Jason Reitman Biography

Date of Birth: October 19, 1977

The son of famed director Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman grew up on film sets, even playing small roles in his father's films including Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Dave (1993).

Jason was born in Montreal when his father was four, his family fled to Canada from Czechoslovakia, and Ivan became involved in the Canadian film industry, winning three Genie Awards. Eventually, Ivan moved his family to California, where Jason was raised in the midst of the Hollywood film community.

Using his father's home videocam, Jason was making films of his own by the time he was 10. At 15, he made an AIDS public service announcement with high school friends that went on to win several awards and played on network television. After high school, Jason studied English at the University of Southern California.

While there, he wrote, directed and played a role in his first short film, Operation (1998), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He went on to create several more shorts, including In God We Trust (2000), that went on to win awards at several film festivals.

Based on that success, a commercial production company signed the young director, and he began directing television commercials for clients such as Heineken, Honda, Nintendo, BMW, Baskin Robbins, GM and Burger King.

In 2005, his first feature length film, the controversial Thank You for Smoking starring Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Katie Holmes and William H. Macy, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival before receiving a limited 2006 North American release. His third feature, Up in the Air (2009), garnered Reitman his first Academy Award nomination.

Filmography:

Labor Day (2014)
Up in the Air (2009)
Juno (2007)
Thank You for Smoking (2006)