Todd Strauss-Schulson

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 (2012) and Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous (2013).

Todd Strauss-Schulson
Strauss-Schulson in September 2015
Born (1980-06-24) June 24, 1980
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation
  • Director
  • producer
  • screenwriter
  • cinematographer
  • editor
Years active1997–present

Early life

Strauss-Schulson was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City on June 24, 1980.[1] He has one younger sister named Caren.[2] Strauss-Schulson is Jewish and had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony.[3][4]

He attended Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, graduating in 2003.[5] Following his graduation, he moved to Los Angeles.[5]

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, where he directed the third season of MTV Whatever Things (2005). The series became the most popular show on MTV Asia, with an international audience of over 250 million people.[2] He has directed commercials for the Academy Awards and the Emmy Awards, and clients including Pepsi, Lipton, Mountain Dew, Twix, Nestlé, Microsoft, Old Spice, and Sierra Mist, among others.[6]

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, Canada.[6] Strauss-Schulson's first feature film, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas for New Line Cinema and Mandate Pictures, was released by Warner Bros. on November 4, 2011. The film starred Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris, and Patton Oswalt, and was met with a positive reaction from film critics.[7]

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.[8] The film stars Taissa Farmiga, Malin Åkerman, Nina Dobrev, Adam DeVine, Thomas Middleditch, Alia Shawkat, and Alexander Ludwig. It was released on October 9, 2015 in a limited release and through video on demand by Stage 6 Films.[9]

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.[10] The pilot was not ordered to series.[11]

Strauss-Schulson's third feature film as director is the comedy Isn't It Romantic for New Line Cinema, starring Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, DeVine, and Priyanka Chopra. The film was released by Warner Bros. on February 14, 2019.[12]

Filmography

Films

Television
Year Title Notes
2007 Ace of Cakes Episode "Great Scot"
2010 Naked But Funny TV movie
2011 CollegeHumor Originals Episode "Sorority Pillow Fight"
2012 Stevie TV Episode "#1.1"
2012 The Inbetweeners 3 episodes
2013 Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous 3 episodes
2013 Betas Episode "One on One"

Short films
Year Title Credited as
Director Writer Producer Editor Cinematographer
1997 Larceny Yes Yes Yes Yes
2005 Snap*Pop Yes Yes
2008 Mano-a-Mano Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
2011 The Master Cleanse Yes Yes Yes
2013 Valibation Yes Yes
2014 All's Fair Yes Yes Yes

References
  1. "Todd Strauss-Schulson Interview". Movies Online. November 2011. Archived from the original on 2016-02-21. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  2. Kiebus, Matt (November 4, 2011). "Interview: 'A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas' Director Todd Strauss-Schulson". Death and Taxes.
  3. Tewksbury, Drew (November 4, 2011). "'A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas' Director Todd Strauss-Schulson Talks Fake Penises, Baby Cocaine And Danny Trejo's Face". Pro Box Office.
  4. Bloom, Nate (November 7, 2011). "Jewish Stars". Cleveland Jewish News. Ever since his grandfather gave him a video camera for his bar mitzvah (after years of relentless pestering), Todd has been a one-man movie-making machine.
  5. Teixeira, Allison (November 3, 2011). "Alumnus directs feature film". Emerson College. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  6. "Todd Strauss-Schulson – Bio". ToddStraussSchulson.com.
  7. "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  8. Harvey, Dennis (March 14, 2015). "SXSW Film Review: 'The Final Girls'". Variety. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  9. Collins, Clark (August 3, 2015). "Taissa Farmiga and Nina Dobrev go back to camp in slasher comedy The Final Girls". Entertainment Weekly.
  10. Andreeva, Nellie (October 26, 2015). "TBS Orders, Casts Comedy Pilot From Todd Strauss-Schulson & Matt Fogel". Deadline Hollywood.
  11. Andreeva, Nellie (May 3, 2016). "Matt Fogel Comedy Pilot Not Going Forward At TBS, To Be Shopped Elsewhere". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  12. McNary, Dave (March 22, 2017). "Rebel Wilson's Romantic Comedy Draws Director Todd Strauss-Schulson". Variety. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
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