From one Hollywood to another: Local director's huge movie moment
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Broward native and director Lance Oppenheim (right) is a rising star in Hollywood. Photo: JC Olivera/Getty Images
Lance Oppenheim is having a breakout year as director of two of the biggest films of the year: "Primetime" and "You Can See Everything."
Why it matters: The 30-year-old Broward native credits his childhood in South Florida and the local newspaper with sparking his interest in storytelling and showcasing wild stories.
Context: Oppenheim was born in Hollywood, and his family later moved to Weston and then Southwest Ranches.
- He's a 2014 graduate of Pine Crest.
What he's saying: "Reading the Sun Sentinel was actually the thing that started to get me really going because I would see so many crazy stories about people who would come to Florida to kind of find ways to reinvent themselves," he told Miami New Times in a recent interview.
Driving the news: The 30-year-old made his narrative feature debut last month with "Primetime," starring Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen, the host of the "Dateline" segment "To Catch a Predator," which ran from 2004 to 2007.
- Oppenheim's highly anticipated "You Can See Everything" hits theaters next weekend, just a few weeks after the release of "Primetime."
- Directed alongside comedian Nathan Fielder, the documentary follows disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in the weeks before she goes to prison.
Flashback: Oppenheim's first documentary drew on his Florida roots.
- Released in 2021, "Some Kind of Heaven" takes viewers inside The Villages, the world's largest retirement community, and follows residents through their daily lives inside what some call "Disney World for retirees."
What's next: Oppenheim hopes Florida one day revives its film tax incentives.
- He says the lack of incentives is why he wasn't able to film "Primetime," which features Fort Myers, in Florida.
- "I'm really hoping something changes there soon because making movies in Florida is, for myself and especially for my cinematographer David Boland and I — there's nothing greater than that," he told the New Times.
The bottom line: "There's the unpredictability, the chaos, the nuclear sunsets, the things that we're constantly searching for in our work. It's hard to find anywhere else."