July, Miranda 1974- (Miranda Jennifer Grossinger)

PERSONAL:

Born February 15, 1974, in Barre, VT.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Los Angeles, CA. Home and office—Los Angeles, CA. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER:

Filmmaker, performing artist, and writer. Actor in the film Jesus's Son, 1999; director of the film Nest of Tens, 2000; director and editor of the film Getting Stronger Everyday, 2001.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Theater grant, Art Bridge Association, 1997; grant, Andrea Frank Foundation, 1997; Regional Arts and Culture Council individual artist grant, 1999, 2000; Oregon Arts Commission individual artist fellowship, 2000; Nest of Tens has won the New York Expo of Short Film award for best debut, 2000, the Cinematexas International Short Film Festival Gecko Award, 2000, and the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival Main Prize and Prize of the Ministry for Development, Culture, and Sports, both 2001; Sundance Institute Screenwriter's Lab fellow and Sundance Institute Director's Lab fellow, 2003; Me and You and Everyone We Know has won the Sundance Film Festival NHK Award, 2004, and special jury prize for originality of vision, 2005, the Cannes Film Festival Critics Week Grand Prize, Golden Camera, Prix Regards Jeune, and Young Critics Award, all 2005, the San Francisco International Film Festival Audience Award and SKYY Prize, both 2005, the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Russell Smith Award, 2005, the Philadelphia Film Festival award for best first-time director, 2005, the Stockholm Film Festival award for best directorial debut, 2005, the Newport International Film Festival Audience Award and Jury Award, both 2005, and the Chicago Film Critics Association Award, 2006.

WRITINGS:

(With others) The Center of the World (screenplay), Artisan Entertainment, 2001.

(With others; and director and actor) Me and You and Everyone We Know (screenplay), FilmFour, 2005.

The Boy from Lam Kien, Cloverfield Press (Los Angeles, CA), 2005.

No One Belongs Here More Than You (short stories), Scribner (New York, NY), 2007.

Writer of the short films Getting Stronger Everyday, 2001, and Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?, 2005. Contributor to periodicals, including Paris Review, Harper's, Harvard Review, Black Clock, and New Yorker.

SIDELIGHTS:

Miranda July is an American filmmaker, performing artist, and writer. July, who took that name due to the month's history of high productive outcome for her, has written a number of screenplays, acted in (and/or directed) a number of full-length or short films, and written novels. July was given a number of personal grants and fellowships in the late 1990s. However, her first international success came as a director with the film Nest of Tens. The film won awards at the New York Expo of Short Film, the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, and the Cinematexas International Short Film Festival.

In 2005 July cowrote, directed, and acted in the feature-length film Me and You and Everyone We Know. This film went on to win a large number of international awards. In the film, Christine, played by July, is a video artist who falls in love with a recently separated shoe salesman with two boys. Each character has difficulty relating to other people and struggles with this issue in different ways. The boys find their means of communicating on Internet chat rooms and through sexual encounters with people they meet online, while the adults are less successful in face-to-face verbal communication. Writing in the Film Journal International, Bruce Feld commented: "Sometimes smart-ass, sometimes subtle, always a breath of fresh air—Miranda July's feature film debut should make a big splash." Kirk Honeycutt in the Hollywood Reporter noted that the film "has moments of unexpected, offbeat comedy, but most of the time neither the characters nor the situations engage the viewer." Entertainment Weekly contributor Lisa Schwarzbaum concluded that "July's handmade movie is so unique and so true to the artist's elementally feminine self … that it's impossible not to respond strongly to it."

In 2007 July published the story collection No One Belongs Here More Than You. In one story, a stingy woman daydreams whether it is worth the cost to share a patio with her neighbor while that neighbor simultaneously has a seizure on the adjacent bench. Other stories concern consensual incest and student-teacher sex. Debi Lewis in Booklist claimed that "July's collection of stories is a gem of unconventional storytelling." In a Library Journal review, Leora Bersohn thought that several of the stories were too cliché and "drag down an otherwise witty and unusual book." London Guardian contributor Josh Lacey noted that "although a few read like experiments that didn't quite work, the majority of the 16 stories in No One Belongs Here More Than You are blisteringly good. July must just be one of those lucky people who can do anything."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Austin Chronicle, June 22, 2007, Shannon McCormick, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Back Stage, June 16, 2005, Jamie Painter Young, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. 8.

Boldtype, June, 2007, John Hood, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Booklist, January 1, 2007, Debi Lewis, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You, p. 55.

Camera Obscura, May 1, 2004, Julia Bryan-Wilson, author interview, p. 181.

Daily Variety, January 19, 2006, Adam B. Vary, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. B1.

Entertainment Weekly, June 24, 2005, Lisa Schwarzbaum, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. 142; May 25, 2007, Jeff Giles, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You, p. 88.

Film Journal International, June 1, 2005, Bruce Feld, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. 37.

Guardian (London, England), June 30, 2007, Josh Lacey, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Herizons, winter, 2006, Maureen Medved, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. 44.

Hollywood Reporter, February 9, 2005, Kirk Honeycutt, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. 16; May 6, 2005, "‘Everyone's’ a Hit at Fog City Fest," p. 4; August, 2005, Sheri Linden, author interview, p. 12.

Interview, July, 2005, Carrie Brownstein, author interview, p. 80.

Kansas City Star, July 19, 2005, Robert W. Butler, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2007, Miranda July, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Library Journal, November 15, 2006, Leora Bersohn, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You, p. 61.

L Magazine, July 18-31, 2007, Jonny Diamond, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

London Paper, June 11, 2007, Stuart McGurk, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Los Angeles Magazine, June 1, 2007, Robert Ito, "Dream Weaver: With Miranda July," p. 92.

Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2007, Karen E. Bender, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Mercury (Portland, OR), May 17-23, 2007, Chas Bowie, author interview.

Miami Herald, May 13, 2007, Connie Ogle, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Millimeter, July 1, 2005, Dan Ochiva, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know.

New Statesman, July 2, 2007, Helen Oyeyemi, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You, p. 60.

Newsweek, August 8, 2005, David Ansen, "Eye of the Beholder: Indie Visions from Two Masters and a Newcomer," p. 55.

New York, May 21, 2007, Kimberly Cutter, "Sincerely, Miranda July: The Filmmaker Who Inspires Both Devotion and Eye Rolling Returns with a Book," p. 117.

New Yorker, June 27, 2005, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. 105.

New York Times, June 17, 2005, A.O. Scott, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. 13; June 19, 2005, Karen Durbin, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. 13; July 6, 2005, Caryn James, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. E1; July 1, 2007, Sheelah Kolhatkar, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

O, the Oprah Magazine, June, 2005, Aaron Gell, "Try a Little Tenderness: Two New Films Explore the Engine—and Simple Poetry—of Love," p. 56; May 1, 2007, Vince Passaro, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You, p. 264.

Paste, May 24, 2007, Gilbert Cruz, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Publishers Weekly, October 30, 2006, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You, p. 31.

RES, May 19, 2005, Holly Willis, author interview.

San Francisco Chronicle, June 28, 2007, David Wiegand, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Sarasota Herald Tribune, August 19, 2005, George, Meyer, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. 15.

Seattle Times, July 7, 2005, Moira Macdonald, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know.

Variety, February 7, 2005, Scott Foundas, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know, p. 67.

Videography, April 1, 2005, "Making Your First Movie—Miranda July Directs Me and You and Everyone We Know," p. 38.

Village Voice, May 8, 2007, Angela Ashman, author interview.

Vogue, May, 2007, Megan O'Grady, "One and Only: Miranda July's New Story Collection Is a Wry and Affecting Take on Modern Love," p. 179.

ONLINE

Assignment Zero,http://www.zero.newassignment.net/ (May 14, 2007), Leah DeVun, author interview.

AV Club Web site,http://www.avclub.com/ (July 6, 2005), Nathan Rabin, author interview; (June 7, 2007), Tasha Robinson, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Believer,http://www.believermag.com/ (August 20, 2007), Eli Horowitz, author interview.

Bomb Magazine Online,http://www.bombsite.com/ (August 20, 2007), Rachel Kushner, author interview.

Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com/ (August 20, 2007), author profile.

Me and You and Everyone We Know Web site,http://www.meandyoumovie.com/ (August 20, 2007), movie Web site.

Miranda July Home Page,http://mirandajuly.com (August 20, 2007), author biography.

Miranda July MySpace Profile,http://www.myspace.com/mirandajuly (August 20, 2007), author profile.

No On Belongs Here More Than You Web site,http://www.noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/ (August 20, 2007), book Web site.

Powell's Books,http://www.powells.com/ (August 20, 2007), Dave Weich, author interview.

Tomorrow Unlimited,http://www.tomorrowunlimited.com/ (May 24, 2007), Maya Singer, review of No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Zap2It.com,http://www.zap2it.com/ (June 16, 2005), Hanh Nguyen, "July Forthcoming about ‘Me and You’"; (June 17, 2005), Hanh Nguyen, review of Me and You and Everyone We Know.