Drake Doremus (born March 29, 1983) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer best known for directing the films Like Crazy (2011), which won the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic[1] at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival,[2] Douchebag (2010), which was in Dramatic competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival,[3] and Equals (2015).[4]

Drake Doremus
Drake Doremus at the 2011 London Film Festival
Born (1983-03-29) March 29, 1983 (age 41)
EducationAmerican Film Institute (MFA)
Occupation(s)Film director, writer, producer

Career

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Doremus studied directing at the AFI Conservatory, being the youngest fellow ever accepted into the film school.[5] Doremus' mother, Cherie Kerr, was a founding member of the legendary L.A. The Groundlings. Doremus grew up on Kerr's stage, performing with the Orange County Crazies, starting at the age of six as an improv comedy player. He went on to produce and direct for that organization, including his own original works.[citation needed] At the recommendation of a talent agent in 2008, Doremus was introduced to producer Jonathan Schwartz, who would produce his subsequent four films.[6]

His 2011 film Like Crazy has been described as loosely inspired by his real life experiences.[7] It stars Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, and Jennifer Lawrence.[8] Most of the dialogue in the film was improvised, with only a 50-page detailed outline as a script.[9] The film was shot in a month on only a $250,000 budget, and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.[9]

In 2012, Doremus directed a six-part social film for Intel and Toshiba called The Beauty Inside. It was written by Richard Greenberg, and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Topher Grace.[10][11] The series earned him a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding New Approaches - Original Daytime Program or Series.[12] In June 2013, his film Breathe In[13] starring Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Amy Ryan, and Mackenzie Davis[14] opened the Edinburgh International Film Festival EIFF.[15] Doremus directed the 2015 science-fiction romantic drama film Equals, written by Nathan Parker based on a story by Doremus and starring Kristen Stewart, Nicholas Hoult, Guy Pearce, and Jacki Weaver.[16]

In 2017, Doremus directed and produced the romantic drama Newness, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.[17][18] The film reunites Doremus with Nicholas Hoult, who starred in his previous film Equals. It also stars Laia Costa.[19] He again forayed into science-fiction romance with Zoe, written by Richard Greenberg and released by Amazon Studios on July 20, 2018.[20] It stars Léa Seydoux, Ewan McGregor, Theo James, Rashida Jones, Matthew Gray Gubler, Miranda Otto, and Christina Aguilera.[21][22][23][24] Doremus directed the advertisement for Hugo Boss' "The Scent Private Accord" perfume, starring Jamie Dornan.[25]

Doremus frequently collaborates with Ben York Jones, who co-wrote Like Crazy and Breathe In with Doremus, and wrote Newness. York Jones produced Douchebag and Newness, and appeared as an actor in Spooner, Douchebag, Like Crazy, and The Beauty Inside. In addition, he received special thanks on Equals.[26] Doremus is also a frequent collaborator with actor Matthew Gray Gubler, who has had roles in Newness, Zoe, and Endings, Beginnings.

Future work

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It was announced that Doremus is teaming with Amazon to co-executive produce and direct a television series based on Jardine Libaire's book White Fur.[27][28] Doremus is set to direct another romantic drama entitled Aurora, produced by CJ Entertainment.[29] It was also announced that Doremus has signed a two-year deal with Paramount Television to develop new projects and direct existing projects.[12]

Personal life

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Doremus' film Like Crazy was inspired by his own long-distance relationship and marriage. In an interview with IndieWire, he said:

I'm a divorcee. I got married to this woman to try and get her back, I went through the visa stuff, to try and get her back in the States ... I'd spent so much time here, visiting someone when I was in a long-distance relationship, so I was so familiar with what it feels like to be jet-lagged, and only be here for 5 days, and try to be romantic, and try to fit in the love, and try to relive what we were going through, while taking in a new city, and being nine hours ahead. That relationship was from 2001 to 2008. she was in the US from 2001-2004, so from 04-08 it was back and forth, four years of long distance.[9]

Doremus lives in London and Los Angeles with his wife, artist Triana de Lamo Terry and daughter Tallulah.

Filmography

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Doremus with Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult at the premiere of Equals, 2015

Feature films

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Year Title Director Writer Producer
2006 Moonpie Yes Yes No
2008 Spooner Yes Story No
2010 Douchebag Yes Yes No
2011 Like Crazy Yes Yes No
2013 Breathe In Yes Yes No
2015 Equals Yes Story No
2017 Newness Yes No Yes
2018 Zoe Yes No Yes
2019 Endings, Beginnings Yes Yes Yes

Music videos

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Year Song Artist Notes
2009 "Ten Thousand Years" Goddamn Electric Bill[30] Director/writer
2018 "Diabolo Menthe" Soko[31] Director

Awards and nominations

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Year[32] Film Association Award Result
2009 Spooner Newport Beach Film Festival Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking Won
Sonoma Valley Film Festival Best Lounge Feature Won
2010 Douchebag Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Nominated
2011 Like Crazy Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Most Promising Filmmaker Nominated
2013 The Beauty Inside Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding New Approaches - Original Daytime Program or Series Won
2013 Breathe In AFI Fest Audience Award Nominated
Chicago International Film Festival Audience Choice Award Nominated
Deauville Film Festival Grand Special Prize Nominated
2015 Equals Venice Film Festival Soundtrack Stars Award Won
Golden Lion Nominated
Green Drop Award Nominated
2016 Jameson CineFest - Miskolc International Film Festival International Ecumenical Award Nominated
Cleveland International Film Festival Best American Independent Feature Film Nominated

References

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  1. ^ Puig, Claudiia, "'Like Crazy' wins Sundance Grand Jury Prize", USA Today, January 30, 2011
  2. ^ Hynes, Eric, "2011 Festival Awards" Archived 2014-05-13 at the Wayback Machine, sundance.org, January 29, 2011
  3. ^ "Douchebag: Drake Doremus 2009" Archived 2011-12-29 at the Wayback Machine, Sundance 2010 report
  4. ^ Equals (2015), retrieved 2017-07-19
  5. ^ Shetty, Sharan, [1], Chicago Maroon, October 31, 2011
  6. ^ Lebowitz, Steven (November 11, 2011). "'Like Crazy' interview with producer Jonathan Schwartz". AXS TV. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  7. ^ "Like Crazy director Drake Doremus gets into real long-distance love". Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly. 2011-11-16. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  8. ^ Like Crazy (2011), retrieved 2017-07-19
  9. ^ a b c Lyttelton, Oliver (2011-10-26). "LFF '11: Drake Doremus Says He Shot 'Like Crazy' For $250,000 On A $1,500 Still Camera". IndieWire. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  10. ^ The Beauty Inside (TV Mini-Series 2012– ), retrieved 2017-07-19
  11. ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (21 September 2012). "Watch: All 6 Episodes Of Drake Doremus Directed Web Series 'The Beauty Inside' With Mary Elizabeth Winstead | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  12. ^ a b Petski, Denise (2018-05-08). "'Like Crazy' Director Drake Doremus Inks Overall Deal With Paramount TV". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  13. ^ "Breathe in". IMDb.
  14. ^ Breathe In (2013), retrieved 2017-07-19
  15. ^ "Home". edfilmfest.org.uk.
  16. ^ "Drake Doremus' Futuristic Love Story 'Equals' Sweet on Jacki Weaver". 16 July 2014.
  17. ^ Lee, Ashley (January 9, 2017). "Sundance Adds Donald Trump Doc, Drake Doremus' 'Newness' to Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  18. ^ "Newness". Sundance Film Festival. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  19. ^ Newness (2017), retrieved 2017-07-19
  20. ^ Doremus, Drake (2017-07-17). "Next year for sure. Still knee deep in making it right now but we are very excited about it!https://twitter.com/betralha/status/886994692633755649 …". @drakedoremus. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  21. ^ "Christina Aguilera, Rashida Jones Join Drake Doremus' 'Zoe'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  22. ^ Zoe (2018), retrieved 2017-07-19
  23. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (2017-01-21). "Ewan McGregor Replacing Charlie Hunnam In Drake Doremus-Directed 'Zoe'". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  24. ^ McNary, Dave (2017-05-01). "Christina Aguilera, Theo James, Rashida Jones Join Sci-Fi Romance 'Zoe'". Variety. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  25. ^ Jamie DornanOnline (2018-09-01), Boss The Scent Private Accord (Full advert/short film), retrieved 2018-09-08
  26. ^ "Ben York Jones". IMDb. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  27. ^ "'Like Crazy' Director Sets Amazon TV Series 'White Fur'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  28. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (2017-07-18). "FilmNation Sells TV Drama 'White Fur' To Amazon With Drake Doremus Attached To Direct". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  29. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (2018-05-09). "Drake Doremus To Direct Romantic-Drama 'Aurora' For Korean Powerhouse CJ Entertainment — Cannes". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  30. ^ "Douchebag" Archived 2011-09-20 at the Wayback Machine, moviefone.com, December 12, 2009
  31. ^ Marine, Brooke. "Video Premiere: Soko Is Confronted with Her Exes in "Diablo Menthe" Cover". W Magazine. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  32. ^ "Drake Doremus". IMDb. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
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