Background:

Bart Freundlich is an American film and television director, screenwriter and film producer. His first film, “The Myth of Fingerprints” (1997), was nominated for Grand Jury Prize in the Dramatic category at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. It also brought Freundlich the Audience Award and Grand Special Prize nomination from the Deauville Film Festival and a Chlotrudis nomination for Best Screenplay. “The Myth of Fingerprints” marked his first collaboration with his actress wife Julianne Moore. He also directed Moore in “World Traveler” (2001) and “Trust the Man” (2005). On the small screen, Freundlich has directed episodes of Showtime's “Californication” (8 episodes, 2007-2012) and NBC's “Prime Suspect” (1 episodes, 2012).     

Freundlich resides with wife Julianne Moore, whom he wed in 2003 after seven years of relationship, in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan. They have two children together.


Bartholomew

Childhood and Family:

Bart Freundlich was born Bartholomew Freundlich on January 17, 1970, in Manhattan, New York. His father was a publisher, while his mother worked as a marketing consultant for restaurants. He was educated at a Quaker school in Manhattan for 12 years before goes on to attend Northwestern University. After a year, he transferred to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, from which he graduated with a double major in Cinema Studies and Film and Television Production. While at NYU, he interned at John Lyons Casting Company.

In 1996, Bart began a relationship with actress Julianne Moore (born December 3, 1960), whom he met on the set of “The Myth of Fingerprints.” They welcomed their first child, son Caleb Freundlich, on December 4, 1997. Their second child, daughter Liv Freundlich, was born on April 11, 2002. The couple eventually married on August 23, 2003.


The Rebound

Career:

Bart Freundlich made his directing debut with the short “A Dog Race in Alaska” (1993). Thanks to his affiliation with John Lyons Casting Company, he was able to secure a top level cast such as Bruce Altman, Cara Buono and Jamie Harrold for his student film. After graduating from NYU, Freundlich began working on the script for “Fingerprints,” which eventually completed after a couple of years. During this period, he worked at the Royalton Hotel for $200 a day to videotape conferences. He also made a short mockumentary about personal trainers called “Hired Hands” (1994). After he got enough money for selling “A Dog Race in Alaska,” Freundlich decided to leave his day job to pursue a career as a filmmaker more professionally.

Freundlich directed, wrote and produced his full length film, “The Myth of Fingerprints” (1997), which starred his future wife Julianne Moore, Roy Scheider, Hope Davis, Blythe Danner, Noah Wyle, Laurel  Holloman and Michael Vartan. The film earned Grand Jury Prize nomination for Dramatic at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. It also received the Audience Award and the Grand Special Prize nomination at the 1997 Deauville Film Festival as well as nominations at the Chlotrudis Awards, including Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actress (Moore). At the Independent Spirit Awards, the film was nominated for the Best Supporting Male category in 1997 and then for the Producers Award in 2001. “The Myth of Fingerprints” grossed $458,815 against a production budget of $2 million.

In 2000,  Freundlich made his television debut with the made for TV film “The Only Living Boy in New York,” which he directed, wrote and executive produced. The drama starred Jill Clayburgh, Amelia Heinle and Adam Kaufman.

Freundlich returned with his second feature, “World Traveler,” which was screened at the  Toronto Film Festival on September 9, 2001 and later at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2002. It starred Billy Crudup and Julianne Moore.

Freundlich made his studio film directing debut with “Catch That Kid” (2004), which was a  remake of the 2002 Danish blockbuster “Klatretøsen.” Starring Kristen Stewart, Corbin Bleu, Max Thieriot, Jennifer Beals and Sam Robards, the film opened at No. 6 at the US box office with $5,824,860 in its first opening weekend, and stayed at the top ten for two weeks. It went on to gross a total of $16,930,762, against an original budget of $12 million. “Catch That Kid” received mostly negative reviews from critics.

In 2005, Freundlich directed, wrote and produced the romantic comedy film “Trust the Man,” starring wife Julianne Moore, David Duchovny, Billy Crudup and Maggie Gyllenhaal. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2005 before having a limited release on August 18, 2006.

In September 2007, Freundlich directed an episode of the Showtime dramedy television series “Californication” called “LOL.” He went on to direct several other episodes, like “La Petite Mort” (2008), “The Land of Rape and Honey” and “Zoso” (both 2009), “Monkey Business” (2011), “Waiting for the Miracle,”  “Raw” and “Perverts & Whores” (all 2012). He directed Tracy L. Aldaz, Karin Anglin and Anne Archer in the television film “Family Practice,” which was aired on the Lifetime Network in February 2008. It was written by Jeffrey Lieber.

Freundlich returned to the big screen with “The Rebound” (2009), which he directed, wrote and produced. The romantic comedy film starred Catherine Zeta-Jones and Justin Bartha. It was released in theaters in several countries in late 2009 and was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on December 25, 2010. However. It was canceled due to the film's distributor shutting down. It ended up going direct to video in the United States on February 7, 2012.

Freundlich directed the final episode “Stuck in the Middle with You” of the NBC police procedural television drama series “Prime Suspect,” starring Maria Bello and Brian O'Byrne. The episode broadcast on Sunday, January 22, 2012.    


Awards:

Deauville Film Festival: Audience Award, “The Myth of Fingerprints,” 1997 Show Less