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Valerie Heather Weiss is an American filmmaker and producer.
Valerie Weiss | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Princeton University Harvard Medical School |
| Occupation | Filmmaker Producer |
| Spouse | Robert Johnson |
| Website | www |
Early life edit
Valerie Weiss is a filmmaker and scientist. She grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Princeton University, where she majored in molecular biology. She got a Ph.D. in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology and a master's degree in medical sciences from Harvard Medical School. While at Harvard, she founded and was the filmmaker-in-residence and festival director of the Dudley House Film Program, the organization's film program for graduate students from 1999 to 2003.[1] Later she was accepted to the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women, where she made a sci-fi social satire film called Transgressions.[1]
PhD Productions edit
In 2004 Weiss founded PhD Productions, a film company, with her husband Robert Johnson.[2]
Personal life edit
Valerie met her future husband Robert Johnson at Princeton as cast members in the production of Cyrano de Bergerac.[3]
Critical response edit
This section contains content that is written like an advertisement. (August 2023) |
Weiss directed the "Ad Astra Per Aspera" episode in Season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.[4]
Before directing Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Weiss directed episodes of the first three seasons of Outer Banks (TV series) and her fourth feature film, Mixtape, for Netflix.[5] Mixtape, starring Julie Bowen, Gemma Allen, and Nick Thune received a 100% Fresh score from Rotten Tomatoes as well as being listed as one of the top family films of 2021 by the Washington Post and Common Sense Media.[6]
Weiss has directed Mixtape, a family dramedy about grief, and her third feature, The Archer, a feminist action film about the Kids for Cash scandal in the private prison system. The Archer premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival.[7]
Of Weiss's second feature, A Light Beneath Their Feet, critic John Anderson says in his Thompson on Hollywood Indiewire review, "Not only does director Valerie Weiss's latest effort straddle several genres simultaneously—among them, the coming-of-age drama and the social critique—it also features a pair of break-out performances: Madison Davenport, who plays high-schooler Beth Gerringson; and Taryn Manning ("Orange Is the New Black"), who plays Beth's mother, Gloria ... Manning, under Weiss's direction, puts a spin on Gloria that distinguishes her from similarly unstable characters."[8]
A Light Beneath Their Feet also received a review from The Hollywood Reporter, calling it, "A sensitive and moving depiction of a family dealing with mental illness." "Featuring standout performances by Taryn Manning as a woman with bipolar disorder and Madison Davenport as her teenage daughter grappling with whether to take flight, A Light Beneath Their Feet will strike particular chords among the many who have had similar personal experiences."[9]
Matt Fagerholm of RogerEbert.com called A Light Beneath Their Feet a "triumph of empathetic filmmaking" and said, "Regardless of the genre she happens to be tackling, Valerie Weiss is remarkably gifted at portraying the complexity of human relationships."[10]
Filmography edit
Director
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - episode #12: "Ad Astra per Aspera" |
| 2023 | Outer Banks - episode #6: "The Dark Forest" episode #8: "Tapping the Rudder" |
| 2022 | Echoes - episode #7: "Falls" |
| 2022 | Monarch - episode #2: "There Can Only Be One Queen" episode #5: "Death and Christmas" |
| 2021 | Mixtape |
| 2021 | Outer Banks - episode #5: "The Darkest Hour" |
| 2020 | Outer Banks - episode #7: "Dead Calm" episode #8: "The Runway" |
| 2019 | Prodigal Son - episode #10: "Silent Night" |
| Why Women Kill - episode #4: "You Had Me at Homicide" | |
| For the People - episode #18: "Moral Suasion" | |
| The Resident - episode #27: "Virtually Impossible" | |
| The Rookie - episode #16: "Greenlight" | |
| 2018 | How to Get Away with Murder - episode #63: "The Baby Was Never Dead" |
| Impulse - episode #6: "In Memoriam" | |
| Scandal - episode #119: "Air Force Two" | |
| The Librarians - episode #39: "And a Town Called Feud" | |
| 2017-19 | Suits episode #98: "Home to Roost" episode #113: "Good Mudding" episode #120: "Whale Hunt" |
| 2017-18 | Chicago Med episode #37: "Ctrl Alt" episode #47: "Ties That Bind" episode #69: "Play By My Rules" |
| 2017 | Chicago P.D. - episode #93: "Monster" |
| The Archer | |
| 2016 | An American Girl Story: Maryellen 1955 Extraordinary Christmas |
| 2015 | A Light Beneath Their Feet |
| 2011 | Losing Control |
| 2009 | In the Mix |
| 2006 | Transgressions |
| 2004 | I Love You |
| 2003 | Dance By Design |
Producer
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2015 | A Light Beneath Their Feet |
| 2014 | Bread and Butter |
| 2011 | Losing Control |
| 2004 | I Love You |
Writer
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2011 | Losing Control |
| 2004 | I Love You |
| 2003 | Dance By Design |
Actress
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2003 | Dance By Design |
References edit
- ^ a b Doody, Jennifer. "A Conversation with Valerie Weiss, PhD '01". Harvard University: The GSAS Bulletin. Harvard University. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
- ^ Road Trip, Nation. "Valerie's Open Road". Road Trip Nation. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
- ^ Weddings, NYT (30 September 2001). "WEDDINGS; Valerie Weiss, Robert Johnson". NYT Weddings. New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2001.
- ^ Orquiola, John (27 June 2023). "'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Director On Making Season 2, Episode 2 An All-Time Great". screenrant.com. Screen Rant. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Hemphill, Jim (1 December 2021). "'"Family Was Always On Set": Valerie Weiss on Mixtape, COVID Rehearsals and Why Directing TV is Great". filmmakermagazine.com. Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ Bozdech, Betsy (28 December 2021). "'Common Sense Media's 18 best family films of 2021". washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Hunter, Rob (14 March 2017). "'Review – 'The Archer' Delivers Thrills, Social Commentary, and a Dash of Exploitation". filmschoolrejects.com. Film School Rejects. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
- ^ Anderson, John (11 December 2015). "Orange Is the New Black' Star Taryn Manning's New Indie Says Something Novel About Bipolar Disorder". Thompson on Hollywood. Indiewire. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ Scheck, Frank (27 May 2016). "'A Light Beneath Their Feet': Film Review: A sensitive and moving depiction of a family dealing with mental illness". hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
- ^ Fagerholm, Matt (6 May 2016). "'A Light Beneath Their Feet': Film Review". rogerebert.com. Roger Ebert. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ^ Weiss, Valerie. "Valerie Weiss". IMDB. Retrieved 23 November 2015.