Himmelstein Creates Structure and Celluloid

In a unique blend of art and structure, famed New York architect Peter Himmelstein has collaborated a second time with L.A. based Occupant films for Peep World, a voyeuristic look into a day in the life of a darkly comedic family tormented by fact, fiction, and mortality. The pic, penned by Himmelstein, was one of the “Luck 13” chosen for the 2004 Sundance Institute’s Filmmakers and Screenwriters Lab.

Occupant Films has signed on to produce the project, with Himmelstein again holding the helm. Occupant’s previous collaboration with the director was the recently completed thriller The Key Man, which Himmelstein again scripted and directed. Himmelstein’s talents range from bold designs in construction peppering the Northeast United States, to such an ever-growing film base including  “The Lost Boys of Sudan,” “Beautiful, Baby,” “Electroboy” and “A Memoir of Mania.” The young director’s collaboration with Occupant is rather appropriate as both are relative newcomers to the field. Occupant, formed in August 2005, had its first flick, the horror thriller All the Boys Love Mandy Lane debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in 2006 and picked up by Dimension. Himmelstein began his film ventures earnestly about the same time, though he has long been recognized for his architectural designs from his New York firm Peter Himmelstein Designs.

 The Sundance Director’s Lab class of 2004 is not limited in its shining alumnus. According to Michelle Satter, Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, “the filmmakers…have the opportunity to further develop their talent and projects”. Among Himmelstein’s classmates of the year were: Aditya Assarat (writer/director), HI-SO; Sterlin Harjo (writer/director), Four Sheets to the Wind (Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize Sundance 2007); Orlando “Dito” Montiel (writer/director), A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (Winner of 2 awards at Sundance 2006 and one each at Venice & Gijón, Nominated 2007 Indie Spirit); and Kazuo Ohno (writer/director), Crumpacker and the Man From the Letter (2009). The future holds much more for those lucky enough to be called by the Sundance Institute, the rest of us can simply reap the rewards.