# Peter Spears

Peter Spears (born November 29, 1965) is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. Spears is best known for winning an Oscar for producing Nomadland (2020), and for producing film Call Me by Your Name (2017). He directed the underground cult-favorite short film Ernest and Bertram, which portrayed Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie as gay lovers, and developed the television series Nightmare Cafe and John from Cincinnati.

## Career

In 2020, Spears founded his own production company, Cor Cordium. The company has multiple projects in development across film and television. Recent films include Queer and Bones and All, directed by Luca Guadagnino, and Drift, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Upcoming work includes On Swift Horses, directed by Daniel Minahan and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Diego Calva, Will Poulter and Sasha Calle, which will be released April 25, 2025 by Sony Pictures Classics.
Spears's most successful production is Nomadland, which won an Oscar at the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony in 2021. The film also won the BAFTA, Golden Globe, PGA Award, and the Golden Lion at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. Spears also produced the critically acclaimed 2017 film Call Me by Your Name, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He directed the underground cult-favorite short film Ernest and Bertram, which portrayed Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie as gay lovers in a loose parody of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour.
In addition to his career as a film director and producer, Spears is also an actor, appearing in films such as Call Me By Your Name, Something's Gotta Give, The Opposite of Sex, and Father of the Bride Part II, as well as several television series, including Friends and E.R. He was most recently seen in the film Sublet.
Spears also co-founded OutSet: The Young Filmmakers Project, a collaboration between the Outfest Film Festival and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The 6-month film lab selects a group of diverse 16-to-24-year-old emerging filmmakers to share their stories through film, by embarking on courses in screenwriting, pre-production, production and post-production, mentored by industry experts. The program culminates in the filmmakers' final thesis projects presented at the Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.

## Personal life

Spears is married to talent agent Brian Swardstrom, and the couple splits their time between upstate New York and California.

## Filmography
### As actor
#### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Father of the Bride Part II | Dr. Wagner | — |
| 1998 | The Opposite of Sex | Dr. Allen | — |
| 2003 | Something's Gotta Give | Danny Benjamin | — |
| 2017 | Call Me by Your Name | Isaac | Also producer |
| 2020 | Nomadland | Peter | Also producer |
| 2020 | Sublet | David | |

#### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1991 | Pink Lightning | Greg | TV movie |
| 1992 | Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story | Student Proctor | TV movie |
| 1992 | Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story | Peter | TV movie |
| 1993 | Quantum Leap | Doug Bridges / Reiser | Episode: "Dr. Ruth" |
| 1993 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Robert Benchley | Episode: "Young Indiana Jones and the Scandal of 1920" |
| 1993 | Café Americain | Mark Durgin | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1994 | Matlock | Barry Feldman | Two episodes |
| 1994 | Cries from the Heart | Jeff | TV movie |
| 1996 | ER | — | Episode: "Baby Shower" |
| 1996 | Friends | Joel | Episode: "The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding" |
| 1997 | The Love Bug | Young Dr. Stumpfel | TV movie |
| 1999 | Love Boat: The Next Wave | Jeff Blessing | Episode: "Blind Love" |
| 2001 | Some of My Best Friends | Terry | Two episodes |
| 2004 | CSI: Miami | Josh Dalton | Episode: "Deadline" |

### As writer

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2002 | Ernest and Bertram | Short film also director |

### As director

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2002 | Ernest and Bertram | Short film directorial debut |
| 2007 | Careless | — |

### As producer
#### Film

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1996 | Scream, Teen, Scream! | Short film |
| 2014 | Until We Could | Short film |
| 2017 | Call Me by Your Name | Won - Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay / Nominated – Academy Award for Best Picture |
| 2020 | Nomadland | Won – Academy Award for Best Picture |
| 2022 | Bones and All | |
| 2023 | Drift | |
| 2024 | Queer | Executive producer |
| 2024 | On Swift Horses | |

#### Television

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1992 | Nightmare Café | Co-developer Creative consultant Executive producer |
| 2007 | John from Cincinnati | Co-developer Creative consultant Executive producer |