Paul Solet (born June 13, 1979) 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 ...
,
film producer, writer and actor.
Early life
Paul Solet was born in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
, and attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School class of 1998.
Solet attended
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...
and received a BA in Film and
Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
in 2002 as well as a screenwriting certificate in 2003.
Film career
After receiving a BA in Film and Psychology from Emerson College in 2002, and a certificate in screenwriting from the same school in 2003, Solet went to work collaborating on a feature-length script with his longtime mentor,
Eli Roth
Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, namely splatter films, having directed the films ''Cabin Fev ...
(''
Cabin Fever'', ''
Hostel''), while continuing to write and direct his own material.
Solet's 2005 short, ''Means to an End'', was awarded Best Short Horror Film from the genre's number one authority, ''
Fangoria''. ''Means to an End'' ended up on ''Fangorias prestigious ''Blood Drive 2'' DVD. ''Means to an End also'' won Best Short Film and the Audience Choice Award at the 2005
Rhode Island International Film Festival
Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state.
Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the Newpor ...
, and Best Extreme Horror Film at the 2005 Dragon Con International Film Festival. Solet's next short film, ''Grace'', screened at dozens of festivals, won Best Short Film at the 2006 Rhode Island International Film Festival, the Peer's Choice Award at Dragon Con 2006, and became the first
independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...
to screen on Fangoria TV.
Solet has received equal praise for his work as a screenwriter. His body-horror script, ''Repeater'', came in Second Place in Hollywood 's First Glance Film Festival, was a Quarter Finalist in the 2006 Screenwriting Expo, and a Finalist in New York 's VisionFest 2006 Screenwriting Contest. His feature length thriller ''Heartland'' won Third Place at VisionFest 2005, was a Quarter Finalist in the 2005 Horror Screenplay Contest, finished in the top 25% at the 2006 Screenwriting Expo, and was a Quarter Finalist at the 2006 American Screenwriter's Association Contest.
Editor of ''Fangoria'' magazine, Tony Timpone, has called Solet, "A horror talent to watch", ''Rue Morgue'' magazine has said, "Solet is undoubtedly destined to become a household name in the genre", and Eli Roth has said Solet's work, "Makes Cabin Fever look like a Disney movie…."
''Grace''
In May 2008 Paul wrapped production on the feature-length version of ''
Grace'', from which his much-lauded short film was distilled. Since its premiere at
Sundance 2009, where two men in the audience passed out from the intensity of the film, ''Grace'' has played at festivals all over the world including
SXSW
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
, Brussels, and Gérardmer, where it won the prestigious Prix du Jury. It will play another 6 major international film festivals over the next two months, and many more in the months to follow. The film eventually received a limited theatrical release on August 14, 2009.
Other projects
Paul starred in filmmaker Adam Green's "Jack Chop" video. "Jack Chop" is a short film spoofing the "Slap Chop" infommercial. He also directed 2014 the psycho-thriller
Dark Summer. He was also a director of the
Anthology film Tales of Halloween.
Filmography
Acting roles
Miscellaneous
Paul recently received internet attention due to Eli Roth sharing his Jack Chop video.
Due to his love of Strawberry Nesquik his new fans are affectionately referred to as strawberries.
References
External links
*
Paul Soleton
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
Paul Soleton
Myspace
Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solet, Paul
1979 births
Film directors from Massachusetts
Living people
Emerson College alumni
Male actors from Cambridge, Massachusetts