is
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, as is her mother.


Career

In 2010, Fidell wrote, directed, produced and acted in the film ''We're Glad You're Here''. The following year, she wrote, directed and produced the short film ''The Gathering Squall'' (2011). She also produced the short film ''Man & Gun'' (2011). Fidell wrote, directed, and produced the feature film ''
A Teacher ''A Teacher'' is a 2013 American drama film written and directed by Hannah Fidell, in her feature directorial debut. It revolves around a female high school teacher's illicit sexual relationship with a male student that turns from infatuation in ...
'' (2013), starring
Lindsay Burdge Lindsay Michelle Burdge (born July 27, 1984) is an American actress and producer known for her roles in independent films such as ''A Teacher'' (2013), '' Wild Canaries'' (2014), '' The Midnight Swim'' (2014), '' The Invitation'' (2015), and ''6 Y ...
and
Will Brittain Will Brittain (born August 10, 1990) is an American actor. He has had roles in the films ''A Teacher'' (2013), ''Lila & Eve ''Lila & Eve'' is a 2015 American crime drama film directed by Charles Stone III and written by Patrick Gilfillan. The f ...
, which premiered at the
2013 Sundance Film Festival The 2013 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 17, 2013, until January 27, 2013, in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah. The festival had 1,830 volunteers. Films A r ...
on January 20, 2013. The film follows an affair between a high school teacher and her student. It was released in the United States on September 6, 2013 by
Oscilloscope Laboratories Oscilloscope Laboratories is an independent film company and distributor founded by Adam Yauch and former TH!NKFilm executive David Fenkel. It also has a recording studio and film production facilities. Fenkel returned to the company on May 4, 20 ...
. In February 2014, it was announced that ''A Teacher'' would be adapted for television by
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
. Fidell will write and executive produce the series along with
Danny Brocklehurst Danny Brocklehurst (born June 1971 in Hyde, Cheshire) is an English screenwriter and playwright. He has won both BAFTA and Royal Television Society writing awards. He was featured in the writers' section of the '' Broadcast magazine'' Hot 100 ...
, the former showrunner of the UK television series '' Shameless''. In June 2014, it was announced that Fidell had written and directed the drama film ''
6 Years ''6 Years'' is a 2015 American romantic drama film written and directed by Hannah Fidell and starring Taissa Farmiga, Ben Rosenfield, Lindsay Burdge, Joshua Leonard, Peter Vack, and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson. Filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass served ...
'', starring
Taissa Farmiga Taissa Farmiga (; born August 17, 1994) is an American actress. Born in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, she is the younger sister of actress Vera Farmiga. Her numerous appearances in horror films have established her as a scream queen. Farmi ...
and
Ben Rosenfield Ben Rosenfield is an American actor and musician, best known for playing Willie Thompson on the fourth and fifth seasons of HBO's period crime drama series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2013–2014). His first role was in the Off-Broadway stage adaptati ...
in the lead roles. The film follows a long-term young couple who are about to graduate college, when events threaten to tear them apart. The film had its world premiere at the
South by Southwest 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 Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
Film Festival on March 14, 2015. Shortly after the film premiered, the global distribution rights were acquired by
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. The film was released on August 18, 2015 on
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
, and globally through Netflix on September 8, 2015. Fidell subsequently co-wrote and directed her third feature-length film, ''
The Long Dumb Road ''The Long Dumb Road'' is a 2018 American road trip comedy film written, directed and produced by Hannah Fidell and co-written by Carson D. Mell. It stars Tony Revolori, Jason Mantzoukas, Taissa Farmiga, Grace Gummer, Casey Wilson, Pamela Reed, a ...
'', starring
Tony Revolori Anthony Revolori ( Quiñonez; born April 28, 1996) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Zero Moustafa in ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' (2014), for which he was nominated for numerous acting awards, and Flash Thompson in the Marv ...
and
Jason Mantzoukas Jason Mantzoukas (, el, Ιάσων Μαντζούκας; born December 18, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer and podcaster. He is best known for his recurring role as Rafi in the FX comedy series ''The League'', and as one of the th ...
in leading roles. The film premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
on January 26, 2018. Shortly after,
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
acquired distribution rights to the film, with a planned day-and-date limited release in November 2018. In April 2018, it was announced that Fidell and
Doug Belgrad Doug Belgrad is an American film and television producer. He was previously an executive at Sony for nearly 27 years before founding 2.0 Entertainment, a film and television production and co-financing company based at Sony. He is known for supe ...
were developing a true crime series at
Paramount Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...
based on Rachel Aviv's 2017 ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' article "Remembering the Murder You Didn't Commit", with Fidell set to write and direct. More recently, she signed a deal at FX.


Personal life

Fidell married artist
Jake Longstreth John Pullman "Jake" Longstreth, Jr. (born February 3, 1977), is an American painter, musician, and internet radio personality. He is currently the co-host of the Apple Music 1 show, ''Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig'' and member of a Grateful Dead co ...
on September 23, 2017 in
Inverness, California Inverness is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Marin County, California, United States. It is located on the southwest shore of Tomales Bay northwest of Point Reyes Station and about by road northwest of Sa ...
. Her brother-in-law is
Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The b ...
lead singer and guitarist
David Longstreth David Longstreth (born December 17, 1981) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and guitarist for the band Dirty Projectors. Biography Longstreth was born in Southbury, Connecticut. Longstreth attended Yale University and ...
.


Filmography


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fidell, Hannah 1985 births Living people Film producers from New York (state) Screenwriters from New York (state) American women film directors American women screenwriters Jewish American writers Television producers from New York City American women television producers English-language film directors Film directors from Maryland Indiana University Bloomington alumni People from Bethesda, Maryland People from Washington, D.C. The New School alumni American women film producers Film directors from Washington, D.C. Screenwriters from Maryland Screenwriters from Washington, D.C. 21st-century American women