Jordan Walker-Pearlman (born June 24, 1967) is an American

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, film producer, and executive.

Early life

Walker-Pearlman was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and is the nephew of actor

Gene Wilder Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, including his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Fa ...

with whom he lived for a period of time in childhood.

Career

Walker-Pearlman is best known for the 2000 film '' The Visit'', for which he was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards (one for directing and one for the screenplay) and the movie itself received four nominations. His 2005 film, ''

Constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

'', starring

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films '' She's All That ...

, Zoe Saldana, and

Billy Dee Williams William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American retired actor, novelist and painter. He has appeared in over 100 films and television roles over six decades. He is best known for portraying Lando Calrissian in the ''Star Wars ...

, premiered at the Pan African Film Festival, Roxbury Film Festival, Black Filmmaker Magazine Film Festival, and the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

. It also had a special premiere at the Kwa Mashu Film Festival in South Africa with both director and actress Gabrielle Union present for ten days to open the movie theater at the Arts Centre in the Kwa Mashu Township. Both films won the Audience Award at the Urbanworld Film Festival in their respective years.

Personal life

In 2015, Walker-Pearlman married screenwriter Elizabeth Hunter. On February 3, 2020, he wrote an

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...

for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' calling on the Motion Picture Academy to recognize the "cultural violence" of historical racism in American movies in its new

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a film museum opened in 2021 located in Los Angeles, California. The first large-scale museum of its kind in the United States, it houses more than 13 million objects, and is dedicated to the history, sc ...

in Los Angeles and explained his years earlier decision to decline an invitation to membership in the organization. The op-ed was the first of several that year that appeared to influence

AMPAS The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

to dedicate several exhibits to this history. In 2020, he purchased his late uncle

's house from

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

using owner financing by Musk, and the property was featured in the semi-autobiographical film ''The Requiem Boogie''. However, in August 2024, the house was in foreclosure proceedings due to the alleged difficulties making further additional payments on the private note during the writers strike of 2023. Walker-Pearlman has reportedly rebuffed all offers from developers with intent to tear down the house, in addition the house is protected by a restrictive covenant conceived by Musk and the film maker, disallowing for its destruction. Walker-Pearlman has also thus far been supportive of Musk and his handling their situation. He is the co-founder of MoJo Global Arts which he left in June 2021 to become founder of the film production company HarlemHollywood.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Jordan Walker-Pearlman's Official Site
American male screenwriters Film producers from New York (state) Film directors from New York City 1967 births Living people Screenwriters from New York (state) {{US-film-director-1960s-stub