Greg Mottola

Gregory J. Mottola^[1] (born July 11, 1964)^[2] is an American film director, screenwriter and television director.

Greg Mottola
Mottola in 2009
Born	Gregory J. Mottola (1964-07-11) July 11, 1964 (age 61) Dix Hills, New York, U.S.
Education	Carnegie Mellon University (BFA) Columbia University (MFA)
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, television director
Spouse	Sarah Allentuch
Children	3

Early life and education

Mottola grew up in Dix Hills, New York,^[3] in a Catholic family of Italian and Irish descent.^[4] He received his BFA in art from Carnegie Mellon University and MFA in film from Columbia University.^[5]

Career

He wrote and directed the 1996 independent film The Daytrippers, then concentrated for several years on directing in television for series such as Undeclared and Arrested Development.

More recently, he has directed the feature films Superbad, Adventureland and Paul.

Adventureland (2009) is a "first love" story about a group of college-age kids working at an amusement park in the 1980s. The film starred Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and received critical praise.^[6][7]

He directed Paul, a science fiction/comedy film about two comic book nerds (played by the film's screenwriters Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) who meet an alien named Paul while vacationing in the US.^[8]

Later on, he returned to TV series, such as The Dangerous Book for Boys.

Personal life

Mottola is married to Sarah Allentuch and has three children.^[1]

Filmography

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Writer
1985	The Hatbox	Yes	Yes
1989	Swingin' in the Painter's Room	Yes	No

Feature film

Year	Title	Director	Writer
1996	The Daytrippers	Yes	Yes
2007	Superbad	Yes	No
2009	Adventureland	Yes	Yes
2011	Paul	Yes	No
2016	Keeping Up with the Joneses	Yes	No
2022	Confess, Fletch	Yes	Yes

Television

Year	Show	Episode
2001	Undeclared	"Addicts"
		"Sick in the Head"
		"Eric Visits Again"
2002		"Jobs, Jobs, Jobs"
		"Truth or Dare"
		"The Perfect Date"
2003	The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke	"Pilot" (unaired)[9]
	Arrested Development	"Charity Drive"
		"Visiting Ours"
2004		"Storming the Castle"
	Cracking Up	"Scared Straight"
2005	The Comeback	"Valerie Demands Dignity"
		"Valerie Saves the Show"
2012	The Newsroom	"We Just Decided To"
		"The 112th Congress"
		"The Greater Fool"
2018	The Dangerous Book for Boys	"How to Play Poker"
		"How to Walk on the Moon"
2020	Dave	"The Gander"
		"Dave's First"
		"Hypospadias"
2024	Nobody Wants This	"Pilot"
		"A Shiksa Walks Into a Temple"
2025	Peacemaker	Season 2, episodes 2 and 3

TV movie

• Clear History (2013)