Peter Spears (born November 29, 1965) is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and filmmaker. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. Spears is best known for winning an Oscar for producing ''Nomadland'' at the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony in 2021. The film also won the BAFTA,

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

PGA Award The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing establishment w ...

, and the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...

at the

2021 Venice Film Festival The 78th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 1 to 11 September 2021. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho was appointed as the President of the Jury, marking the first time a South Korean director has been picked as the fest ...

. Spears also produced the critically acclaimed 2017 film ''

Call Me by Your Name Call Me by Your Name may refer to: * ''Call Me by Your Name'' (novel), a 2007 novel by André Aciman * ''Call Me by Your Name'' (film), a 2017 film based on the novel, directed by Luca Guadagnino ** '' Call Me by Your Name: Original Motion Pictur ...

'', and was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

. He directed the underground cult-favorite short film ''

Ernest and Bertram ''Ernest & Bertram'' is a 2002 tragic comedy short film written and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker and actor Peter Spears. The film spoofs ''Sesame Street'' characters Ernie and Bert. The film is based on Lillian Hellman's '' The Ch ...

'', which portrayed ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'' characters Bert and Ernie as gay lovers in a loose parody of Lillian Hellman's '' The Children's Hour''. Spears also developed the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

'' Nightmare Café'' and ''

John from Cincinnati ''John from Cincinnati'' is an American drama television series, set against the surfing community of Imperial Beach, California. It aired on HBO from June 10 to August 12, 2007. Overview ''John from Cincinnati'' is the result of a collaborative ...

''.

Career

In 2020, Spears founded his own production company, Cor Cordium. The company has multiple projects in development across film and television, including the upcoming '' Bones and All'', which reunites Spears with filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and Timothée Chalamet. In addition to his career as a

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

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, Spears is also an actor, having appearing in films such as ''

Call Me By Your Name Call Me by Your Name may refer to: * ''Call Me by Your Name'' (novel), a 2007 novel by André Aciman * ''Call Me by Your Name'' (film), a 2017 film based on the novel, directed by Luca Guadagnino ** '' Call Me by Your Name: Original Motion Pictur ...

'', '' Something's Gotta Give'', ''

The Opposite of Sex ''The Opposite of Sex'' is a 1998 American romantic black comedy film written and directed by Don Roos, and starring Christina Ricci, Martin Donovan and Lisa Kudrow. A directorial debut for Roos, it marked the final film produced by Rysher En ...

,'' and '' Father of the Bride Part II'', as well as several television series, including ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

'' and '' E.R.'' He was most recently seen in the film '' Sublet,'' directed by Eytan Fox. Spears also co-founded OutSet: The Young Filmmakers Project, a collaboration between the Outfest Film Festival and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The 6-month film lab selects a group of diverse 16-to-24-year-old emerging filmmakers to share their stories through film, by embarking on courses in screenwriting, pre-production, production and post-production, mentored by industry experts. The program culminates in the filmmakers' final thesis projects presented at the Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.

Personal life

Spears is married to talent agent Brian Swardstrom, and the couple splits their time between upstate New York and California.

Filmography

As actor

Film

Television

As writer

As director

As producer

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spears, Peter 1965 births Living people 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male actors 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male actors 21st-century LGBT people American film producers American gay actors American male film actors American male television actors Film producers from Kansas Film producers from Missouri Film producers from New York (state) Filmmakers who won the Best Film BAFTA Award Golden Globe Award-winning producers Jewish American male actors LGBT Jews LGBT people from Missouri LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT producers Male actors from Kansas Male actors from Kansas City, Missouri Male actors from New York City Northwestern University alumni People from Overland Park, Kansas People from Rancho Mirage, California Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award