Greg Pritikin Biography

Growing up in Chicago, Greg Pritikin inherited a love of film from his father, who had an extensive collection of 16mm prints. Pritikin watched them all, and began making his own movies on super-8 film at a young age. He decided to become a fiction writer and playwright, but struggled for years, taking on odd jobs. He worked in a tobacco shop for a few years and also became a process server, serving legal papers on people. He once had to serve divorce papers on the celebrated British actress, Claire Bloom, and she mentioned Pritikin in her autobiography because he had the audacity to ask for her autograph.

Pritikin and long-time friend Gary Rosen got together to co-direct Rosen’s screenplay for the independent feature, Totally Confused (1998). The two also played roles in the film, which was shot in Chicago on a $10,000 budget and debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival. Pritikin was the sole writer and director of his second film, Dummy (2003). About a dysfunctional Jewish family, the film starred Adrien Brody, who would next go on to film the lead role in The Pianist, for which he won an Oscar® as Best Actor at the 2003 Academy Awards®.

Filmography:

Dummy (2003)
Totally Confused (1998)