Biography for
Jason Reitman More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

19 October 1977, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Spouse

Michele Lee

(5 September 2004 - present) (filed for divorce) 1 child

Trade Mark

Comedy films touching on serious subjects (Media spin and the dangers of cigarettes in Thank You for Smoking (2005), teen pregnancy in Juno (2007), economic downturn in Up in the Air (2009/I)).

[Ensemble cast] Frequently works with J.K. Simmons, 'Sam Elliott', Jason Bateman.

Theme of generational gap between older and younger characters (Juno (2007), Up in the Air (2009/I)).

Elaborate opening title sequences in all of his films

Highly subjective narration by the main character

Films typically revolve around characters who are brashly self-confident, but begin to rethink their lives and responsibilities.

Trivia

Son of director Ivan Reitman and Geneviève Robert. Older brother of Catherine Reitman and Caroline Reitman.

In the opening-title sequence of Thank You for Smoking (2005), which used the graphic motif of traditional cigarette cartons, Jason's credit is accompanied by the text "Est'd 1977." This is his year of birth.

Graduated from Harvard-Westlake School (North Hollywood, CA) in 1995

Graduate of the University of Southern California, where he was an English major.

One of 105 people invited to join AMPAS in 2008.

Frequents Los Angeles Steakhouse STK, as does Jason Sarayba and Channing Tatum.

Directed 4 actors in Oscar nominated performances: Ellen Page, George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick.

Father, with Michele Lee, of daughter Josephine Reitman.

Personal Quotes

Being the son of a filmmaker, you are aware of a career as a director. You don't think of it as just movies, but as a life. I couldn't help but wonder how my life was going to go ... One film does not make a career.

Do you know how many times I get asked if I want to do Ghostbusters 3? Looking at my career so far, I mean if you just looked at my two films, I would make the most boring Ghostbusters movie. It would just be people talking about ghosts, there wouldn't be any ghost-busting in it.

I don't want to make films that give you the answer. If there is a message to my films - and I hope there isn't - it's to be open-minded.

I always refer to a piece of advice my father gave me the night before I started shooting 'Thank You for Smoking'. He said, 'Always remember: it's not your job to be funny. Your barometer for comedy is nowhere as good as your barometer for truth.