Todd Solondz (; born October 15, 1959) is an American filmmaker and playwright known for his style of dark, socially conscious satire. Solondz's work has received critical acclaim for its commentary on the "dark underbelly of middle class American suburbia", a reflection of his own background in New Jersey. His work includes Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), Happiness (1998), Storytelling (2001), Palindromes (2004), Life During Wartime (2009), Dark Horse (2011), and Wiener-Dog (2016). He is also a professor at New York University.
Background Solondz was born in 1959 in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in its nearby suburbs. He wrote several screenplays while working as a delivery boy for the Writers Guild of America. Solondz earned his undergraduate degree in English from Yale and attended New York University's Master of Fine Arts program in film and television, but did not complete a degree.
During the early 1990s, Solondz worked at NYANA as a teacher of English as a second language to Russian immigrants in New York City and described the experience as positive.
Solondz is a Jewish atheist. In The A.V. Club article "Is There a God?", he answered the question "Well, me, I'm an atheist, so I don't really believe there is. But I suppose I could be proven wrong."
, Solondz lives in New York City, in Greenwich Village. He and his wife have two children.
Career
1980s Solondz's student short film Schatt's Last Shot was produced in 1985, and was shown at least once in 1986. The title character is a high schooler who wants to get into Stanford University, but his gym teacher hates him. The teacher fails him because he cannot make a shot in basketball. He has no luck with the girl of his dreams, but he wishes he was more like the coach, whom he challenges to a game of one-on-one.
In 1989 Solondz wrote and directed Fear, Anxiety & Depression, an episodic comedy about fledgling playwright Ira (played by Solondz) and his frustrating interactions with women. The film contains several musical interludes, including three songs written for the film. Stanley Tucci appears in one of his early roles as an old, disliked acquaintance of Ira, who takes up playwriting on a whim and becomes the toast of Off-Broadway.
1990s The frustrations of his first feature led Solondz to swear off further involvement with the industry. More than five years later, an attorney friend urged Solondz to give filmmaking another go, and promised partial finance for any project Solondz came up with. The result was 1995's Welcome to the Dollhouse, which went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. The dark comedy follows the travails of Dawn Wiener, a bespectacled, toothy, and shy 7th-grade girl who is mercilessly teased at school and treated to alternating contempt and neglect at home. It was distinct from most earlier films about adolescent abuse due to its complex characterization. It gave a balanced and sometimes sympathetic portrayal of the bully antagonist Brandon, and its depiction of Dawn, the ostensible protagonist and victim of the story, showed her as deeply flawed and sometimes cruel and selfish. The film was a major success among critics, and a moderate success at the box office. It was a festival hit, with screenings all over the world.
Solondz's next piece was Happiness (1998), a highly controversial film due to the themes explored in it, which range from rape, pedophilia, incest, suicide, and murder to a bizarre sexual phone caller. After the original distributor October Films dropped it, the film was distributed by Good Machine Releasing. The movie received numerous awards, including International Critics' Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and yielded strong critical praise for Solondz.
2000s In 2001, Solondz released Storytelling, which premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. It is a film separated into two parts, entitled "Fiction" and "Nonfiction." The two stories share two thematic elements, but deal with each in an autonomous manner. Solondz used this format because he wanted to "find a fresh structure, a fresh form, and a different way of tackling what may be identical geographical material."Interview at Salon.com, 1/30/2002 When Solondz initially presented the film to the MPAA, he was told that if he wished to receive a rating other than NC-17, he would have to remove a scene of explicit sex involving a white female and a black male. However, a clause in Solondz's contract allowed him to cover part of the actors with a bright red box. "For me it's a great victory to have a big red box, the first red box in any studio feature [...] it's right in your face: You're not allowed to see this in our country." Solondz did, however, remove a portion of the film (which has variously been reported as either a subplot of the second story, or a third story entirely) which contained a sex scene involving two male actors (one of whom was James Van Der Beek).Interview in The Guardian, 4/15/2005
Solondz's next film, Palindromes (2004), raised the eyebrows of many pundits and reviewers due to its themes of child molestation, statutory rape and abortion. Like all of Solondz's previous films, Palindromes is set in suburban New Jersey. It was released unrated in the US.
Life During Wartime (formerly known as Forgiveness) was produced by John Hart and Evamere Entertainment and released in 2009. Solondz said the film is a companion piece to Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse.Carl Swanson, "Somewhat Happily Ever After: Todd Solondz introduces forgiveness to his latest grim comedy, Life During Wartime," New York July 11, 2010: "'The first scene of this movie, it's shot exactly as if you're watching Happiness again. . . . But then I can subvert it and take it someplace else.'" Life During Wartime has characters in common with the two earlier films, but played by different actors and with loose continuity. Information about the characters in the film, and their differences from those of its predecessor Happiness, first emerged in August 2009. The film features Ally Sheedy, Renée Taylor, Paul Reubens, Ciarán Hinds, Shirley Henderson, Michael Lerner, Michael Kenneth Williams, Charlotte Rampling, Allison Janney, Rich Pecci and Chris Marquette.
The film debuted at the Telluride Film Festival in September 2009; it was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in August–September 2009, and it won the Osella award there for Best Screenplay.Venice Film Festival 66th edition awards
In 2009, Solondz became an adjunct professor on the faculty of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. , he is a tenured professor teaching classes on writing and directing.
2010s In July 2010, Solondz completed the script of his next film, Dark Horse, which was filmed in the fall of 2010. To Solondz's surprise, the Creative Artists Agency appreciated the script, the first time for a movie of his. Solondz commented that he realized this is because "there's no rape, there's no child molestation, there's no masturbation, and then I thought, "oh my god, why didn't I think of this years ago?"Exclusive: Todd Solondz's Next Picture 'Dark Horse' Shoots This Fall December 7, 2010Simone, "Dark Horse: il prossimo film di Todd Solondz," badtaste.it, July 12, 2010, retrieved July 15, 2010: "ho realizzato che non ci sono stupri, molestie ai bambini, non c'è masturbazione, e ho pensato 'oddio, perchè non li ho fatto anni fa?'."
On September 5, 2011, Dark Horse was presented at the Venice Film Festival. On October 14, 2011, Dark Horse made its European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. The film received a mixed reception. On April 23, 2012, Dark Horse was announced as the Closing Night selection for Maryland Film Festival 2012.
Wiener-Dog premiered at Sundance 2016. The film tells the story of a dog, as she travels from home to home. Amazon purchased the film at the festival. Starring an ensemble cast led by Ellen Burstyn, Kieran Culkin, Julie Delpy, Danny DeVito, Greta Gerwig, Tracy Letts, and Zosia Mamet, the film serves as a spin-off from Solondz's 1995 film Welcome to the Dollhouse, which also features the character of Dawn Wiener. It was released in the US on June 24, 2016, to positive reviews.
In 2017, it was reported that Penélope Cruz and Edgar Ramírez were attached to star Solondz's next film Love Child.
In 2018, Solondz premiered his debut play, titled Emma and Max. The production began previews October 1, opened on October 14, and ran through November 4. It starred Ilana Becker, Zonya Love, Matt Servitto, and Rita Wolf.
In May 2019, Solondz spent a week as the filmmaker in residence at the Centre for Film and Screen at the University of Cambridge.
2020s In 2021, Solondz was in the process of arranging financing for Love Child. He described the project as "my first movie with a plot and my first movie taking place in Texas", shaped by the Hollywood films that made him want to become a filmmaker. At this time, Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell were announced to star as the leads, in place of Cruz and Ramírez.
By 2024, it was reported that Charles Melton and Elizabeth Olsen were now cast to star in the main roles. Principal photography was scheduled to begin in late 2024 in New York City and Texas, but in June, the production was abruptly cancelled due to lack of funding.
Filmography Feature films Year Title Director Writer Notes 1989 Fear, Anxiety & Depression 1995 Welcome to the Dollhouse Also Producer 1998 Happiness 2001 Storytelling 2004 Palindromes 2009 Life During Wartime 2011 Dark Horse 2016 Wiener-Dog
Short films Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes 1984 Feelings Student film Babysitter 1986 Schatt's Last Shot Thesis film
Performances YearTitleRole1984FeelingsSensitive Young Man1987In TransitMusician1988Married to the MobThe Zany Reporter1986Schatt's Last ShotIra Ellis1989Fear, Anxiety & Depression1997As Good as It GetsMan on Bus1998HappinessDoorman
Recurring characters Character Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) Happiness (1998) Storytelling (2001) Palindromes (2004) Life During Wartime (2009) Dark Horse (2011) Wiener-Dog (2016) Dawn Wiener Heather Matarazzo colspan="2" Mentioned colspan="2" Greta Gerwig Brandon McCarthy Brendan Sexton III colspan="5" Kieran Culkin Mark Wiener Matthew Faber colspan="2" Matthew Faber Rich Pecci colspan="2" Missy WienerDaria Kalinina colspan="2" Mentionedcolspan="3" Marj Wiener Angela Pietropinto colspan="2" Angela Pietropinto Mentioned colspan="2" Harvey Wiener Bill Buell colspan="2" Bill Buell Michael Lerner colspan="2" Tommy McCarthy Tommy Fager colspan="5" Connor Long Joy Jordan colspan="1" Jane Adams colspan="2" Shirley Henderson colspan="2" Andy Kornbluth colspan="1" Jon Lovitz colspan="2" Paul Reubens colspan="2" Allen Mellencamp colspan="1" Philip Seymour Hoffman colspan="2" Michael K. Williams colspan="2" Bill Maplewood colspan="1" Dylan Baker colspan="2" Ciarán Hinds colspan="2" Helen Jordan colspan="1" Lara Flynn Boyle colspan="2" Ally Sheedy colspan="2" Timmy Maplewood colspan="1" Justin Elven colspan="2" Dylan Riley Snyder colspan="2" Trish Jordan Maplewood colspan="1" Cynthia Stevenson colspan="2" Allison Janney colspan="2" Chloe Maplewood colspan="1" Lila Glantzman-Leib colspan="2" Emma Hinz colspan="2" Billy Maplewood colspan="1" Rufus Read colspan="2" Chris Marquette colspan="2" Mona Jordan colspan="1" Louise Lasser colspan="2" Renée Taylor colspan="2" Miranda Vi colspan="2" Selma Blair colspan="2" Selma Blair colspan="1" Jiminy colspan="3" Tyler Maynard colspan="1" Tyler Maynard Tyler Maynard
Themes
Solondz has included portraits of and some satire of Jews and Jewish life in his work. Set in Florida, Life During Wartime portrayed pro-Israel activists. Set in New Jersey, Welcome to the Dollhouse included traditional-Jewish-influenced music befitting a bar mitzvah being played at a wedding anniversary party.
Awards