James Adam Ponsoldt is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 film director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

, actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 and screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 from Athens, Georgia

Athens, Georgia

Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

, now based in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

History

Ponsoldt grew up in Athens and attended Cedar Shoals High School

Cedar Shoals High School

Cedar Shoals High School is a high school established in 1972 in Athens, Georgia in the Clarke County School District.It is one of the two traditional high schools in the school system, the other one being Clarke Central High School; the two schools have a rivalry known as the Classic City...

. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 and graduated from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 with a MFA in directing.

Ponsoldt has written and directed two short films, Coming Down the Mountain and Junebug and Hurricane, and co-directed a documentary short called We Saw Such Things, about the mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs

Weeki Wachee Springs

Weeki Wachee Springs is a natural tourist attraction located in Weeki Wachee, Florida, where underwater performances by "mermaids", women dressed with fins about their legs as well as other fancy outfits, can be viewed in an aquarium-like setting in the spring of the Weeki Wachee River...

, Florida. Ponsoldt's first feature film, Off the Black

Off the Black

Off the Black is a 2006 American drama film starring Nick Nolte and Trevor Morgan. It was written and directed by James Ponsoldt, who also has a small role in the film, and is his feature directorial debut.-Plot synopsis:...

, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

 in 2006. He is producing and acting in a comedy, Awful Nice, for which he also wrote the screenplay; the film is scheduled for release in 2011.

Personal life

Ponsoldt is the son of James F. and Susan E. Ponsoldt, and the grandson of graphic artist William Teason. His father is a retired law professor, formerly at the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

, and he has one sister, Katherine.

Ponsoldt married Megan Holloway in September 2010.