Jesse Peretz

Jesse Peretz (born May 19, 1968)^[1] is an American film and television director, TV producer and former musician. He first rose to prominence as a bass guitarist and founding member of The Lemonheads, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based band that formed in 1986. Peretz left the band as a musician shortly before its breakout album, It's a Shame About Ray, was released, but stayed on as the band photographer. After leaving The Lemonheads, he began to work extensively as a director, first in short-form works such as television commercials and music videos, later transitioning to feature films and television series. His directorial work includes the films Our Idiot Brother and Juliet, Naked, and the TV series Girls.

Jesse Peretz
Born	(1968-05-19) May 19, 1968 (age 56) Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Alma mater	Harvard University
Occupation(s)	Film director, musician
Years active	1986-present
Parents	Marty Peretz Anne Devereux

Career

Peretz is a founding member of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based rock band The Lemonheads, which he formed in high school with classmates Evan Dando and Ben Deily.^[2] He left the band as a musician prior to the band's breakthrough album, It's a Shame About Ray; however, he continued to work with them as a photographer and music video director. His first videos for The Lemonheads were for the songs "Mrs. Robinson", "Confetti" and "It's a Shame about Ray".^[3] He went on to direct videos for the Foo Fighters (he won a Grammy for Best Music Video for "Learn to Fly"),^[4] Jack Black, Nada Surf and The Breeders,^[3] as well as creating and co-directing the "Jimmy the Cab-Driver" comedy vignettes for MTV with his friends from Harvard Donal Logue and Clay Tarver.^[5] Peretz also directed several commercials including spots for Nike, IKEA, Barq's Root Beer, and the Sony PlayStation.^[6] In 1998, he directed a feature film called First Love, Last Rites based on the Ian McEwan short story of the same name.^[3] In 2001 he directed The Chateau (starring Paul Rudd), in 2006 The Ex, and in 2011 Our Idiot Brother.^[7] He has worked as a producer/director on the HBO show Girls and Showtime's Nurse Jackie.^[3][8] It was announced in 2014 that Peretz would direct an adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel Juliet, Naked, produced by Judd Apatow.^[9] Peretz's film version premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.^[10]

Personal life

Peretz was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Anne Devereux (née Labouisse), and publisher Marty Peretz.^[1][11] His father is a descendant of Yiddish-language Jewish author I. L. Peretz. His maternal grandparents were Elizabeth Scriven (Clark) and diplomat Henry Richardson Labouisse, Jr. His maternal great-grandfather was art collector and philanthropist Stephen Carlton Clark, who was the son of Alfred Corning Clark and the grandson of inventor Edward C. Clark.^[12] His father is Jewish, and his mother is Protestant.^[13]

Filmography

Film (as director)

• First Love, Last Rites (1997)
• The Château (2001)
• The Ex (2006)
• Our Idiot Brother (2011)
• Juliet, Naked (2018)

TV (as director)

• Girls (18 episodes)
• Nurse Jackie (10 episodes)
• Married (2 episodes)
• The Electric Company (1 episode)
• New Girl (5 episodes)
• The Mindy Project (1 episode)
• The Office U.S. (1 episode)
• Bent (1 episode)
• Important Things with Demetri Martin (5 episodes)
• Orange Is the New Black (2 episodes)
• Happyish (1 episode)
• Divorce (5 episodes)
• GLOW (3 episodes)
• Shrill (1 episode)
• Soundtrack (1 episode)
• High Fidelity (1 episode)
• Teenage Bounty Hunters (1 episode)
• The Shrink Next Door (3 episodes)

Videography

• "Submerge" by Come (1992)
• "It's a Shame About Ray" by The Lemonheads (1992)
• "Confetti" by The Lemonheads (1992)
• "Mrs. Robinson" by The Lemonheads (1992)
• "Shocker in Gloomtown" by The Breeders (1994)
• "So Into You" by Shudder To Think (1994)
• "Girl from Mars" by Ash (1996)
• "Popular" by Nada Surf (1996)
• "Big Me" by Foo Fighters (1996)
• "Learn to Fly" by Foo Fighters (1999)
• "I Can Buy You" by A Camp (2001)
• "The One" by Foo Fighters (2002)
• "Idiot Boyfriend" by Jimmy Fallon (2002)
• "The Seed 2.0" by The Roots featuring Cody ChesnuTT (2003)
• "Followed the Waves" by Melissa Auf der Maur (2004)
• "School of Rock" by Jack Black (2004)
• "Low" by Foo Fighters (2003)
• "Long Road to Ruin" by Foo Fighters (2007)
• "Bad Liar" by Selena Gomez (2017)

References

1. "Jesse Peretz Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
2. Collins-Hughes, Laura (August 30, 2011). "Peretz's local learning curve". Boston.com – via The Boston Globe.
3. Ducker, Eric (March 4, 2013). "Q&A: Girls Director Jesse Peretz on Lena Dunham, His Music Video and Features Career, and the Satisfaction of Working on Cable TV". Grantland. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
4. "Artist: Jesse Peretz". The Recording Academy. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
5. Sheffield, Rob (November 18, 2014). "Jimmy the Cab Driver's Greatest MTV Hits". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
6. Gardyn, Rebecca (1 November 1999). "When Jesse Peretz Laughs, The World Laughs With Him...And Sometimes At Him". Ad Age. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
7. Brown, Hannah (July 23, 2011). "It Runs in the Family". Jerusalem Post. Israel. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
8. Lee, Ashley (June 23, 2015). "'Nurse Jackie': On the Set With Edie Falco as Show Says Goodbye for Good". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
9. "Kate Winslet to Lead Judd Apatow-Produced 'Juliet, Naked,' from 'About a Boy' Author". 5 December 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
10. "Juliet, Naked". Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Institute. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
11. Rodrick, Stephen (January 24, 2011). "Martin Peretz Is Not Sorry About Anything". The New York Times.
12. "New Republic Edits for Elite". Record-Journal. Meriden, Connecticut. May 5, 1985.
13. Orel, Gwen (August 25, 2011). "Q&A: Siblings Evgenia and Jesse Peretz on 'Our Idiot Brother'". The Forward. Retrieved November 30, 2018.

External links

• Jesse Peretz at IMDb
• Biography and videos
• Entry at mvdbase.com