Chris Weitz [Writer/Director]

By: Editor | June 21, 2011 | Ten by Ten

American film director, screenwriter and producer Chris Weitz is the son of John Weitz — the Berlin-born fashion designer, novelist, race car driver and wartime spy. I know what you’re thinking, “Hard shoes to fill,” right? But with an Oscar-nominated rap sheet, Weitz’s accomplishments beg to differ. As a producer, Weitz has orchestrated some of Hollywood’s most recent hits including American Pie, In Good Company and American Dreamz. As a director/screenwriter, his projects such as New Moon, The Golden Compass, and About a Boy solidify Weitz’s natural-born ability to create cinema. His latest film, titled A Better Life, tells the tale of an underprivileged East L.A. gardener struggling to raise a child in the face of immigration agents and gangs. A Better Life will be in theaters June 24.

What do you consider your most marked characteristic?
My ears. They’re just gigantic. My head is starting to catch up with them, but there is still a mystery chunk missing from the right one that not even my mom can explain.

What historic event do you find most interesting and why?
Right now, the American/Mexican war of 1846–48 and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. We basically helped ourselves to the northern half of Mexico, including our beloved Malibu, and are busily accusing Mexicans of illegally crossing the imaginary line that was then created.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?
The gift of tongues. My world would be so much bigger if I could speak any language.

What is your present state of mind?
Anxious. I am thinking of how to get people to see my beloved film A Better Life (opening June 24)!

So far this year, what is your favorite …
Book: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
Film: Waste Land, Lucy Walker’s doc.
Song: Friday sung by Rebecca Black. Let me explain. It has made me think the most — about the world of teens, about the dangers of the Internet, about the viciousness of the anonymous Web. Poor girl.
Restaurant: Musha in Santa Monica
TV show: 30 Rock
(I’m late to the game, I know.)

What cause do you most identify with?
What Father Greg Boyle is doing with Homeboy Industries, helping people who want to leave gangs get jobs. They have a bakery, a cafe and do tattoo removal and counseling. Father G and the homies helped us a lot making the movie.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Not to be treated as a human being. To be commodified, ignored, despised, unwanted; this is the hell that unites everyone from a celebrity to a gangbanger.

Who are your favorite characters in literature?
It’ll have to be Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin from Patrick O’Brian’s novels.

What do you consider your greatest career achievement?
Well, to be nominated with my brother for a screenplay Oscar for About a Boy was pretty spectacular.

What do you value most about your friends?
Their patience.

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