CHRIS WEITZ
Date of Birth: 1969
Born in New York, Chris and fellow screenwriter/brother Paul share a hollywood ancestry,
including a grandfather agent, Paul Kohner, an Oscar-nominated actress mother, Susan
Kohner, and fashion designer father, John Weitz.
Chris crossed the pond for his education, receiving his Bachelors and Masters degrees
in English Literature at Cambridge College. He remained in England following school and
worked as a journalist for several newspapers, including The Sunday Times and The
Independent.
His interest drifted from journalism to diplomatic corps, which required him to take a
number of foreign service exams. While waiting for the green light by the State
Department (which took a year), Chris passed the time by working on screenplays with
his brother.
Their first full length feature attempt was Antz (1998). The computer animated story
about the rebellion of one ant made a good showing at the box office, but struggled
against the Disney release A Bug's Life, which came out only weeks after Antz (1998). Chris
and his brother got back to work on their next two scripts Clockstoppers (1999), and
the sequel to Eddie Murphy's Nutty Professor, The Klumps (2000).
For the start of the new millennium, Chris decided to take on a different challenge,
this time behind the camera as director of Down To Earth (2001). His next film, About A Boy (2002), earned him much acclaim, including an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Most recently, Chris wrote and directed the highly anticipated The Golden Compass (2007), based on the best-selling novels by Philip Pullman.
Filmography (director):
The Golden Compass (2007)
About A Boy (2002)
Down To Earth (2001)
American Pie (1999) (uncredited)
Filmography (writer):
The Golden Compass (2007)
About A Boy (2002)
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) (screenplay)
Clockstoppers (1999)
Antz (1998)