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Ariel Schulman

Highest Rated: 80% Catfish (2010)

Lowest Rated: 23% Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)

Birthday: Oct 1, 1981

Birthplace: New York, New York, USA

With his co-directing and producing partner Henry Joost, filmmaker Ariel Schulman explored issues of identity and morality in a social media-driven, digitally documented society in such documentaries and features as "Catfish" (2010), "Paranormal Activity 3" (2011) and "Nerve" (2016). Born October 1, 1981 in New York City, he met and befriended production partner Henry Joost while both were in high school. Schulman graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2004, the same year he launched his first production company with his brother, Yaniv "Nev" Schulman. Two years later, he teamed with Joost to form a second production entity, Supermarché, produced commercials and short films before venturing into feature-length projects in 2010 with the documentary "Catfish." The controversial film, which followed Nev Schulman as he attempted to determine the authenticity of an online admirer, won critical praise and led to a slew of new and diverse film projects. Joost and Schulman followed "Catfish" with "NY Export: Opus Jazz" (PBS, 2010), a filmed version of a 1958 ballet by Jerome Robbins, then ventured into mainstream dramatic fare with "Paranormal Activity 3," one of the more successful entries in the found footage supernatural horror franchise. Schulman and Joost soon returned to more independent/arthouse minded fare with the documentary short "A Brief History of John Baldessari" (2012), about the conceptual artist's life and work. Joost and Schulman also returned to the "Paranormal Activity" series with "Paranormal Activity 4" (2012) before focusing on short form projects with a slew of high-profile subjects, including "Cover Girl" (2014) with Lena Dunham, "A Year of Ping-Pong" with "New York Times" crossword puzzle creator Will Shortz attempting to film himself playing table tennis for an entire calendar year, and "Australia Psycho" (2015), a satirical look at actress Margot Robbie's ascent to stardom for Vogue.com. The following year, they co-directed two suspense/horror efforts with online/documentation: "Nerve," with Emma Roberts as a high schooler participating in a dangerous online game of daring challenges, and "Viral" (2016), with Analeigh Tipton as a woman documenting a disease outbreak that decimates half the world's population.

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Highest rated movies

80% 71% Catfish Watchlist 76% 58% Queer Watchlist 70% 45% White Girl Watchlist 67% 51% Paranormal Activity 3 Watchlist 66% 66% Nerve Watchlist 61% 46% Project Power Watchlist 56% 29% Viral Watchlist 46% 43% Secret Headquarters Watchlist
23% 34% Paranormal Activity 4
Watchlist
The Back of Her Head
Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
76% 58% Queer Tom Weston (Character) - 2024
46% 43% Secret Headquarters Director,
Screenwriter
- 2022
61% 46% Project Power Director - 2020
70% 45% White Girl Executive Producer $198.5K 2016
56% 29% Viral Director - 2016
66% 66% Nerve Director $38.6M 2016
23% 34% Paranormal Activity 4 Director $53.9M 2012
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Brief History of John Baldessari Director,
Executive Producer
- 2012
67% 51% Paranormal Activity 3 Director $104.0M 2011
80% 71% Catfish Self,
Director,
Producer,
Cinematographer
$3.2M 2010
No Score Yet 23% Go Get Some Rosemary Art Director $20.7K 2009
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Back of Her Head Art Director - 2007
No Score Yet No Score Yet Jerry Ruis, Shall We Do This? Jerry Ruis (Character),
Director
- 2007
No Score Yet No Score Yet December Ends Art Director - 2006

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Catfish: The TV Show Executive Producer 2012-2024
54% 35% The Watcher Executive Producer 2022