Peter Kaufman

Writer, director, producer

Peter Kaufman was born in Chicago in 1960. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in Asian studies and speaks fluent Mandarin.

He began working with his father, award-winning filmmaker Philip Kaufman, on such films as The Right Stuff and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. In 1990, he produced Henry & June, which was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1993, he produced Rising Sun, a murder mystery involving a large Japanese corporation. China: The Wild East is Peter Kaufman’s first film as writer/director.

In late 1999, he finished producing the film Quills, which was shot in and around London. Starring Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Michael Caine and Joaquin Phoenix, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards. Released in November, 2000.

Kaufman’s film Twisted, starring Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson and Andy Garcia, was released in 2004. A young police inspector (Ashley Judd) begins to suspect she might be the killer she is looking for.

“Hemingway & Gellhorn”, Kaufman’s epic love story, aired in the US in May of 2012 on HBO. Set against many war zones, the film explores the passionate and turbulent love affair between the iconic writer, Ernest Hemingway (Clive Owen) and his third wife, the war correspondant, Martha Gellhorn (Nicole Kidman). The film was nominated for 15 Emmy Awards.

He is married to Christine Pelosi and they have two children, Octavio and Bella.

Filmography

Hemingway & Gellhorn 2012

  • Executive Producer

  • Starring Clive Owen, Nicole Kidman

  • Nominated for 15 Emmy Awards

Twisted 2004

  • Co-Producer

  • Starring Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson, Andy Garcia

QUILLS 2000 Fox Searchlight

  • Producer

  • Starring Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Michael Caine and Joaquin Phoenix

  • Nominated for three Academy Awards.

CHINA: THE WILD EAST 1995 Turner Original Productions

  • Written, directed and co-produced by Peter Kaufman

RISING SUN 1993 20th Century Fox

  • Producer

  • Starring Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes

HENRY AND JUNE 1990 Universal

  • Producer

  • Starring Uma Thurman, Maria de Medeiros, Fred Ward and Kevin Spacey

  • Nominated for one Academy Award

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING 1988 Orion

  • Researcher and Assistant to the Director

  • Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin

  • Nominated for two Academy Awards. Winner of numerous national and international awards.

THE RIGHT STUFF 1983 Ladd Co., Warner Bros.

  • Assistant to the Director

  • Starring Sam Shepherd, Barbara Hershey, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Fred Ward, Dennis Quaid

  • 8 Academy Award Nominations including Best Picture; winner of 4 Academy Awards and numerous national and international awards.