01 June 2007

Young Filmmaker - Noah Baumbach

Noah Baumbach

Noah Baumbach was born in 1969. He has written, directed, and/or appeared in numerous films. His first film, Kicking and Screaming, about friends reluctantly graduating from college, premiered at the New York Film Festival in 1996 and claimed many accolades for a first film. After a few films in the late 1990s, Baumbach was more often seen as an author than filmmaker until his 2005 film, The Squid and the Whale. Largely autobiographical, the film starred Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels and earned Baumbach nominations for Independent Spirit and Academy Awards. His newest film, Margot at the Wedding, is expected to be released in 2007 and stars Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black, and John Turturro. His second collaboration with Wes Anderson, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, is in preproduction. Their previous collaboration, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, was released in 2004 and starred Bill Murray and Owen Wilson. Baumbach is the son of an author and a critic and grew up in New York.

From the June 2007 edition of eJournal USA.