He might not have the behind-the-camera type experience, but on set, Ross Katz can claim he was a grip on Reservoir Dogs and was the producer for a pair of films (that are among my favorites of the last decade) in Oscar-nominated items such as In the Bedroom and Lost in Translation. Backed by Likely Story (Synecdoche, New York), Katz will write the screenplay and direct his first project based on a novel that has yet to hit store shelves.
J. Saunders Elmore‘s (2009) The Amateur American, this is about a down-on-his-luck teacher and American expatriate in France who signs on to be a translator for an Arab businessman but is instead drawn into a web of violent political intrigue, corruption and murder.
Likely Story’s head of development Stefanie Azpiazu negotiated the film rights to the novel.
*Update: Variety mentioned in their article that “Katz recently wrote and directed “Taking Chance,” a Kevin Bacon starrer for HBO that preems in February.” So Amateur becomes his second outing as a filmmaker, but first feature film project.
