Brett Simon

Infobox actor


imagesize = 180px
name = Brett Simon
birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1973|11|28
location = Palo Alto, California
yearsactive = 2001 - present
occupation = Film director, commercial director, music video director
website = http://www.brettsimon.com|

Brett Simon (born November 28, 1973 in Palo Alto, California) is an American commercial, music video and film director.

Career

Simon graduated from Princeton University "summa cum laude" in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative Literature and Creative Writing, and later graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Art Practice.cite web| url = http://www.independentexposure.com/filmmaker/493/Brett_Simon.html| title = Brett Simon| accessdate = 2008-04-14| publisher = Independent Exposure] He also earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Film Studies at UC Berkeley in 2003. Before graduating, in 2001, he wrote, directed, edited and produced the short film "Counterfeit Film", which showed at the Telluride Film Festival, South by Southwest and RESFest and has been archived at the Pacific Film Archive at UC Berkeley, as well as winning numerous awards. In 2005, he wrote, directed, edited and produced the short film "The Sailor's Girl", which screened at the Sundance Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival. [cite web| url = http://www.sundance.org/festival/film_events/details1.asp?filmid=08F0169| title = Assassination of a High School President| accessdate = 2008-04-14| publisher = Sundance Film Festival] After making a number of short films, he became an accomplished music video director, working on the videos for The Killers' "Somebody Told Me", Polar Bear's "Belly", The Joggers' "Hot Autism", Unwritten Law's "Save Me", Good Charlotte's "The Chronicles of Life and Death", Lostprophets' "A Town Called Hypocrisy", Sugarcult's "Do It Alone" and Queens of the Stone Age's "Sick, Sick, Sick". [cite web| url = http://flux.net/who-is-brett-simon| title = Who is Brett Simon| accessdate = 2008-04-14| author = Meg Wells| date = 1 March, 2008| publisher = Flux.net]

In 2008, Simon directed his first feature film, the Catholic school noir "Assassination of a High School President", based on Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski's script. As a first-time filmmaker, studios were reluctant to let him direct due to his lack of experience on films that ran longer than five minutes – a point that had also cost him a directing job on "Juno" – but he convinced them to hire him. "Assassination of a High School President" has premiered at the South by Southwest and Sundance Film Festivals. [cite web| url = http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/03/22/sxsw-movie-review-the-assassination-of-a-high-school-president/| title = SXSW Movie Review: The Assassination of a High School President| accessdate = 2008-04-14| author = Mel Valentin| date = 22 March, 2008| publisher = /Film] [cite web| url = http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/01/25/sundance-movie-review-assassination-of-a-high-school-president/| title = Sundance Movie Review: Assassination of a High School President| accessdate = 2008-04-14| author = Peter Sciretta| date = 25 January, 2008| publisher = /Film]

Since 1998, Simon has been teaching film history, film theory and video production at UC Berkeley. In between jobs, he has also had journalism stints at the "Kitchen Sink", "Speak", "Fabula" magazines.

Personal life

Simon graduated from Gunn High School in 1992.cite web| url = http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2008-1-25-high-school-assassination| title = Director graduates to big leagues| accessdate = 2008-04-14| author = Bruce Newman| date = 25 January, 2008| publisher = "Palo Alto Daily News"] His mother is Joan Simon and his father is Jack Simon, a Los Altos, California psychiatrist. He currently lives in Venice, Los Angeles. [cite web| url = http://filmstudies.berkeley.edu/student_interests.html| title = Selected Graduate Student Interests| accessdate = 2008-04-14| publisher = University of California, Berkeley] He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, in which he became friends with Donald Sutherland's son Roeg Sutherland.

References

External links

*imdb name|1843195
* [http://www.brettsimon.com Brett Simon official website]