# JT Mollner

JT Mollner is an American filmmaker and former actor. He is best known for writing and directing the Western film Outlaws and Angels (2016) and the thriller film Strange Darling (2023).

## Early life

JT Mollner was born in Las Vegas, the son of former singer Ginnie and former dancer Duke Mollner. His parents met while working at the Dunes in the 1960s, where Duke later became a card dealer. Mollner has an older brother named Daniel. He was a cinephile from an early age, and was also interested in adult novels and writing. He credits his aunt Deanna Mollner, who lived in Los Angeles in the 1970s and "ran around with the likes of Jack Nicholson and Roman Polanski", for introducing him to the films of Polanski as well as Stanley Kubrick and Federico Fellini. He has said that he always knew he wanted to be a filmmaker, though he felt it was not an option for him as his older brother had already attended the UCLA Film School.
In 1976, Mollner's father and brother began operating the Freakling Brothers haunted house company from their home in Las Vegas. Mollner had become involved with the company by the age of five, later stating in 2015 that "it was a great household to be from, because you're instantly the most popular kid in school". The company is now best known for its "Gates of Hell" attraction, which became Las Vegas' first R-rated haunted house. To this day, Mollner takes three months off from filmmaking around Halloween each year to return to Las Vegas and help his family run the business.

## Career

In 2005, after ending a year-long starring role in a stage production of Tony n' Tina's Wedding at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, Mollner moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry. Believing his dream to direct films was a long shot, he did not pursue it immediately, instead taking small acting jobs to pay the bills while writing screenplays in his spare time. He soon became frustrated with acting in LA, explaining in an interview that he was tired of "being a tool in someone else's vision... having to read lines from someone else's script [while] wanting to be doing what [the directors] are doing". He began looking for a director for a short film he had written, but his producing partner convinced him to direct it. He directed several commercials and music videos over the next decade, as well as writing and directing a series of short films such as The Red Room (2008) and Henry John and the Little Bug (2009). He directed his father and brother in the short film Sugartown (2011) and directed Dee Wallace in the short film Flowers in December (2015).
Mollner began writing a script for his first feature film in 2010, with the intention of making a film reminiscent of 1970s Westerns. Deciding to wait until he could cast well-known actors, while insisting on using film stock and vintage cameras rather than digital cameras, Outlaws and Angels would be in the development stage for nearly five years. When production finally began in 2015, Mollner was accompanied by cinematographer Matthew Irving, who would become instrumental in providing the classic look Mollner wanted to achieve. The duo contacted Kodak about supplying VISION3 500T Color Negative Film 5219, an uncommon film type due to the grain caused by its slower speed, which served Mollner and Irving well in emulating the 1970s look. The movie was shot entirely on Kodak film using two Panaflex Platinum cameras, a Steadicam, and a variety of vintage lenses. Outlaws and Angels premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. It was featured as Sundance's midnight selection. It appeared at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 14, 2016, and was released in theaters and VOD on July 15, 2016, receiving critical acclaim.
Mollner next wrote and directed the thriller film Strange Darling (2023), which was released to critical acclaim.

## Filmography

Short film :
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
| 2008 | The Red Room | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2009 | Henry John and the Little Bug | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2011 | Sugartown | Yes | Story | Yes |
| 2015 | Flowers In December | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2019 | After Emma | No | No | Yes |
Feature film :
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
| 2016 | Outlaws and Angels | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2023 | Strange Darling | Yes | Yes | No |
| TBA | The Long Walk | No | Yes | No |