Thor Freudenthal

Thor Freudenthal
Freudenthal in 2013
Born (1972-10-20) 20 October 1972 (age 52)
Germany
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter, animator, special effect artist[citation needed]
Years active1994–present
Notable workHotel for Dogs
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

Thor Freudenthal (/ˈtɔːr/; born 20 October 1972) is a German film director, screenwriter, animator and special effects artist best known for his work on Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.

Life and career

Freudenthal was raised in Berlin, Germany.[1] His parents were born in Israel.[2] He credits his early interest in cinema to Steven Spielberg, saying "When my mother told me he's Jewish, and he goes to synagogue, it was like, 'My God, we're of the same tribe, and he's a huge hero of mine.' And then seeing the Schindler movie actually made me feel more secure in who I was myself."[3] His family's connection to Spielberg became real when his Polish-Jewish grandparents, survivors of the Holocaust who had known Schindler personally, were asked to appear in the final scene of the movie.[3]

Freudenthal attended the Hochschule der Künste Berlin,[4] and later moved to Southern California as an exchange student at CalArts.[1] He started out as an animation director, and found success as a director in his first live-action film, Motel, which played at Sundance Film Festival[5] in 2005. He also worked on conceptal/visual art work at Sony Pictures Imageworks on films like Stuart Little, The ChubbChubbs! and Stuart Little 2.[6] He later worked as second unit director on Disney's The Haunted Mansion. In 2009, he directed Hotel for Dogs[7] for DreamWorks Pictures.[8] He directed the live-action/animated feature film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid,[9] based on the book by Jeff Kinney[10] and in 2013 he directed Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.[11]

In 2019, he was reported to have signed on to direct upcoming Gotham Group series Skywatchers.[12][13] In 2020, he directed Words on Bathroom Walls, a drama film starring Charlie Plummer and Taylor Russell, about a teenager struggling with schizophrenia; the film was well-reviewed.[14][15]

Freudenthal has also directed multiple episodes of Arrow and one episode of The Flash.[16]

Filmography

Film

Year Film Notes
2009 Hotel for Dogs[8]
2010 Diary of a Wimpy Kid[17] Also storyboard artist[18]
2013 Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
2020 Words on Bathroom Walls Also producer
2025 Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie executive producer

Television

Year Title Episode(s)
2011 Aim High "Pilot"
Episodes #1.2 – #1.6
2014 Arrow "The Climb"
"Al Sah-Him"
"Green Arrow"
"Legends of Yesterday"
2015 The Flash "Out of Time"
2015 Supergirl "How Does She Do It?"
2015 Quantico "Inside"
2016 Legends of Tomorrow "The Magnificent Eight"
2016 The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez
2017 The Expanse "Caliban's War"
"Assured Destruction"
"Reload"
2018 The Tick "Tale From the Crypt"
"The End of the Beginning (Or the Start of the Dawn of the Age of Superhero)"
2019 Carnival Row "Some Dark God Wakes"
"Aisling"
"The Joining of Unlike Things"
"Fight and Flight"
"New Dawn"
2021 La Brea "Pilot"
"The New Arrival"
"The Storm"
"Father and Son"
2022 Quantum Leap "July 13th, 1985"

Short films

Year Film Director Writer
1996 Monkey Business Yes Yes
1997 Tattoos Yes Yes
1998 The Tenor Yes Yes
1998 Mind the Gap Yes Yes
2005 Motel Yes Yes
2007 Zéro Deux Yes Yes
2015 Another Day No Yes
2016 Starman Yes No

Other credits

Year Film Notes
1999 Stuart Little Creative and visual effects development
2002 The ChubbChubbs! Character designer, storyboard artist
2002 Stuart Little 2 Conceptual artist
2003 The Haunted Mansion Second unit director
2009 The Movie Loft Self (8 June 2009 and 12 May 2009)
2009 A Home for Everyone: The Making of 'Hotel for Dogs' Self (video documentary short)
2009 Hotel for Dogs: K-9 Casting Self (video documentary short)
2009 Hotel for Dogs: That's the Coolest Thing I've Ever Seen! Self (video documentary short)
2010 Feed the Fish Book illustrator
2013 Made in Hollywood Self (episode #8.38)

References

  1. ^ a b Mary Schubert. "Calarts Student WinsAnimation Prize: Film Combines Ostrich, Oper". TheFreeLibrary.com. TheFreeDictionary.com. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  2. ^ "Jewz in the Newz: Logan Lerman Battles Monsters Directed by a Jewish Guy Named Thor; Portman to Co-Star in; Direct Film About Israel; Dustin Hoffman Cancer Scare and New Role; Hunky Jewish Guy in New Reality Show; More".
  3. ^ a b "Thor Freudenthal on 'Percy Jackson,' grandparents on Schindler's list". Jewish Journal. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Thor Freudenthal – Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  5. ^ Wyche2013-08-07T09:33:00+01:00, Elbert. "Thor Freudenthal, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters". Screen. Retrieved 9 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Thor Freudenthal". IMDb. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  7. ^ Holden, Stephen (15 January 2009). "A Tale of Love and Liberation (Puppy and Otherwise) (Published 2009)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  8. ^ a b Freudenthal, Thor (15 January 2009), Hotel for Dogs (Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi), Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Lisa Kudrow, Don Cheadle, Dreamworks Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Cold Spring Pictures, retrieved 9 February 2021
  9. ^ "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Friendship conquers all in Grade 6". thestar.com. 19 March 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  10. ^ Fowlie, David J. (9 April 2010). "Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010) ***". Keeping It Reel. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  11. ^ Webster, Andy (6 August 2013). "What a Hero Goes Through to Become a Healer (Published 2013)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Thor Freudenthal to Direct Skywatchers". ComingSoon.net. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  13. ^ Hipes, Patrick (9 September 2019). "Thor Freudenthal To Direct 'Skywatchers' Movie Based On Upcoming Carrie Arcos Novel; Gotham Group Producing". Deadline. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Words on Bathroom Walls review – prettified portrait of mental illness". the Guardian. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  15. ^ "'Words on Bathroom Walls' Director Talks Adapting YA Book". The Hollywood Reporter. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  16. ^ Freudenthal, Thor (17 March 2015), Out of Time (Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi), Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Rick Cosnett, Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, retrieved 9 February 2021
  17. ^ Freudenthal, Thor (19 March 2010), Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Comedy, Drama, Family), Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn, Color Force, Dayday Films, Dune Entertainment III, retrieved 9 February 2021
  18. ^ The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary by Jeff Kinney