Aaron Wolf is an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, writer and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

best known for the feature documentary '' Restoring Tomorrow''. He is the co-founder and President of Howling Wolf Productions based in Los Angeles, CA.

Education

Wolf attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He expanded his acting and improv education later while studying with

The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improv techniques we ...

Career

In 2012, Wolf wrote the film ''Guest House'' starring Michael Gross,

Heather Lind Heather Lind (born March 22, 1983) is an American actress. She is known for her portrayal of Anna Strong in the AMC series '' Turn: Washington's Spies''. She is the twin sister of actress Christina Bennett Lind.

and

Mark Gessner Mark Gessner is an American writer and actor. Education Gessner was born in Sheffield, Vermont in 1980.Mar ...

. The film is based around real events in Wolf's life, and premiered at the historic

TCL Chinese Theater Grauman's Chinese Theatre, known as the Chinese colloquially and officially billed as TCL Chinese Theatre for sponsorship reasons, is a movie palace on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United S ...

for the

HollyShorts Film Festival The HollyShorts Film Festival is an annual Academy Awards-qualifying independent short film festival located in Hollywood, California. History Founded in 2005, the yearly festival programmes feature an eclectic mixture of short films of various ge ...

. In 2014, Wolf's production company, Howling Wolf Productions, produced ''The Quitter'', an indie drama about a former baseball player who attempts to rebuild his relationship with his daughter. In 2014, Wolf wrote, directed and co-starred in ''The Walk'' alongside

Peter Riegert Peter Riegert ( ;) (born April 11, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Donald "Boon" Schoenstein in ''Animal House'' (1978), oil company executive "Mac" MacIntyre in '' Local Hero'' (1983), pickle store owner Sam Posner ...

. The film was adapted from an anecdote written in Rabbi

David Wolpe David J. Wolpe (born September 19, 1958) is an American rabbi. He is Visiting Scholar at Harvard Divinity School and the Max Webb Emeritus Rabbi of Sinai Temple. He previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, t ...

's book "Why Faith Matters."

''Restoring Tomorrow''

In 2016, Wolf completed '' Restoring Tomorrow'', a documentary on the history and $150 million restoration of

Wilshire Boulevard Temple The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue at 3663 Wilshire Boulevard, in the Wilshire Center neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded ...

, where Wolf's grandfather Rabbi Alfred Wolf served for 50 years and where Aaron himself attended and was bar mitzvahed. The

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

was built in 1929 and was designed in part by designers from

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, much like a Hollywood set. Its "false facades" wore over time and the building became in danger of collapsing. In 2011, Rabbi Steven Leder began a campaign to raise money for the temple's restoration and in 2013 the restoration was completed. The documentary includes archival footage as well as interviews with notable public figures such as founder and former CEO of Relativity Media

Ryan Kavanaugh Ryan Kavanaugh (born December 4, 1974) is an American film financier. He co-founded Relativity Media and served as its CEO, brokering deals between Financial District, Manhattan, Wall Street investors and major film studios. He credited his ris ...

. Intertwined in the story of the restoration is Wolf's own rediscovery and reconnection to his temple, his family and to his Jewish faith. The film premiered in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival on 3 May 2017. Since its premiere, ''Restoring Tomorrow'' has been acquired by 7th Art Releasing for sales and distribution. It has received extensive coverage in publications such as ''The Los Angeles Times,'' ''Variety,'' ''Guideposts'' and ''The Times of Israel.''

''TAR''

Wolf is working on the creature feature ''TAR''.

References

External links

* American male film actors Jewish American male actors Film directors from California American people of German-Jewish descent Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New York University alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni Screenwriters from California {{US-film-director-stub