Moises Kaufman was born November 21, 1963. He is an Emmy and Tony nominated director. He is most famous for the play "The Laramie Project" as well as the film on HBO "The Laramie Project." The play was staged in 2000 and the film was later released on HBO in 2002.
Some of his other famous films are: “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde," “I Am My Own Wife,” which won a Tony and the Pulitzer Prize.
Both of his parents were Holocaust survivors and catholic. Growing up "as a yeshiva-trained Orthodox Jew with sidelocks," he hide from the world because he was gay. According to the New York Times, "As a teenager, confused and terrified by his homosexuality, he saw Harvey Fierstein’s ''Torch Song Trilogy'' while in San Francisco, and cried with relief. Years later, he directed ''Gross Indecency'' at the same San Francisco theater."
For more information from the New York Times, click here. For information on Kaufman from the American Theatre Wing, click here.
Reason For Making "The Laramie Project"
Being gay himself, Moises Kaufman wanted to spread awareness of the issue of equality. Horrific events occurred and his goal was not to reenact them. He chose a different route. He conducted interviews with people in the town of Laramie, WY about what had happened and information about Matthew Shepard.
Kaufman aquireded so many "high profiled" actors because not only the material but something about the fact that a group of actors not only went to Laramie but also wrote the play so he thinks the reason why he got them was because of the "artwork" the movie was coming into. All of the actors he had were extremely talented and politically aware so he said it was just a "blessing" that he had this cast and that it was a director’s dream. HBO got the film and it would be seen so fast and by so many that is why he chose HBO. The producer didn't want to have meetings for the movie and because he has seen the play he just wanted to get right into making the movie and the director loved this idea.
