Lawrence Guterman (born July 18, 1966) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

film director. He directed the feature films ''

Cats & Dogs ''Cats & Dogs'' is a 2001 American spy-comedy film directed by Lawrence Guterman and written by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. It stars Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins and Alexander Pollock, with the voices of Tobey Maguire, Alec Baldwin, Sean ...

'' (2001) and ''

Son of the Mask ''Son of the Mask'' is a 2005 superhero comedy film directed by Lawrence Guterman. A sequel to '' The Mask'' (1994), it is the second film in ''The Mask'' franchise, an adaptation of the comic book series of the same name by Dark Horse Comics ...

'' (2005), as well as several episodes of ''

Out of Jimmy's Head ''Out of Jimmy's Head'' (abbreviated as ''OOJH'') is an American live-action animated teen sitcom created by Tim McKeon and Adam Pava for Cartoon Network. It is based on the network's 2006 film '' Re-Animated'', and is the first live-action/an ...

'' (between 2007 and 2008).

Personal life

Guterman went back to school after working in

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

and received a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Film from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Career

Guterman was raised in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where he made his first short films in grade eight. After high school, Guterman went to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to attend MIT and then

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he received a

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

degree. Guterman would return to Canada every summer to study animation at Sheridan College of Art. He created illustrations for the

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduate ...

. His interest in film-making was renewed after completing a 15-minute documentary for one of his courses at Harvard. After university, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and worked on computer graphics and as a script reader for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

. While in Los Angeles, Guterman attended

USC School of Cinematic Arts The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of Sound film, talkies, the school descends from America's first ...

to expand his film knowledge. While there, he sold two feature-length scripts to major film studios and co-wrote a script for the ''

Tales from the Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...

'' series. The latter caught the attention of

Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing a range of successful and influential movies, often blending cutting-edge visual effects with storytelling. He has received several accolades incl ...

and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. He directed and co-wrote the short, ''Headless!'', which earned positive reviews at USC's

First Look Film Festival The First Look Film Festival is a film festival held in Denver, Colorado which screens short films from college students. It was started in 2001 by Wade Gardner and Joshua Weinberg, two film students at the University of Colorado Denver Th ...

and won the Grand Jury Prize at Worldfest in Huston. Guterman took his first role as director when he worked on a video game based on the ''

Goosebumps ''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror novels written by American author R. L. Stine. The protagonists in these stories are teens or pre-teens who find themselves in frightening circumstances, often involving the supernatural, the p ...

'' series for DreamWorks Interactive after

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

saw his short "Headless!". He was then offered to direct several sequences for the animated film ''

Antz ''Antz'' is a 1998 American animated adventure comedy film directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson from a screenplay written by Todd Alcott and the writing team of Chris and Paul Weitz. It was produced by DreamWorks Pictures, DreamWorks An ...

'' (1998) for DreamWorks Animation. In the early 2000s Guterman made his feature film directorial debut with Warner Bros.' ''

'' (2001), which earned $201 million in worldwide box office revenue, followed by ''

'' (2005). He is an executive producer of ''

Remember Remember may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Remember'' (1926 film), an American silent drama film * ''Remember?'' (1939 film), an American romantic comedy * ''Remember'' (2015 film), a Canadian film by Atom Egoyan * ''Remember?'' (201 ...

'' (2015), starring

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...

and

Martin Landau Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's '' North by Northwest'' (1959). His career breakthrough c ...

and directed by

Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; ; born July 19, 1960) is an Armenian Canadians, Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. One of the most preeminent directors of the Toronto New Wave, he emerged during the 1980s and made his career breakthrough with ''Exotica (film), Exotica ...

. In 2018, Larry Guterman was named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People.

Filmography

Short film * ''Headless!'' (1990) Feature film * ''

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2005) Video game * '' Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland'' (1996) Television Other credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guterman, Lawrence Canadian animated film directors USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni The Harvard Lampoon alumni Living people 1966 births