PAUL WEITZ AND CHRIS WEITZ (Directors, Screenplay) co-directed the blockbuster hits American Pie and Down to Earth starring Chris Rock. Previously, the filmmaking brothers collaborated on several screenplays, including Antz and Madeline, based on the popular children’s book, and they contributed to the writing of Shanghai Noon and Nutty Professor 2. They made their acting debut in the Sundance Film Festival hit, Chuck and Buck.
Born in New York, the brothers are third-generation Hollywood pedigree. Their grandfather was fabled agent Paul Kohner, who represented legendary filmmakers such as John Huston, Billy Wilder and Ingmar Bergman, and their parents are fashion designer/writer John Weitz and Oscar-nominated actress Susan Kohner. Paul Weitz graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in film. His last year there, his play Mango Tea, was produced off-Broadway with Marisa Tomei and Rob Morrow by New York’s Ensemble Studio Theatre. EST also produced his next works, Captive and All for One.
Chris Weitz earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature at Britain’s Cambridge University. He went on to work as a freelance journalist for several newspapers, including The Independent and The Sunday Times. He subsequently gave up journalism to join the diplomatic corps. After passing the rigorous Foreign Service examinations, the State Department accepted him, but required that he wait a year before actually starting his tenure.
During that year, Chris and Paul who had always collaborated creatively as youths, decided to write a screenplay together. The rest is history.
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