Biography

According to his official biography, Pritikin inherited a love of film from his father, who had an extensive collection of 16mm prints. Pritikin watched them religiously before starting to make his own 8mm films at the age of eight.

Pritikin feels very strongly about people using electronic devices on airplanes. In a 2013 New York Times article he was quoted as saying: "I’ve almost come to fisticuffs with some passengers who refuse to turn off their phone. I take airplane safety very seriously.”

Movie career

His first three feature films, “Totally Confused,” “Dummy” and “Surviving Eden,” all comedies, share a unique sensibility that deal with, in the writer/director’s words, “small triumphs by small people.” His sense of comedy has been compared to the early works of Woody Allen, Mel Brooks and the silent films of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Evidence of these influences is prevalent in his work.

Pritikin entered the world of independent filmmaking in 1998 with his first feature, “Totally Confused.” The cult-favorite was co-written and co-directed with childhood friend, Gary Rosen. Soon after, Pritikin wrote and directed his second film, “Dummy,” a comedy about a young man struggling to overcome his shyness with the help of a ventriloquist dummy. The film starred Adrien Brody, Milla Jovovich, Illeana Douglas, Jared Harris, Vera Farmiga, Ron Leibman and Jessica Walter.

“Surviving Eden,” his third feature, is a satire about reality TV starring Michael Panes, Peter Dinklage, Cheri Oteri, Jane Lynch, Conchata Ferrell, Savannah Haske and John Landis.

Though he claims he never watched a music video in his life, Pritikin has directed several of them including one for Willie Nelson.

He was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for “Dummy” and Best Screenplay for “Surviving Eden” at the Milan International Film Festival.

Pritikin directed the Television film Monster of the House.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]