Claudia Weill

Claudia Weill is an American film director best known for her film '' Girlfriends'' (1978), starring Melanie Mayron, Christopher Guest, Bob Balaban and Eli Wallach, made independently and sold to Warner Brothers after multiple awards at Cannes, Filmex and Sundance. ''Girlfriends'' would be one of 82 films made by a female director to compete at Cannes. In 2019, ''Girlfriends'' was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

'' It's My Turn'' (1980 for Columbia Pictures)—with Jill Clayburgh, Michael Douglas, and Charles Grodin—won her the Donatello, or International Oscar for best new director.

Earlier work includes 30 films for ''Sesame Street'', freelancing as a camerawoman, and numerous documentaries, notably '' The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir'', a documentary about the first women's delegation to China in 1973, headed by Shirley MacLaine, nominated for an Academy Award and released theatrically and on PBS.

Early life and education

In 1947, Weill was born in New York City. Weill's family was Jewish. In 1969, Weill graduated from Harvard University.

Career

Weill moved to Los Angeles in 1986. Weill began directing TV episodes of ''The Twilight Zone'', ''Thirtysomething'', ''My So-Called Life'', ''Once and Again'', ''Chicago Hope'', and numerous pilots. More recently, she directed an episode of '' Girls'' for HBO.

As a theater director (Williamstown, The O’Neill, Sundance, ACT, Empty Space and in New York at MTC, the Public, and Circle Rep), she won the Drama Desk's Best Director Award for the premiere of Donald Margulies’ ''Found a Peanut'' produced by Joe Papp at the Public Theater in 1984.

She directed ''The Belle of Belfast'' by Nate Rufus Edelman at EST and the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York, ''Twelfth Night'' for Antaeus, the West Coast Premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner ''Doubt'' by John Patrick Shanley (with Linda Hunt) at the Pasadena Playhouse, ''Memory House'', ''End Days'', ''Tape'', numerous workshops of ''Modern Orthodox'', ''Adam Baum and the Jew Movie'' (Goldfarb), ''The Parents' Evening'' by Bathsheba Doran at the Vineyard Playhouse, and ''Huck and Holden'' by Rajiv Joseph at the Black Dahlia, among others.

In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Weill's name and picture.

After selling ''Girlfriends'' to Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures hired Weill to direct 1980's film '' It's My Turn''. Weill was the female boss of an all male crew. It was during this time that Weill experienced sexism and sexual harassment from producer Ray Stark. He also interfered with her vision of the film. Due to this she directed no more feature films.

Weill has taught directing for film, television and/or theater, as well as Directing for Writers at Harvard, Juilliard, Cal Arts, USC Graduate School of Cinema Studies, Columbia, The New School and Sarah Lawrence College. She mentors playwrights and directors.

She has served as a juror with Elvis Mitchell for the Nashville Film Festival and directed several of the ''Game Changers'' films for the Directors Guild of America 75th Anniversary. Weill serves on the Directors' Executive Committee for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is the third woman to be admitted into the committee as a director in 1980 after Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino.

Filmography

Films

This is a partial list of films credited as director:
* 1970 ''This Is the Home of Mrs. Levant Graham''
* 1975 '' The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir''
* 1978 '' Girlfriends''
* 1980 '' It's My Turn''
* 1986 ''Johnny Bull'' (TV movie)
* 1988 ''Giving Up the Ghost'' (TV movie)
* 1991 ''Face of a Stranger'' (TV movie)
* 1992 ''A Child Lost Forever'' (TV movie)
* 1996 ''Critical Choices'' (TV movie)
* 2013 '' He's Way More Famous Than You'' as herself

Personal life

In 1985, Weill married Walter S. Teller. They have two sons, Sam Teller and Eli Teller.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Weill, Claudia
American television directors
American women film directors
20th-century American Jews
American women television directors
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
Harvard University alumni
1947 births
21st-century American Jews
20th-century American women
21st-century American women
Film directors from New York City
Jewish American screenwriters