Valerie Heather Weiss is an American filmmaker and producer.

Valerie Weiss
Alma materPrinceton University
Harvard Medical School
OccupationFilmmaker
Producer
SpouseRobert Johnson
Websitewww.valerieheatherweiss.com

Early life

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Valerie Weiss is a filmmaker and scientist. She grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Princeton University, where she majored in molecular biology. She got a Ph.D. in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology and a master's degree in medical sciences from Harvard Medical School. While at Harvard, she founded and was the filmmaker-in-residence and festival director of the Dudley House Film Program, the organization's film program for graduate students from 1999 to 2003.[1] Later she was accepted to the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women, where she made a sci-fi social satire film called Transgressions.[1]

PhD Productions

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In 2004 Weiss founded PhD Productions, a film company, with her husband Robert Johnson.[2]

Personal life

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Valerie met her future husband Robert Johnson at Princeton as cast members in the production of Cyrano de Bergerac.[3]

Critical response

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Weiss directed the "Ad Astra Per Aspera" episode in Season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.[4]

Before directing Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Weiss directed episodes of the first three seasons of Outer Banks (TV series) and her fourth feature film, Mixtape, for Netflix.[5] Mixtape, starring Julie Bowen, Gemma Allen, and Nick Thune received a 100% Fresh score from Rotten Tomatoes as well as being listed as one of the top family films of 2021 by the Washington Post and Common Sense Media.[6]

Weiss has directed Mixtape, a family dramedy about grief, and her third feature, The Archer, a feminist action film about the Kids for Cash scandal in the private prison system. The Archer premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival.[7]

Of Weiss's second feature, A Light Beneath Their Feet, critic John Anderson says in his Thompson on Hollywood Indiewire review, "Not only does director Valerie Weiss's latest effort straddle several genres simultaneously—among them, the coming-of-age drama and the social critique—it also features a pair of break-out performances: Madison Davenport, who plays high-schooler Beth Gerringson; and Taryn Manning ("Orange Is the New Black"), who plays Beth's mother, Gloria ... Manning, under Weiss's direction, puts a spin on Gloria that distinguishes her from similarly unstable characters."[8]

A Light Beneath Their Feet also received a review from The Hollywood Reporter, calling it, "A sensitive and moving depiction of a family dealing with mental illness." "Featuring standout performances by Taryn Manning as a woman with bipolar disorder and Madison Davenport as her teenage daughter grappling with whether to take flight, A Light Beneath Their Feet will strike particular chords among the many who have had similar personal experiences."[9]

Matt Fagerholm of RogerEbert.com called A Light Beneath Their Feet a "triumph of empathetic filmmaking" and said, "Regardless of the genre she happens to be tackling, Valerie Weiss is remarkably gifted at portraying the complexity of human relationships."[10]

Filmography

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Director

Year Title
2023 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - episode #12: "Ad Astra per Aspera"
2023 Outer Banks - episode #6: "The Dark Forest"
episode #8: "Tapping the Rudder"
2022 Echoes - episode #7: "Falls"
2022 Monarch - episode #2: "There Can Only Be One Queen"
episode #5: "Death and Christmas"
2021 Mixtape
2021 Outer Banks - episode #5: "The Darkest Hour"
2020 Outer Banks - episode #7: "Dead Calm"
episode #8: "The Runway"
2019 Prodigal Son - episode #10: "Silent Night"
Why Women Kill - episode #4: "You Had Me at Homicide"
For the People - episode #18: "Moral Suasion"
The Resident - episode #27: "Virtually Impossible"
The Rookie - episode #16: "Greenlight"
2018 How to Get Away with Murder - episode #63: "The Baby Was Never Dead"
Impulse - episode #6: "In Memoriam"
Scandal - episode #119: "Air Force Two"
The Librarians - episode #39: "And a Town Called Feud"
2017-19 Suits
episode #98: "Home to Roost"
episode #113: "Good Mudding"
episode #120: "Whale Hunt"
2017-18 Chicago Med
episode #37: "Ctrl Alt"
episode #47: "Ties That Bind"
episode #69: "Play By My Rules"
2017 Chicago P.D. - episode #93: "Monster"
The Archer
2016 An American Girl Story: Maryellen 1955 Extraordinary Christmas
2015 A Light Beneath Their Feet
2011 Losing Control
2009 In the Mix
2006 Transgressions
2004 I Love You
2003 Dance By Design

Producer

Year Title
2015 A Light Beneath Their Feet
2014 Bread and Butter
2011 Losing Control
2004 I Love You

Writer

Year Title
2011 Losing Control
2004 I Love You
2003 Dance By Design

Actress

Year Title
2003 Dance By Design

[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b Doody, Jennifer. "A Conversation with Valerie Weiss, PhD '01". Harvard University: The GSAS Bulletin. Harvard University. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  2. ^ Road Trip, Nation. "Valerie's Open Road". Road Trip Nation. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  3. ^ Weddings, NYT (30 September 2001). "WEDDINGS; Valerie Weiss, Robert Johnson". NYT Weddings. New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2001.
  4. ^ Orquiola, John (27 June 2023). "'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Director On Making Season 2, Episode 2 An All-Time Great". screenrant.com. Screen Rant. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  5. ^ Hemphill, Jim (1 December 2021). "'"Family Was Always On Set": Valerie Weiss on Mixtape, COVID Rehearsals and Why Directing TV is Great". filmmakermagazine.com. Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  6. ^ Bozdech, Betsy (28 December 2021). "'Common Sense Media's 18 best family films of 2021". washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  7. ^ Hunter, Rob (14 March 2017). "'Review – 'The Archer' Delivers Thrills, Social Commentary, and a Dash of Exploitation". filmschoolrejects.com. Film School Rejects. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  8. ^ Anderson, John (11 December 2015). "Orange Is the New Black' Star Taryn Manning's New Indie Says Something Novel About Bipolar Disorder". Thompson on Hollywood. Indiewire. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  9. ^ Scheck, Frank (27 May 2016). "'A Light Beneath Their Feet': Film Review: A sensitive and moving depiction of a family dealing with mental illness". hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  10. ^ Fagerholm, Matt (6 May 2016). "'A Light Beneath Their Feet': Film Review". rogerebert.com. Roger Ebert. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  11. ^ Weiss, Valerie. "Valerie Weiss". IMDB. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
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