Lisa Cholodenko

Lisa Cholodenko
Born	(1964-06-05) June 5, 1964 Los Angeles, California, USA
Occupation	Writer/director
Years active	1994–present

Lisa Cholodenko (born June 5, 1964) is an American film and television writer/director, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is best known for her highly acclaimed 2010 comedy-drama The Kids Are All Right which was nominated for a number of awards including four Academy Awards, Best Picture among them.

Life and career

Cholodenko grew up in a Jewish family (immigrants from Ukraine), in the San Fernando Valley. She got her start in the film industry in New York in the early 1990s. She landed positions as assistant editor on Boyz n the Hood and Used People. She then enrolled at Columbia University School of the Arts, earning an MFA in screenwriting and directing, where James Schamus was one of her professors at Columbia, who would later become the CEO of Focus Features.

Film

After writing and directing several acclaimed short films including Dinner Party, Cholodenko made her feature film debut with High Art. High Art won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival as well as the National Society of Film Critics award for Ally Sheedy's performance. Both High Art and her next film, Laurel Canyon, premiered at Cannes Director's Fortnight.

After completing Laurel Canyon, Cholodenko decided to move to LA permanently. While in the process of trying to conceive a child via anonymous sperm donor, she met with screenwriter Stuart Blumberg, who was a sperm donor in college. Together, they decided to write a screenplay, which would eventually become The Kids Are All Right. However, the project took five years to get to production. Filmed in 23 days, Cholodenko directed the film on a 3 million dollar budget, a much smaller amount than her fellow 2011 Oscar nominees. The Kids Are All Right garnered an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination, a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay nomination. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The film was also named best screenplay by the New York Film Critics Circle and won the Independent Spirit Award for best screenplay.

In 2010, she was awarded the Women in Film Dorothy Arzner Directors Award.

Television

Cholodenko has also worked in television, with her adaptation of the novel Cavedweller for Showtime earning Independent Spirit Award nominations for Kyra Sedgwick and Aidan Quinn. She also directed episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, Six Feet Under, The L Word and "Hung."

Personal life

Cholodenko is from a "liberal Jewish" family. Her grandparents emigrated from Ukraine. She is in a relationship with musician Wendy Melvoin. Cholodenko gave birth to their son, Calder, by way of an anonymous sperm donor. She also has two dogs, Rocket and Magnus.

Themes

Cholodenko has written all of three of her films, and there are some thematic similarities as a result. Each of them are psychological character studies, revolving around a small cast of characters, and as the films progress the audience observes how the characters interact amongst each other. Her films address the fluidity of human sexuality and desire, and Cholodenko's work has helped give the LGBTQ community visibility in mainstream culture.

Directorial style

Mark Ruffalo describes how working with Cholodenko was quite rewarding.

It takes a special kind of director to trust an actor, and to open themselves up to having an actor bring something that maybe wasn't what they saw or thought. Lisa is a rare director that knows actors, by the time you've finished your first week of shooting, probably know the characters better than the writer or the director. She creates a safe environment, and she casts well. She knows what to bring out of people. Because of that, you feel free to move and live between the lines. She lingers on a scene. She loves behavior. She's not afraid to explore. You're not getting, "Well, the line is actually... I really just want you to say the line like it is." It's not that formal. You get a chance to stretch yourself out. That's a fun way of working.

Controversy

Though The Kids Are All Right was generally applauded by critics and audiences alike, the film received differing opinions from the LGBTQ community, particularly for the plot device of a homosexual woman engaging in a heterosexual extra-marital affair. Some saw this as a trope used in mainstream Hollywood, citing films like Kissing Jessica Stein and Chasing Amy. However, many others defended Cholodenko's artistic choice, and found her approach realistic and well-handled.

Filmography

As Director

• Souvenir (1994)
• Dinner Party (1997)
• High Art (1998)
• Homicide: Life on the Street (episode: "The Same Coin") (1999)
• Six Feet Under (episode: "Familia") (2001)
• Push, Nevada (episode: "The Letter of the Law") (2002)
• Laurel Canyon (2002)
• Cavedweller (2004)
• The L Word (episode: "Lynch Pin") (2005)
• Hung (episode: "Beaverland") (2010)
• The Kids Are All Right (2010)

As Writer

• Souvenir (1994/II)
• Dinner Party (1997)
• High Art (1998)
• Laurel Canyon (2002)
• The Kids Are All Right (2010)

As Miscellaneous Crew

• Boyz n the Hood (1991) (post-production assistant)
• Used People (1992)
• The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995)
• Some of These Days (1996) (first assistant director)

As Editor

• Dinner Party (1997)

As Producer

• Souvenir (1994/II)
• Crawl (1994)

As Herself

• Intimate Portrait (episode: "Ally Sheedy") (1999) (TV)
• In the Company of Women (2004) (TV)
• Notes on the Death of Kodachrome (2006)

External links

• Antidote Films
• Interview with Lisa Cholodenko
• Lisa Cholodenko at IMDb