Nicole Holofcener

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Nicole Holofcener
Born (1960-03-22) March 22, 1960 (age 64)
New York City, U.S.
EducationNew York University BFA)
Columbia University (MFA)
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
Years active1982–present
Spouse
Benjamin Allanoff
​
​
(m. 1993; div. 2002)​
Children2
Parents
RelativesCharles H. Joffe (stepfather)

Nicole Holofcener (/ˈhɒləfsɛnər/;[1] born March 22, 1960) is an American film and television director and screenwriter. She has directed seven feature films, including Walking and Talking, Friends with Money and Enough Said, as well as various television series. Along with Jeff Whitty, Holofcener received a 2019 Academy Award nomination for Adapted Screenplay,[2] a BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay,[3] and won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018).[4]

Life and career[edit]

Holofcener was born to a culturally Jewish family[5] in New York City, the younger of two daughters of artist Lawrence Holofcener and set decorator Carol Joffe (née Shapiro).[6][7] Her elder sister is Suzanne Holofcener.[6] Nicole's parents divorced when she was a year old.[8] When she was eight, her mother married film producer Charles H. Joffe, who moved the family to Hollywood.

Since her stepfather produced Woody Allen's films, Holofcener spent enough time on Allen's sets to be an extra in Take the Money and Run and Sleeper.[9] Joffe was responsible for Holofcener's first "real" job in the movie industry: a production assistant on Woody Allen's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy in 1982. She moved up to apprentice editor for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).

Holofcener's first experiences with film as a child left her either frightened or sad; she recalled her fright at Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor. Holofcener originally wanted to become an artist like her father, but felt she wasn't as talented as others in her classes at Sonoma State University.[10] From there, she gravitated into taking film courses.[9] She studied film at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and at Columbia University, and made two shorts titled Angry[11] and It's Richard I Love.[12] While at Columbia, she was taught by Martin Scorsese.[13]

After viewing one of her NYU films, her stepfather wondered aloud if she should make a career change. Disappointed, she became a clerk at a video store for a while, then entered Columbia's graduate film program.[9][14] At the time of his death in 2008,[15] Charles Joffe had become one of the most ardent fans of his stepdaughter's work.[9] Angry received critical praise at Sundance.[9][16] Holofcener has been viewed as an indie filmmaker despite the financial and critical success of her feature-length films.[17] Many of the conventions of independent film are found in her movies.[17] Many of Holofcener's films are shot on location during their production.[18]

Much of Holofcener's work has a realistic style,[19] but her films do not always have a typical plot structure and are sometimes obscure.[20] Holofcener portrays typical, "everyday" middle-class people and their actions, like the characters in Please Give.[18] Holofcener's films almost always feature a female character in the lead.[17]

Feature film career[edit]

Holofcener made her feature film writing and directing debut in 1996 with Walking and Talking, which starred Catherine Keener, Anne Heche, Todd Field, Liev Schreiber, and Kevin Corrigan.[12][21] The film was critically acclaimed.[22] Her understanding of modern, professional women made her an ideal choice to direct female-centric television shows like Sex and the City, Leap of Faith and Gilmore Girls.[12] Holofcener also worked on an episode of the U.S. adaptation of Cold Feet.[17]

She followed in 2001 with her second feature, Lovely and Amazing.[23] Featuring performances by Catherine Keener, Brenda Blethyn, Emily Mortimer and newcomer Raven Goodwin, the film was not only critically acclaimed[12] but did well at the box office.[citation needed]

After directing two episodes of the series Six Feet Under, Holofcener began work on her third film, Friends with Money, which featured Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand, and Catherine Keener. The film opened the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and its screenplay was nominated for the 2006 Independent Spirit Award, while McDormand won the award for Best Supporting Female.[24] The film received a limited release on April 7, 2006.

Holofcener's fourth feature, Please Give, premiered at Sundance and was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival. The film also won Holofcener the Robert Altman Award.[25] The film also gained Holofcener a nomination with the Writers Guild of America Awards for Best Original Screenplay.[26] It stars Keener in the duo's fourth collaboration and was released in 2010.[9][13] The film also features Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Amanda Peet, and Sarah Steele.[27]

Holofcener followed this up with Enough Said starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, and Catherine Keener. The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. The romantic comedy follows the character Eva, a recent divorcée.[28] Eva falls in love unexpectedly and discovers her new love interest is the ex-husband of her friend.[28] To date, Enough Said is Holofcener's most financially successful film.[29] The film was officially released on September 20, 2013, a few months after Gandolfini's death.

In 2015, it was announced that Holofcener was set to direct an adaptation of Lee Israel's memoir Can You Ever Forgive Me?, with Julianne Moore in the lead role.[30] However, later that year, Moore was fired by Holofcener, who would later leave her directing role.[31] Eventually Melissa McCarthy was selected for the lead role.[31] The film, ultimately directed by Marielle Heller, was well received by critics after being released on October 19, 2018, garnering Holofcener a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[31]

Holofcener directed the 2015 pilot of Amazon's One Mississippi.[29][32] The series was written by Tig Notaro and Diablo Cody.[29] Notaro also starred in the series, which was produced by Louis C.K.[29]

Filmography[edit]

Films[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Angry Director, Writer Short film
1996 Walking and Talking Director, Writer
2001 Lovely & Amazing Director, Writer
2006 Friends with Money Director, Writer [33]
2010 Please Give Director, Writer
2013 Enough Said Director, Writer [33]
2014 Every Secret Thing Writer
2018 The Land of Steady Habits Director, Writer
2018 Can You Ever Forgive Me? Co-Writer [33]
2021 The Last Duel Co-Writer, Producer [34]
2023 You Hurt My Feelings Director, Writer [35]

Acting

Year Title Role
1982 Rollercoaster to Hell Vera
1993 Mi Vida Loca Warden

Television[edit]

Writer

Year Title Episodes
1993-1994 Ready or Not "The New Deal"
"Family Therapy"
"Busy's Curse"
"Black or White or Maybe Grey"
"He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not"

Director

Year Title Episode(s)
1998 L.A. Doctors "Nate Expectations"
1998-2000 Sex and the City "Are We Sluts?"
"No Ifs, Ands or Butts"
"Three's a Crowd"
"Bay of Married Pigs"
1999 Cold Feet "Pilot"
2002 Gilmore Girls "Secrets and Loans"
Leap of Faith "Pilot"
2003-2004 Six Feet Under "Bomb Shelter"
"Timing & Space"
2009 Bored to Death "The Case of the Stolen Sperm"
2011-2013 Enlightened "The Key"
"Not Good Enough Mothers"
Parks and Recreation "The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic"
"Jerry's Retirement"
"Smallest Park"
"Eagleton"
2015 Togetherness "Ghost in Chains"
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt "Kimmy Goes to a Party!"
Inside Amy Schumer "Last F... Able Day"
Orange Is the New Black "Fake It Till You Fake It Some More"
2016 One Mississippi "The Cat's Out"
"Effects"
"Pilot"
2019 Mrs. Fletcher "Empty Best"
2023 Extrapolations "2068: The Going Away Party"
Lucky Hank "The Count of Monte Cristo"
"The Chopping Block"

Acting

Year Title Role Episodes
2019-2020 Bojack Horseman Herself (voice) "A Quick One, While He's Away"
"Angela"

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Award Category Work Result Notes
2001 Satellite Award Best Original Screenplay Lovely and Amazing Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards Best Screenplay Nominated
Best Director Nominated
2006 Independent Spirit Awards Best Screenplay Friends with Money Nominated [33]
2010 Writers Guild of America Best Original Screenplay Please Give Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards Best Screenplay Nominated
Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award Won
2018 USC Scripter Award Can You Ever Forgive Me? Nominated [33]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
BAFTA Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated [3]
Academy Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated [2]
Writers Guild of America Best Adapted Screenplay Won [4]
Satellite Award Best Adapted Screenplay Won
Independent Spirit Awards Best Screenplay Won

References[edit]

  1. ^ Murphy, Mekado (September 14, 2018). "'The Land of Steady Habits' | Anatomy of a Scene". The New York Times. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Academy Awards Database Search | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "2019 Film Adapted Screenplay | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "2019 Writers Guild Awards Winners Announced Tonight". www.wga.org. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  5. ^ Pfefferman, Naomi (June 27, 2002). "Isn't She 'Lovely?'". Jewish Journal.
  6. ^ a b Rochlin, Margy (June 23, 2002). "FILM; Just Like Her Family: Complicated". New York Times.
  7. ^ "Charles H. Joffe Biography (1929-)".
  8. ^ Thomson, David (May 6, 2014). The New Biographical Dictionary of Film. Knopf. p. 492. ISBN 9780375711848.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Erickson, Steve (May 2010). "The Lovely and Amazing Nicole Holofcener". LA Magazine. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  10. ^ "Nicole Holofcener's Human Comedies". The New Yorker. July 30, 2018.
  11. ^ Loynd, Ray (July 2, 1993). "'Short Film Festival' Opens 'Alive' Season". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  12. ^ a b c d Bozzola, Lucia. "Nicole Holofcener". All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  13. ^ a b Taylor, Ella (April 20, 2010). "Nicole Holofcener On Her New Film Please Give". The Village Voice. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  14. ^ "Alumni Nicole Holofcener '88 and Ashley Lyle '07 ('02 CC) Honored at 2022 Final Draft Awards". Columbia - School of the Arts. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  15. ^ Woo, Elaine (July 12, 2008). "Talent agent co-produced most Woody Allen films". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  16. ^ Turan, Kenneth (January 20, 2010). "The festival's eternal conflicts: commerce vs. art". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  17. ^ a b c d Nelmes, Jill (2007). Introduction to Film Studies. London: Routledge. pp. 280–282.
  18. ^ a b Perkins, Claire (January 1, 2014). "Beyond Indiewood: The Everyday Ethics of Nicole Holofcener". Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies. 29 (1 85): 137–159. doi:10.1215/02705346-2408543. ISSN 0270-5346.
  19. ^ "Why I Love: Nicole Holofcener". Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  20. ^ Smith, Neil (June 14, 2010). "Five ways to tell you're watching a Nicole Holofcener movie | Neil Smith". the Guardian. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  21. ^ Thomas, Kevin (July 17, 1996). "'Walking and Talking' Is a Wry Look at Friendships". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  22. ^ Allon, Yorma; Cullen, Del; Patterson, Hannah, eds. (2002). Contemporary North American Film Directors: A Wallflower Critical Guide. Wallflower Press. p. 560. ISBN 1-903364-52-3. Retrieved December 10, 2010. 1960 Nicole Holofcener -site:wikipedia.org -wikipedia.
  23. ^ Thomas, Kevin (June 20, 2002). "A Mom's Tale Kicks Off L.A. Festival". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  24. ^ "Friends with Money awards". Imdb.com. May 1, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  25. ^ "Nicole Holofcener | Columbia University School of the Arts". arts.columbia.edu. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  26. ^ "Please Give". www.sonyclassics.com. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  27. ^ "Please Give Official Site". Sonyclassics.com. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  28. ^ a b Festival, Toronto International Film. "TIFF.net | Enough Said". TIFF. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  29. ^ a b c d "Nicole Holofcener to Direct Amazon's Tig Notaro Comedy (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. August 20, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  30. ^ Kroll, Justin. "Julianne Moore to Star in Nicole Holofcener's 'Can You Ever Forgive Me' (EXCLUSIVE)". Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  31. ^ a b c Sharf, Zack (March 21, 2019). "Julianne Moore Fired From 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' for Wanting to Wear Fat Suit, Says Richard E. Grant". Indiewire. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  32. ^ One Mississippi IMDB page, Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  33. ^ a b c d e "Enough Said, Friends With Money and The Last Duel: post your questions for Nicole Holofcener". the Guardian. October 12, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  34. ^ "How Nicole Holofcener Brought Her Indie Sensibility to Medieval Epic 'The Last Duel'". Vanity Fair. October 12, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  35. ^ Debruge, Peter (December 7, 2022). "Sundance Unveils Female-Dominated 2023 Feature Lineup, Including Films From Nicole Holofcener, Sophie Barthes and Jane Campion's Daughter". Variety. Retrieved January 12, 2023.

External links[edit]

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