Aaron Katz (filmmaker)

Aaron Ott Katz

Aaron Katz (born October 29, 1981 in Portland, Oregon) is an award-winning independent American filmmaker.

High School and College

Aaron began his artistic career while attending Pacific Crest Community School in Portland, OR from 1994 to 2000. He is an avid Portland Trail Blazers fan and his favorite players are Brandon Roy, Joel Pryzbilla, Terry Porter, and Arvydas Sabonis. He experimented with a super 8mm camera, creating a number of short films with his classmate and friend Keegan DeWitt.

He pursued filmmaking further at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he met future collaborators Brendan McFadden, Marc Ripper, Andrew Reed, Chad Hartigan and others. He directed a number of short films on both Digital Video and 16mm film.

Mumblecore

Katz's breakthrough came when his first feature "Dance Party USA" (2006), premiered at the 2006 South by Southwest Film Festival. Katz wrote and directed the film for around $2,000 of his own money and shot for two weeks in his hometown of Portland with a small crew of friends. The film went on to play at numerous festivals all over the world and was listed as one of the "Top 10 Films of 2006" by the New York Sun.

Katz quickly followed up with "Quiet City" (2007). Using some of the same crew, and a similar budget, he shot the film in eight days in Brooklyn and again premiered the film at South by Southwest. The film features fellow filmmaker Joe Swanberg in a supporting role and the two were subsequently cited as two of the founding fathers of a new independent film movement called "mumblecore". "Quiet City" was released in theaters on August 31, 2007 and grossed $15,610 over its modest run.

Katz, as well as Erin Fisher, Cris Lankenau, Brendan McFadden and Ben Stambler were nominated for the John Cassevetes Award at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards, given to the best films produced for under $500,000, for "Quiet City"

Both his films were released on DVD as a double disc set from Benten Films on January 29, 2008.

Katz is currently developing the film Lay of the Land. Describing the picture, Katz revealed, "It’s about a jazz drummer - a black guy - and a white guy who’s a country musician. They’re living on the outskirts of Sacramento, in the early 1970s. The film is about their friendship. They’re getting closer to middle age and not really achieving what they thought they would. They’re just playing with house bands and not really doing anything exciting. Eventually, the country guy’s niece shows up in town, running away from her boyfriend. Shortly thereafter, her boyfriend arrives."

Filmography

Feature films as writer and director

• Dance Party USA (2006)
• Quiet City (2007)

Music videos

• "Bed of Mercy" by Keegan DeWitt

References

• Mumblecore Family Tree
• Benten Films website
• "Quiet City" at boxofficemojo

External links

• Aaron Katz at IMDb

• Interview (11/2007)
• Another One (09/2007)