Lawrence Trilling

American television director From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lawrence Trilling (born June 29, 1966) is an American television director, producer, showrunner, and writer. He has directed nearly 150 hours of television to date, and served as Producer/Executive Producer on such series as Felicity, Alias, Parenthood, Pushing Daisies, Goliath, and Outer Range. He has directed episodes of many popular series, including Scrubs, Monk, Masters of Sex, Damages, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Snowfall.[1][2][3][4][5]

Born (1966-06-29) June 29, 1966 (age 59)
Wayne, New Jersey, US
OccupationsTelevision director and Producer
KnownforShowrunner of Goliath
Quick facts Born, Education ...
Lawrence Trilling
Born (1966-06-29) June 29, 1966 (age 59)
Wayne, New Jersey, US
EducationColumbia University
OccupationsTelevision director and Producer
Known forShowrunner of Goliath
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Early life and education

Trilling was born in Wayne, New Jersey, and moved to Santa Monica, California, when he was three. At Lincoln Jr. High, Trilling met fellow future director Matt Reeves, who inspired Trilling with his Super 8 film camera and editing system.[6]  Together, they co-wrote several films, which Reeves directed and Trilling starred in. One of those films, The Loser, was screened at a student film festival at the Nuart Theater in West Los Angeles, where they befriended fellow filmmaker, J.J. Abrams.[7]

Trilling graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1984.  He attended Columbia University and graduated with a B.A. in English Literature in 1988, and received an MFA in Film and Television Production from UCLA in 1992.[8]

Film and television career

1990s

Trilling's first break was selling the screenplay Delivered,  a black comedy he co-wrote with his childhood friend and fellow pizza delivery driver, Andrew Liotta.  The script, about an angry, overeducated pizza man who is mistaken for a local serial killer, was produced by Banner Entertainment and premiered at the Seattle Film Festival in 1998. The same year, he directed the film Dinner and Driving, a romantic comedy about the anxiety of commitment, which he co-wrote with his cousin, Steven Wolfson. The film played multiple festivals and aired on HBO and Lifetime, and later streamed on Netflix.[9]

Trilling made his television directorial debut in Season One of Felicity, when he directed the acclaimed episode "The Fugue." He became a Producer/Director for season two and directed 14 episodes over the show's four seasons. On the strength of his work on Felicity, he was hired to direct two other dramas for the WB Network; Roswell for Jason Katims and Popular, Ryan Murphy's debut series.[10]

2000s

After their collaboration on Felicity, Trilling followed J. J. Abrams to Alias, where he directed episodes throughout season two and became a Producer/Director for seasons three and four. He also wrote and directed the film Porn n' Chicken, which was Comedy Central's first original movie.[11] After this, Trilling became a frequent director on the hit NBC comedy series, Scrubs, helming six episodes in the first two seasons.

Trilling then worked for Warner Bros. and ABC  as Producer/Director on Invasion and Pushing Daisies. During this period, he also directed episodes of Damages, Monk, Brothers & Sisters, Life, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, among others.

In 2010, he directed the feature film comedy, Group Sex, which he co-wrote with Greg Grunberg, starring Henry Winkler.

2010–present

In 2010, Trilling joined Jason Katims to become an Executive Producer/Director for the acclaimed NBC drama Parenthood. Praised for its honest, funny and emotional examination of family life, it was one of the first television shows to raise awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The show ran for six seasons and Trilling directed 38 episodes. While working on the show for Universal, he also sold two pilots as a writer.[12]

Between 2013 and 2017, Trilling directed episodes of the popular shows Masters of Sex, Rectify, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Agent Carter, and Snowfall, among others.

In 2016, Trilling teamed up with David E. Kelly to direct the pilot of Goliath for Amazon Prime Video, for which Billy Bob Thornton won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2017. He took over as Showrunner in season two and ran the show for its next two seasons until it concluded in 2021.[13] He also directed the Pilot and first three episodes of Condor, a re-imagining of the movie from 1975.

From 2019 to 2023, Trilling was under an overall deal at Amazon Studios. In addition to show running Goliath, he sold multiple projects into development and came aboard to direct and Executive Produce Outer Range, starring Josh Brolin.[14]

Filmography

Television

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Director Producer Notes
1999–2002 Felicity Yes Yes Directed 14 episodes;
Wrote episode "True Colors"
2000 Ed Yes No Episode "Something Old, Something New"
2001 Popular Yes No 2 episodes
2001-2002 Scrubs Yes No 6 episodes
Roswell Yes No 2 episodes
2003 Monk Yes No Episode "Mr. Monk and the Very, Very Old Man"
Nip/Tuck Yes No Episode "Nanette Babcock"
Miracles Yes No Episode "Saint Debbie
2003-2005 Alias Yes Supervising Directed 15 episodes
2005-2006 Invasion Yes Co-Executive Directed 6 episodes
2006 Brothers & Sisters Yes No Episode "Northern Exposure"
2007 Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Yes No Episode "Monday"
Damages Yes No Episode "Tastes Like a Ho-Ho"
Life Yes No Episode "Let Her Go"
Re-Inventing the Wheelers Yes No Unaired Pilot
2007-2009 Pushing Daisies Yes Co-Executive Directed 5 episodes
2009 Drop Dead Diva Yes No Episode "The Chinese Wall"
Mercy Yes No 2 episodes
2010-2015 Parenthood Yes Executive Directed 38 episodes
2013 Masters of Sex Yes No Episode "Standard Deviation"
2014 Killer Women Yes No Episode "La Sicaria"
About a Boy Yes No Episode "About a Rib Chute"
2015 Rectify Yes No Episode "Thrill Ride"
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Yes No Episode "I'm So Happy That Josh Is So Happy!"
2016 Agent Carter Yes No 2 Episodes
Recovery Road Yes No 2 episodes
2016-2021 Goliath Yes No 22 episodes;
Also showrunner
2017 The Get Down Yes No Episode "Unfold Your Own Myth"
Underground Yes No Episode "Citizen"
Snowfall Yes No Episode "Seven-Four"
2018 Condor Yes Executive Directed 3 episodes
2022 Outer Range Yes No Directed 2 episodes
2024 Nobody Wants This Yes No Directed 2 episodes
2026 Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Yes Executive Directed 2 episodes
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Film

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Director Writer
1997 Dinner and Driving Yes Yes
1998 Delivered No Yes
2002 Porn n' Chicken Yes Yes
2010 Group Sex Yes Yes
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References

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