Sean Gullette
Sean Leland Sebastian Gullette (born June 4, 1968) is an American film director, writer, screenwriter, actor, and producer. Personal life. Gullette was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Margaret Morganroth Gullette a cultural critic and writer, and David George Gullette, a professor of English. He attended public schools and Harvard, where he acted in theater and films and directed plays. Gullette lives between New York City and Tangier, Morocco, and in addition to his film work is the founder of the 212 Society, a US non-profit which supports cultural and educational projects in Morocco, including The  Cinematheque de Tanger and Darna. The 212 Society takes its name from the 212 telephone codes of its home city and adoptive country. Gullette and artist Yto Barrada are married and have two daughters, Vega Violet Alia and Tamo Jasmin Ada. Acting. His professional work in film began in 1998, when he co-wrote and played the lead role in the award-winning "Pi", directed by longtime collaborator Darren Aronofsky. He has since played principal and supporting roles in some twenty films including Brad Anderson's "Happy Accidents" (with Vincent D'Onofrio and Marisa Tomei) and Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for  a Dream" (with Jennifer Connelly), the German film "Toskana Karrussel" (with Susanna Lothar) and as a guest actor on network TV dramas. His occasional theater work has included the lead in the New York premiere of Susan Sandler's "If I Were a Train". In 2010 he played principal roles in "Blue Ridge", directed by Vincent Sweeney, and "Die zwei Leben des Daniel Shore", with Nikolai Kinski and Morjana Alaoui, directed by Michael Dreher. In 2015 he played supporting roles in the film "Zanj Revolution", by Tariq Teguia and in 2013 "Rock the Casbah" by Laila Marrakshi. Gullette performs spoken  word pieces on the songs "Song of Alice" from Israeli-French singer Keren Ann's fourth album, "Nolita" on Blue Note/Capitol/EMI Records and on Northern Irish DJ and musician David Holmes's album "Bow Down to the Exit Sign". Screenwriting. His feature film screenwriting projects have included "Trinity", "Conviction", "Monopolis" and "Kilroy". He wrote and is a producer of "Thanksgiving", starring Yolonda Ross, James Urbaniak and Seymour Cassel. He wrote "New York Stories" for Donna Karan's DKNY, and directed the "Von Hummer the 1st" series of promotional spots for VH1, starring James Urbaniak. He produced Nicole Zaray 's gender-inverted short film "Joe's Day", featuring Deborah Harry. He has also consulted on screenplays for Warner Bros., Paramount, and independent productions. IMDB reports Gullette as the screenwriter of the upcoming Olivier Megaton film "Land of the Living". Film Directing. Gullette is slated to direct "Upland", adapted from the novel "Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids" by Nobel Prize–winning Japanese author Kenzaburō Ōe, for an upcoming international co-production. In 2019, Gullette directed two episodes of the ABC Television series "1969". Gullette wrote that "Was quite an adventure to direct this hour for ABC TV, which aired  in the spring and is now streaming. Thanks to EP Jeanmarie Condon, my segment producers Jesse Rosen and Jackie Filer, senior producer Erica Salit, editors Doug Quade and Alessandro Barnett and the team at Lincoln Square Productions. Despite the title, everyone signed on to resist the grotesque Manson Industry and instead listen closely to the stories of two fascinating — and very different — women who joined the group. Both Dianne Lake and Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme sat for powerful, revealing interviews. Our re-reading of the Manson myth is also carried by Peter Fonda, rock author Lizzy Goodman, VIBE editor Desiree Thompson , Woodstock founder Michael Lang, John Fogerty of Creedence, and Tariq Trotter of The Roots." In 2014, Gullette's first feature film, "Traitors", starring Chaimae Ben Acha, Soufia Issami, Mourade Zeguindi, Driss Roukhe and Saleh Bensaleh was released internationally. The film was shot on locations in Tangier, Morocco and the hashish producing Rif mountains. It made its world premiere at the 2013 Venice Film Festival , and screened in competition at the Stockholm Film Festival and at the Marrakech International Film Festival, the Dubai Film Festival, and the Tribeca Film Festival. The film was distributed by Rezo Films, Paris and in the  US by Film Movement. "Traitors" received positive reviews from critics and has a "Fresh" rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 7.1/10. Gullette was announced at the Cannes Film Festival as the writer-director of "Tangier", a film in-development set to star Kristin Scott Thomas and Jeremy Irons. "Tangier" will be produced by Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures. Gullette produced "The 8" with Sarah Riggs and Blaire Dessent; the film was selected for the 2010 Berlin Film Festival. He directed several short films from his own scripts. He produced "False Start" by Yto Barrada which  premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and went on to win a Tiger Award at the 2016 Rotterdam Film Festival and "Tree Identification for Beginners" also by Barrada which premiered at Rotterdam 2018. Other writing. Gullette's essays, journalism and fiction have been published in magazines including "The Face", "Spy", "Slate", "Bidoun", "Brill's Content", "Gear", "Entertainment Weekly", "Nejma", and "KGB" magazine (which he founded as editor and publisher in 1991.) His essay "Mile High" appears in the NYU Press' book "110 Stories: New York Writes After September 11", and his essay "Notes" appears in the Springer-Verlag anthology "Art , Technology, and Cinema." Awards and nominations. Rotterdam International Film Festival Nominated, Tiger Award 2014 Cyprus Film Days International Festival Nominated, Glocal Images Best Film Award for Traitors (2013) Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival Won, Spirit of the Independent Award Feature Film for Traitors (2013) Gijón International Film Festival Won, "Rellumes" Prize 2014 Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, US Nominated, Best Feature Film 2013 Bratislava International Film Festival Nominated, Grand Prix 2013 Marrakech International Film Festival Nominated, Best Director Nominated, Golden Star Best Feature Film for Traitors (2013) 2013 Stockholm Film Festival Nominated, Bronze Horse Best Film for Traitors (2013) 2013 Venice  Film Festival Nominated, Fedeora Award Best Film (Venice Days) for Traitors (2013) Won, Lina Mangiacapre Award - Special Mention 1999 Online Film & Television Association Nominated, OFTA Film Award Best Breakthrough Performance: Male for Pi (1998) Nominated, OFTA Film Award Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Actor for Pi (1998)