Lee Toland Krieger (born January 24, 1983) is an American

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

best known for the films ''

The Vicious Kind ''The Vicious Kind'' is a 2009 drama film directed and written by Lee Toland Krieger. The screenplay was originally set in a small town in Rhode Island, but the film was shot in Norfolk, Connecticut, which also became the characters' hometown. T ...

'' (2009), ''

Celeste and Jesse Forever ''Celeste and Jesse Forever'' is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lee Toland Krieger and written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. The movie was released on August 3, 2012 in New York City and Los Angeles, with Rashida Jo ...

'' (2012) and ''

The Age of Adaline ''The Age of Adaline'' is a 2015 American romantic fantasy film directed by Lee Toland Krieger and written by J. Mills Goodloe and Salvador Paskowitz. The film stars Blake Lively in the title role, with Michiel Huisman, Kathy Baker, Amanda Crew ...

'' (2015).

Early life

Krieger was born and raised in

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' ...

. He became "hooked" on filmmaking at the age of 13 when his neighbor, film producer Steve Perry, brought him to the set of the 1996 film ''

Executive Decision ''Executive Decision'' is a 1996 American action film directed by Stuart Baird in his directorial debut. The film stars Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal, Halle Berry, John Leguizamo, Oliver Platt, Joe Morton, David Suchet, and B.D. Wong. It depict ...

''. Krieger later interned for Perry during high school, and in college he worked for

Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Fi ...

and his producing partner

Gail Mutrux Gail Mutrux (born October 2, 1945) is an American film producer, best known for her films '' Donnie Brasco'', ''Nurse Betty'', and '' Kinsey''. Pretty Pictures, Mutrux's company, produces most of her films including the adaptation of ''The Danis ...

. He graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

's School of Cinema and Television in 2005.

Career

Krieger founded a

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

, Autumn Entertainment, in 2004, under which his first project was ''December Ends'', a feature film shot on a US$75,000 budget. The film premiered at the 2006 Method Fest, two years after it was shot, where it won the festival's Best Picture award. In 2009, Krieger wrote and directed ''

'', which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and earned him numerous accolades including the Emerging Filmmaker Award at the

Denver Film Festival The Denver Film Festival is held in November, primarily at the Denver Film Center/Colfax, in Denver, Colorado, now the Anna and John J. Sie FilmCenter (Sie FilmCenter). Premiere events are held in the Buell Theatre and Ellie Caulkins Opera House ...

and an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

nomination for Best Screenplay. He was later asked by producer

Jennifer Todd Jennifer Todd (born October 3, 1969) is an American film and television producer. She has a first look film deal at MGM Studios and is partnered with Thomas Kail in an exclusive television deal with 20th Television. She co-produced the 89th and ...

to direct ''

'', based on a script written by

Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series ''Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and as ...

and

Will McCormack William Joseph McCormack Jr. (born January 13, 1974) is an American actor, executive producer, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for his short film ''If Anything Happens I Love You'' (2020), which earned him the Academy Award fo ...

, which would also premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. After the success of ''Celeste and Jesse Forever'', he received offers to direct similar scripts, but turned them down in lieu of writing his own material for future projects. He has also directed many commercials with clients such as Joseph Abboud and AG Jeans, and music videos for

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

and

the Island Def Jam Music Group The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordin ...

. He directed ''

'', starring

Blake Lively Blake Ellender Lively ( Brown; born August 25, 1987) is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles, Lively is the daughter of actor Ernie Lively, and made her professional debut in his directorial project ''Sandman'' (1998). She starred as Brid ...

and

Michiel Huisman Michiel Huisman (; born 18 July 1981) is a Dutch actor who has acted in both Dutch and English-language TV series and films. Huisman began his career in the Dutch soap opera ''Goede tijden, slechte tijden'' (1998). He later played in the Dutc ...

. Production started in March 2014, and the film was released in April 2015. In September 19, 2012,

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

acquired the rights to the script ''Vanish Man'' written by Denison Hatch. Later in February 2015, Krieger was set to rewrite and direct the film, which

21 Laps Entertainment 21 Laps Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded and run by director-producer Shawn Levy. The company is best known as the producers of ''Stranger Things'', and exclusively distributes content through a partner ...

would produce. On February 29, 2016, it was announced that Krieger would direct '' The Divergent Series: Ascendant'', the final film in ''The Divergent Series''. On July 20, 2016, it was announced that the project was put on hold due to

's decision to release the final film as a TV movie, mainly because of the third film in the series, ''Allegiant'', underperforming. In December 2018, it was announced that the television movie has been cancelled due to the lack of interest of the cast and network executives. On May 27, 2021, it was announced that Krieger would direct the first two episodes of the show ''Green Lantern'' for

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

Personal life

Krieger currently lives in Los Angeles. He is the grandson of actor Lee Krieger.

Filmography

Films Short films Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krieger, Lee Toland Living people 1983 births American male screenwriters Writers from Los Angeles USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Film directors from Los Angeles Screenwriters from California