A film, television, and theater producer, university professor and industry executive with over three decades of experience based in New York, Peter Saraf has produced over 25 feature films, 4 episodic series and several theater productions to date and continues to work actively in all these mediums. He is an associate professor at NYU and the Chair of the Tisch Undergraduate Film and TV program.
His credits include Little Miss Sunshine, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, The Farewell, Away We Go, Loving, Everything Is Illuminated, Land, and Safety Not Guaranteed, as well as the acclaimed series Nuclear Family, Vida, and Sorry for Your Loss. He began his career producing with director Jonathan Demme on films including Philadelphia, Beloved, Adaptation, Ulee’s Gold, and the documentaries The Agronomist and Mandela. He founded the independent producing and financing company Big Beach, which he ran for almost two decades.
He has served as Vice President of the Producers Guild of America and on the Executive Committee of the Producers Branch of the Academy. He currently serves on the operating committee of Producers United, the board of directors of Future Film Coalition and the Woodstock Film Festival. He is a member of AMPAS, BAFTA, Producers United and the TV Academy.
He has been nominated for Academy, Golden Globe, and Tony Awards, and has won multiple Independent Spirit, Gotham, and Producers Guild Awards, as well as a Peabody and a Television Academy Honors Award. He earned a BA from Wesleyan University where he majored in theater. Filmography
Film Year Film Credit Award 1996 Into the Rope 1997 Ulee's Gold Co-producer Nominated–Independent Spirit Award for Best Film 1999 The Opportunists Executive producer 2002 The Truth About Charlie Produced By Adaptation Executive producer 2005 Everything Is Illuminated Produced By 2006 Little Miss Sunshine Produced By Independent Spirit Award for Best FilmProducers Guild Award for Best Theatrical Motion PictureNominated–Academy Award for Best Picture 2007 Chop Shop Executive producer 2008 Sunshine Cleaning Produced By Is Anybody There? Produced By 2009 Away We Go Produced By 2010 Jack Goes Boating Produced By 2011 Our Idiot Brother Produced By 2012 Safety Not Guaranteed Produced By Nominated–Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature 2013 The Kings of Summer Produced By Gods Behaving Badly Produced By 2015 Me Him Her Produced By 3 Generations Produced By 2016 Loving Produced By Producer Guild "Stanley Kramer" Award 2018 White Fang Produced By Puzzle Produced By 2019 The Farewell Produced By Independent Spirit Award for Best FilmNominated–Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Feature A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Produced By 2020 What the Constitution Means to Me Executive producer 2021 Land Produced By 2022 Don't Make Me Go Produced By Intelligent Life Out of My Mind Produced By Two Wolves
Miscellaneous crew
Year Film Role 1998 Beloved Mayor: Bluestone Road
Thanks
Year Film Role 2002 The Good Girl Special thanks 2005 Duane Hopwood 2012 Sleepwalk with Me The filmmakers wish to thank 2014 The Skeleton Twins Special thanks Hollidaysburg 2015 People Places Things The producers wish to thank 2016 Morris from America Special thanks 2018 Maine The Amaranth 2020 Penguin Bloom Very special thanks
Television Year Title Credit Awards 2018 Vida Executive producer 2018−19 Sorry for Your Loss Executive producer 2021 These Days Executive producer Nuclear Family Executive producer Nominated for Peabody Award
Personal life Saraf is the son of the late film producer and director, Irving Saraf. Irving Saraf, who was born in Poland and raised in Israel, won an Academy Award for the documentary film, In the Shadow of the Stars, in 1991. Peter graduated from Wesleyan University in 1988. He is married to Erika Greene and they have two children.
References
https://deadline.com/2026/08/peter-saraf-nyu-tisch-film-tv-chair-hire-1237063070/
External links https://deadline.com/2026/08/peter-saraf-nyu-tisch-film-tv-chair-hire-1237063070/