Todd Strauss-Schulson (born June 24, 1980) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and cinematographer, best known for directing the comedy film '' A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas'' (2011), the horror comedy film '' The Final Girls'' (2015), and the romantic comedy film '' Isn't It Romantic'' (2019). He has also directed episodes of the television series ''

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television teen sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 until 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager ...

'' (2012) and ''

Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous ''Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous'' is an American mockumentary sitcom created by Bo Burnham and Dan Lagana that aired for one season on MTV from May 2 to June 29, 2013. The series stars Burnham as Zach Stone, a recent high school graduate who opt ...

'' (2013).

Early life

Strauss-Schulson was born in Forest Hills, Queens,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on June 24, 1980. He has one younger sister named Caren. Strauss-Schulson 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 ...

and had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. He attended Emerson College in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, graduating in 2003. Following his graduation, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Career

Strauss-Schulson started his career directing short films such as ''Larceny'' (1997) and ''Backlash'' (1998). He then worked on music videos, which led to 6 months spent in China and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, where he directed the third season of ''MTV Whatever Things'' (2005). The series became the most popular show on

MTV Asia MTV was a pan-Asian music pay-television channel which launched on 3 May 1995 as a standalone pay television channel. It was owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA. History MTV Asia was officially launched on 3 May 1995 as a 24-hour English-languag ...

, with an international audience of over 250 million people. He has directed commercials and videos for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

s and the Emmy Awards, and clients including

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...

, Lipton, Mountain Dew,

Twix Twix is a caramel shortbread chocolate bar made by Mars, Inc., consisting of a biscuit applied with other confectionery toppings and coatings (most frequently caramel and milk chocolate).The biscuit is typically topped with caramel and then ...

The Early November The Early November is an American rock band from New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 2001 and signed with Drive-Thru Records in 2002. , they have released two EPs: ''For All of This'' (2002) and '' The Acoustic EP'' (2005). They have ...

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

Old Spice Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products encompassing aftershaves, deodorants and antiperspirants, shampoos, body washes, and soaps. It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble. Old Spice was launched as Early American Old Spice by W ...

, and

Sierra Mist Sierra Mist is a lemon-lime flavored soft drink line. Originally introduced by PepsiCo in 1999, it was eventually made available in all United States markets by 2003. The drink was rebranded as "Mist Twist" in 2016, although it reverted to Sierr ...

, among others. In 2008, Strauss-Schulson's short film ''Mano-a-Mano'' was selected to screen at the South by Southwest Film Festival. The following year, he went back to South by Southwest to premiere his short film ''Big Pussy'', which was subsequently screened at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Strauss-Schulson's first feature film, '' A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas'' for

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...

and

Mandate Pictures Mandate Pictures was a full-service film production company acquired by Lionsgate in 2007. History In 2005, Mandate Pictures was officially formed when the Los Angeles–based Senator International completed a management buyout from German indie ...

, was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

on November 4, 2011. The film starred

Kal Penn Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portrayin ...

John Cho John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the '' Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series. Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian A ...

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received multiple accolades throughout ...

, and

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

, and was met with a positive reaction from film critics. His sophomore film, the horror comedy '' The Final Girls'' for Sony Pictures Entertainment and Groundswell Productions, premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival on March 13, 2015, to positive reviews. The film stars

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 ...

Malin Åkerman Malin Maria Åkerman (born 12 May 1978) is a Swedish actress. In the early 2000s, she had several small television and film parts in both Canadian and American productions, including '' The Utopian Society'' (2003) and ''Harold & Kumar Go to Wh ...

Nina Dobrev Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva ( bg, Николина Каменова Добрева, ; born January 9, 1989), credited professionally as Nina Dobrev ( ), is a Canadian actress. She is best known for portraying Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce o ...

Adam DeVine Adam Patrick Devine (born November 7, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, and producer. He is one of the stars and co-creators of the Comedy Central comedy television series ''Workaholics'' and '' Adam Devine's House Par ...

Thomas Middleditch Thomas Steven Middleditch (born March 10, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Richard Hendricks in the HBO series '' Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019), earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award ...

Alia Shawkat Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom '' Arrested Devel ...

, and Alexander Ludwig. It was released on October 9, 2015 in a limited release and through

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

Stage 6 Films Stage 6 Films, Inc. is an American film production label of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions that acquires and produces feature films that are low budget and that are being released straight-to-DVD, on demand, or through streaming services. S ...

. In October 2015, it was reported that TBS had given a pilot order to a comedy series co-created by Strauss-Schulson and Matt Fogel. The pilot was not ordered to series. Strauss-Schulson's third feature film as director is the comedy '' Isn't It Romantic'' for New Line Cinema, starring

Rebel Wilson Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson (born Melanie Elizabeth Bownds; 2 March 1980) is an Australian actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. After graduating from the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2003, Wilson began appearing as Tou ...

Liam Hemsworth Liam Hemsworth (born 13 January 1990) is an Australian actor. He played the roles of Josh Taylor in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' and Marcus in the children's television series ''The Elephant Princess''. In American films, Hemsworth starred as ...

, DeVine, and

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; ; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is one of India's highest-paid actresses and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awar ...

. The film was released by Warner Bros. on February 14, 2019.

Filmography

Films * '' A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas'' (2011) * '' The Final Girls'' 2015 * '' Isn't It Romantic'' (2019) * '' Silent Retreat'' (TBA) (Also writer) Television Short films

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strauss-Schulson, Todd 1980 births American cinematographers Film producers from New York (state) American male screenwriters American music video directors American television directors Emerson College alumni Film directors from New York City Jewish American screenwriters Living people Businesspeople from New York City Writers from Queens, New York Screenwriters from New York (state) American film editors 21st-century American Jews