Chloe Domont (born September 2, 1987) is an American television and film writer and director, best known for her 2023 film directorial debut, '' Fair Play'', an erotic thriller about gender dynamics in the workplace.

Early life and education

She is from Los Angeles. Her father, a

cinephile Cinephilia ( ; also cinemaphilia or filmophilia) is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in films, film theory, and film criticism. The term is a portmanteau of the words '' cinema'' and ''philia'', one of the four ancient Greek words ...

, is credited for developing her love of film. Initially wanting to be a screenwriter, she made short films in high school. She attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, graduating with a BFA in film and television. At NYU she transitioned to directing.

Directing career

After graduation she directed commercials and wrote for short films. A chance meeting with Julian Farino led to a writers' assistant position on '' Ballers''. Farino found her "monumentally overqualified," but still eager to learn with "an intensity of purpose." She advanced to the

writers' room A writers' room is a space where writers, usually of a television series, gather to write and refine scripts. It is a common method of writing television series in the US, but is much less widespread in countries like the UK. Composition The ...

and then creator Steve Levinson gave her a chance to direct an episode, her first big break. By 2017 she had steady television work, directing and writing for shows including ''Ballers'', '' Suits'' and '' Billions''. Her debut film, '' Fair Play'', which she wrote and directed, was personal for her and based on her life experiences. Her experience as the only woman in the ''Ballers'' writers' room is described as life changing. She felt that she had to "act like one of the boys," or lose her seat at the table. Also, she found that as she became more successful the men she dated became insecure. Domont set out to make an "exploration of that most exquisitely fragile of constructs—the male ego." The movie was felt to specifically speak to the #MeToo era. She used the genre of

erotic thriller The erotic thriller is a film subgenre defined as a thriller with a thematic basis in illicit romance or sexual fantasy. Though exact definitions of the erotic thriller can vary, it is generally agreed "bodily danger and pleasure must remain i ...

to show the ways women are forced to play ugly to survive and to demonstrate the dangers of male inferiority and fragility. The film premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to a "rapturous response."

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

won a

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

bidding war for $20 million. The theatre release was in September 2023. To be able to recreate the New York ambience that she envisioned, she went to Serbia to shoot; she had been warned that doing so would be "career suicide." The film went on to score 85% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

. As a filmmaker, she looks to create conversation and debate with films that shock and push the envelope; manipulate and do something different with a genre;Greenblatt, Leah
Chloe Domont on Her Dangerous Date Movie, ‘Fair Play’
New York Times, Retrieved 2023-11-20 "and, ultimately have something really piercing to say at the end."

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Domont, Chloe Screenwriters from Los Angeles Film directors from Los Angeles Tisch School of the Arts alumni American women television directors American television directors American women television writers American television writers 1987 births Living people American women film directors