Thor Freudenthal

Life and career

Freudenthal was raised in Berlin, Germany. His parents were born in Israel. 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." 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.

Freudenthal attended the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, and later moved to Southern California as an exchange student at CalArts. 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 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. He later worked as second unit director on Disney's The Haunted Mansion. In 2009, he directed Hotel for Dogs for DreamWorks Pictures. He directed the live-action/animated feature film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, based on the book by Jeff Kinney and in 2013 he directed Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.

In 2019, he was reported to have signed on to direct upcoming Gotham Group series Skywatchers. 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.

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

Filmography

Film

Television

Short films

Other credits

References

References

1. Mary Schubert. "Calarts Student WinsAnimation Prize: Film Combines Ostrich, Oper". [[TheFreeDictionary.com]].
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. (8 August 2013). "Thor Freudenthal on 'Percy Jackson,' grandparents on Schindler's list".
4. "Thor Freudenthal – Rotten Tomatoes".
5. Wyche, Elbert. (2013-08-07). "Thor Freudenthal, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters".
6. "Thor Freudenthal".
7. Holden, Stephen. (15 January 2009). "A Tale of Love and Liberation (Puppy and Otherwise) (Published 2009)". The New York Times.
8. Freudenthal, Thor. (15 January 2009). "Hotel for Dogs". Dreamworks Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Cold Spring Pictures.
9. (19 March 2010). "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Friendship conquers all in Grade 6".
10. Fowlie, David J.. (9 April 2010). "Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010) ***".
11. Webster, Andy. (6 August 2013). "What a Hero Goes Through to Become a Healer (Published 2013)". The New York Times.
12. (10 September 2019). "Thor Freudenthal to Direct Skywatchers".
13. Hipes, Patrick. (9 September 2019). "Thor Freudenthal To Direct 'Skywatchers' Movie Based On Upcoming Carrie Arcos Novel; Gotham Group Producing".
14. (6 November 2020). "Words on Bathroom Walls review – prettified portrait of mental illness".
15. (19 August 2020). "'Words on Bathroom Walls' Director Talks Adapting YA Book".
16. Freudenthal, Thor. (17 March 2015). "Out of Time". Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television.
17. Freudenthal, Thor. (19 March 2010). "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". Color Force, Dayday Films, Dune Entertainment III.
18. The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary by Jeff Kinney