Patricia Mary Sie (
''née'' Kulash; born October 11, 1971) is an American film and music video director, best known for directing the films ''
Step Up: All In'' (2014) and ''
Pitch Perfect 3
''Pitch Perfect 3'' is a 2017 American musical comedy film directed by Trish Sie and written by Kay Cannon and Mike White. A sequel to ''Pitch Perfect 2'' (2015) and the third and final installment in the ''Pitch Perfect'' franchise, the film f ...
'' (2017), as well as music videos, particularly for the alternative rock band
OK Go
OK Go is an American rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar and vocals), Dan Konopka (drums and percussion), and ...
. She has worked in film, television, commercials, music videos, stage, children's entertainment and ballroom
DanceSport
Dancesport is competitive ballroom dance, ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair.
Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesp ...
.
Life and career
Sie 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, ...
She graduated from
National Cathedral School
National Cathedral School (NCS) is an independent Episcopal private day school for girls in grades 4–12 located on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by philanthropist and suffragist Phoe ...
and, as a teenager, attended the National Music Camp at
Interlochen Center for the Arts
Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City.
In ...
. She has a degree in music theory and composition from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and was a member of Penn Dance Company. After graduating in 1994, she became a professional championship ballroom dancer and a well-known choreographer. She moved to Orlando, Fla., where she opened the Zebra Room Dance Studios and organized an arts collective called the Exchange.
Other projects include concepts, directing, and choreography for
OK Go
OK Go is an American rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar and vocals), Dan Konopka (drums and percussion), and ...
,
Pilobolus Dance Theatre,
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...
,
Miranda July
Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, singer, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art.
She w ...
,
Bobcat Goldthwait
Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait (born May 26, 1962) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, known for his black comedy stand-up act, delivered through an energetic stage persona with an unusual raspy and high-pitched voice. ...
,
Matt Harding
Matthew Harding (born September 27, 1976) is an American traveler, video game designer, and Internet celebrity who is known as Dancing Matt, for his viral videos that show him dancing in front of landmarks and street scenes in various internatio ...
, the
Imagination Movers
The Imagination Movers are an American children's band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2003. The line-up includes drummer Rich Collins, lead singer, keyboardist and mandolin player Scott Durbin, bassist Dave Poche, and guitarist Scott "Smit ...
,
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
,
Jason Hill, and various
DanceSport
Dancesport is competitive ballroom dance, ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair.
Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesp ...
champions. Sie is also the creator, composer, and writer of the musical science-based children's show, The Snark-a-Snoops, based in Los Angeles. She directs music videos, commercials, and films. She is based in Los Angeles.
Music videography with OK Go
Sie has been involved in the creation of numerous music videos for the alternative rock band
OK Go
OK Go is an American rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar and vocals), Dan Konopka (drums and percussion), and ...
''—'' fronted by her brother
Damian Kulash
Damian Joseph Kulash Jr. (born October 7, 1975) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and music video director, best known for being the lead singer and guitarist of the American rock band OK Go.
Early life and education
Kulash was born i ...
''—'' starting with the music video for "
A Million Ways
"A Million Ways" is a song by American rock band OK Go from their album '' Oh No''. It was the first song from the album to be released as a single and became the band's breakthrough song because the accompanying music video went viral on the Inte ...
". The viral music video, filmed by the band in Kulash's back yard, was nominated for Best Music Video at the
2006 MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards 2006 were held in Copenhagen at the Bella Center. The outside stage hosted a concert that featured The Killers, Keane and Snoop Dogg.
Presenters included Fat Joe, Timbaland and Moby. Notable events during the ceremony ...
.
The next music video that she did with the band, also OK Go's most popular one, was "
Here It Goes Again
"Here It Goes Again" is a song by American rock band OK Go, the fifth single released from their second studio album, '' Oh No'' (2005). It was the band's only single to chart on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 until " I Won't Let You Down" in Nove ...
" which she created, choreographed, produced and directed with the band in 2006. The "treadmill dance" video was inspired, she said in 2010, by her noticing that "people were marching sort of in sync on their treadmills. ...
was like they were all in this unwitting choreography together." The video, which has had over 50 million plays on YouTube since being posted in July 2006, was performed live at the
2006 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 31, 2006, honoring the best music videos from June 11, 2005, to June 26, 2006. The show was hosted by Jack Black at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The 2006 Video Music Awards marked th ...
and won a 2007
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for
best short-form music video. Sie conceived the idea for the treadmill video, and she and the band shot it at her home dance studio using a friend's borrowed video camera.
In 2010, Sie teamed up again with OK Go to create, direct and choreograph the music video for "
White Knuckles". The video in yet another single uninterrupted shot, has the band dancing with 12 trained (and rescued) dogs, a variety of furniture pieces and one goat. The video, which garnered more than a million hits in the first 24 hours after it was posted online, has its proceeds from the project benefit the
ASPCA
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective mea ...
's animal rescue efforts.
In 2011, Sie teamed up with OK Go and modern dance troupe
Pilobolus
''Pilobolus'' is a genus of fungi that commonly grows on herbivore dung.
Life cycle
The life cycle of ''Pilobolus'' begins with a black sporangium that has been discharged onto a plant substrate such as grass. A herbivorous animal such as a ho ...
for the song "
All Is Not Lost", which features the band and members of the troupe in blue leotards crawling, wiggling and tumbling across a glass surface while the camera beneath looks upward toward the ceiling. The video was released as an interactive
HTML5
HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...
application designed for the
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
Chrome Experiment. The HTML5 version was posted to website "allisnotlo.st" in addition to a traditional video posted on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
. The interactive HTML5 version allows the user to enter a custom message that is embedded into the finale of the video. The video has been nominated for a Grammy Award in 2012 in the category of
Best Short Form Music Video
The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...
. She also participated in Phoenixville
TEDx
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
conference during 2011.
In 2012, Sie conceived the idea for the music video for "Skyscrapers", a song off the OK Go album
Of the Blue Colour of the Sky
''Of the Blue Colour of the Sky'' is the third studio album by American rock band OK Go. It was released on January 12, 2010 on Capitol Records in the USA and EMI in the UK, and re-released on the band's independent label Paracadute Records on ...
, which incorporates the
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
also performed by Sie. The Skyscrapers video was adapted for the stage by Sie and
Pilobolus
''Pilobolus'' is a genus of fungi that commonly grows on herbivore dung.
Life cycle
The life cycle of ''Pilobolus'' begins with a black sporangium that has been discharged onto a plant substrate such as grass. A herbivorous animal such as a ho ...
and premiered at the
Joyce Theatre in New York City, July 2012.
In 2016, she directed the music video for OK Go's "
Upside Down & Inside Out," which was shot entirely in weightlessness aboard a Russian
aircraft simulating zero gravity by flying in parabolic maneuvers. Sie has called this "her most ambitious and challenging project yet." The video garnered more than 25 million views in its first day online on Facebook as well as Trish's third Grammy nomination and the
Smithsonian Magazine
''Smithsonian'' is the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first issue was published in 1970.
History
The history of ''Smithsonian'' began when Edward K. Thompson, the retired editor of ''Life'' maga ...
's Ingenuity Award.
Filmography
Film
* ''
The Future'' (2011) – additional choreographer
* ''
God Bless America
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run up to World War II in 1938. The later version was notably recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature s ...
'' (2011) – choreographer
* ''
Step Up: All In'' (2014) – director
* ''
Pitch Perfect 3
''Pitch Perfect 3'' is a 2017 American musical comedy film directed by Trish Sie and written by Kay Cannon and Mike White. A sequel to ''Pitch Perfect 2'' (2015) and the third and final installment in the ''Pitch Perfect'' franchise, the film f ...
'' (2017) – director
* ''
The Sleepover
''The Sleepover'' is a 2020 American action comedy film directed by Trish Sie, from a screenplay by Sarah Rothschild. It stars Sadie Stanley, Maxwell Simkins, Ken Marino, Cree Cicchino, Lucas Jaye, Karla Souza, Enuka Okuma, Erik Griffin, Joe Mang ...
'' (2020) – director
Television
* ''
Kirby Buckets
''Kirby Buckets'', also known as ''Kirby Buckets Warped'' in the third season, is an American comedy television series that aired on Disney XD from October 20, 2014 to February 2, 2017. Although a live-action series, the series also includes ani ...
'' (2017) – director: 2 episodes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sie, Trish
American choreographers
American music video directors
American women film directors
Grammy Award winners
Living people
University of Pennsylvania alumni
OK Go
National Cathedral School alumni
1971 births
Comedy film directors