David Zellner
David Zellner at Berlinale 2018
Born
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter, actor
Years active1997–present

David Zellner is an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing the films Kid-Thing (2012), Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014), and Damsel (2018).

Career

David Zellner started his career by studying at the University of Texas film school and then staged exclusively Independent feature films and short films. He always works together with his younger brother Nathan Zellner under the name Zellner Bros.[1]

Zellner's short film Sasquatch Birth Journal 2 (2010) got into the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and was nominated for the Sundance Short Filmmaking Award that year.[2][3]

For his feature film, Kid-Thing (2012), which he directed and wrote, Zellner won a Best Film award from the 2012 Gen Art Film Festival.[4] He also received second place in a Village Voice Film Poll for "Best Undistributed Film."

For his feature film Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014), starring Oscar-nominated actress Rinko Kikuchi, which he directed and acted in, and co-wrote with his brother Nathan Zellner, he won a Best Director Jury Prize award at the 2014 Fantasia Film Festival. The film also won an Audience Award for Best Film and Special Jury Award at the 2014 Las Palmas Film Festival. At the 2014 Little Rock Film Festival, the film won the Golden Rock Narrative Award for Best Feature Film, and at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, the film won a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Musical Score (by The Octopus Project) and was also nominated for the U.S. Grand Jury Dramatic Prize. Furthermore, at the 2014 Nantucket Film Festival, David and his brother Nathan won the Showtime Tony Cox Award for Best Screenwriting in a Feature Film for their screenplay Kumiko. Kumiko also won a "Most Original Film" award at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. David was nominated for a Best Director Independent Spirit Award in 2014 for directing the film, with lead actress Rinko Kikuchi who was nominated for a Best Female Lead Actress Independent Spirit Award.

In 2018, Zellner released Damsel, a black comedy Western starring Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska and codirected and cowritten with his brother.[5] It was their widest-release and highest-budget movie to date.[6] The film tells the story of a pioneer on the American frontier seeking to rescue his would-be-bride from an apparent kidnapping.[5] Damsel received largely positive reviews. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 68% based on 117 reviews, and an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The beautifully filmed Damsel injects the western genre with a welcome dose of humor and some unexpected twists, although its stately pace may frustrate impatient viewers."[7]

Zellner then appeared as an actor in Riley Stearns' 2019 black comedy martial arts film The Art of Self-Defense, playing opposite Jesse Eisenberg.[2]

In 2022, IndieWire described the Zellner brothers as having two projects in development: an as-yet-untitled sasquatch film (later revealed to have been titled Sasquatch Sunset[8]) that would star Jesse Eisenberg as Bigfoot, and a science fiction film titled Alpha Gang starring Nicholas Hoult and Jon Hamm, about aliens deciding whether to invade Earth.[2]

Personal life

David Zellner and his brother Nathan have been based in Austin, Texas for more than 20 years.[6]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Plastic Utopia James Also director, co-writer, producer, editor
1998 The Curve Deadhead #1
2001 Frontier Officer Also director, writer
2002 I Love You Man
2003 The Meat Market Maynard Rollins Short film
2003 Rummy Sam Short film; also director
2004 The Virile Man Gary Short film; director, writer
2004 Quasar Hernandez Short film; director, writer
2004 Dear Pillow Phone Man #1 Voice
2004 Oh My God Witness
2005 Foxy and the Weight of the World Short film; director, writer
2005 Flotsam/Jetsam Short film; director, writer
2005 Who Is On First? Short film; director
2006 The Cassidy Kids Cat Burglar
2006 Redemptitude Preacher Short film; director, writer
2007 Aftermath on Meadowlark Lane Short film; director, writer
2008 Untitled (Thanks, Get in...) The Star
2008 Goliath Also director, writer
2008 Baghead Festivalgoer
2008 Pardon My Downfall Short film
2009 Cinemad Mix Tape #1 Australian Priest Co-director
2009 Beeswax Scott
2010 Tug Geno
2010 Shit Year Hal Ashland
2010 Sasquatch Birth Journal 2 Short film; co-director, co-writer
2010 Hexadecagon Director
2011 Slacker 2011 Kid with Soda #1 Segment: "Boyfriends"; director
2012 Kid-Thing Caleb Also director, writer
2013 Ain't Them Bodies Saints Zellner
2013 Love & Air Sex Cab Driver
2014 Dignity Lamb
2014 Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter Deputy Also director, writer
2014 Faults Restaurant Manager
2015 There Thrill
2018 Damsel Parson Henry Writer, director
2018 Ghostbox Cowboy Jimmy Van Horn
2019 The Art of Self-Defense Henry
2024 Sasquatch Sunset Writer, director

Television

Year Title Role Note(s)
2023The CurseDirector3 episodes

Web series

Year Title Role Notes
2004 The Strangerhood Sam Voice
2005 P.A.N.I.C.S. Frank Voice
2008 Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction PFL Troop Voice
2009 FIDDLESTIXX 3 episodes; director, writer
2010 Rooster Teeth Shorts Businessman

Music videos

Year Title Notes
2002 "Nutella and Gummi Bear Sandwich" Director
2007 "TRUCK" Director
2009 "This Old World" Director
2009 "Wet Gold" Director
2012 "Star Bowling" Co-director
2013 "Sharpteeth" Cinematographer

References

  1. Zellner Bros. – zellnerbros.com
  2. 1 2 3 Bergeson, Samantha (August 22, 2022). "Jesse Eisenberg Teases Wordless Sasquatch Role for Zellner Bros. Comedy: 'I Grunt, but No Lines'". IndieWire. IndieWire. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  3. "Sasquatch Birth Journal 2 Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 22, 2023. Nominee: Short Filmmaking Award, US Fiction, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner
  4. "Kid-Thing (2012) Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 22, 2023. Winner - Best Feature - Best Film: Nathan Zellner, David Zellner
  5. 1 2 Weintraub, Steve (July 6, 2018). "'Damsel' Directors David Zellner and Nathan Zellner on Their Unique and Eccentric Western". Collider. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Heid, Jason (July 2018). "The Zellner Brothers Ride Again". Austin Monthly. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  7. "Damsel (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  8. Grobar, Matt (5 December 2023). "'Sasquatch Sunset': Bleecker Street Acquires Zellner Bros Pic Starring Riley Keough & Jesse Eisenberg". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
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