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Andrew Neel
Andrew Neel
Andrew Neel
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Andrew Neel is an American filmmaker, known as the creator of the films Darkon, New World Order and King Kelly and Goat.

Key Information

Early life

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Andrew Neel was born in Vermont in 1978. He is the grandson of the visual artist Alice Neel and his sister is artist Elizabeth Neel.[1][2] He attended boarding school at Northfield Mount Hermon High School in Massachusetts. He attended Columbia College and graduated with a BA in Film Studies in 2001.

Career

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Neel founded Seethink Productions in 2001 after graduating from Columbia College with a BA in Films Studies. In 2003 Seethink Productions became Seethink Films adding partners Ethan Palmer, Luke Meyer and Tom Davis

Neel has directed and produced award winning documentaries including DARKON and ALICE NEEL, and THE FEATURE. Neel’s critically acclaimed fictional film GOAT premiered at Sundance and Berlin in 2016 and was released by Paramount in 2016. He co-wrote ZOLA produced by A24 released in 2021. Previously he produced Fleischner’s STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS that won the Tribecca Jury Prize in 2013 and the critically acclaimed documentary BREAKING A MONSTER in 2015. Neel also worked as a writer, director and co-producer on the FX limited series A TEACHER released 2020.

Awards

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Neel's first film, Darkon, won the Audience Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival and was acquired by IFCtv. The film was optioned for narrative fiction re-make by Paramount via Plan B Entertainment, which was to be written by John Hodgman.[1][2] Neel's second film, Alice Neel, was acquired by Art House Films and is currently airing on the Sundance Channel. It won the Audience Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival. His third film, The Feature, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2008 and won the New Visions Award at the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival. It screened at MOMA in 2009. Also that year, Neel co-directed New World Order (2009) which was produced by IFCtv. In 2012 Neel directed his first feature narrative film, King Kelly and produced Stand Clear of the Closing Doors (2013) that won the Special Jury Prize at the Tribecca Film Festival .

Filmography as director

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References

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Andrew Neel

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Andrew Neel is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his boundary-blending work in both documentary and narrative cinema, frequently exploring themes of subcultures, constructed communities, and modern identity. Born on May 18, 1978, in Stowe, Vermont, Neel is the grandson of renowned visual artist Alice Neel. He graduated from Columbia University in 2001 with a degree in film studies and soon co-founded the Brooklyn-based production company SeeThink Films, which supported many of his early projects. His debut feature, the documentary Darkon (2006), profiled live-action role-playing gamers and established his interest in marginalized or alternative groups, followed by Alice Neel (2007), an intimate portrait of his grandmother's life and work. Neel continued with the hybrid film The Feature (2008) and the documentary New World Order (2009) before shifting toward narrative storytelling with King Kelly (2012). He achieved wider recognition with Goat (2016), a harrowing drama adapted from Brad Land's memoir that examines fraternity hazing and toxic notions of brotherhood, which he has described as part of his ongoing fascination with "neo-tribalism" and the ways people form meaning through group dynamics in contemporary life. Beyond features, Neel has produced acclaimed independent films such as Stand Clear of the Closing Doors (2013) and has directed episodes of television series including StartUp and A Teacher. His career reflects a commitment to visceral, questioning storytelling across formats, often drawing from real-world phenomena to challenge viewers' perceptions.

Early life

Early life and education

Andrew Neel was born on May 18, 1978, in Stowe, Vermont, United States. He is the grandson of renowned visual artist Alice Neel. Neel attended Northfield Mount Hermon School, a boarding school in Massachusetts, before attending Columbia University, where he studied film and graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in film studies.

Documentary career

Documentary filmmaking (2006–2009)

Andrew Neel began his documentary filmmaking career with the feature Darkon (2006), co-directed with Luke Meyer. The film is an intimate observational portrait of live-action role-playing gamers in a fantasy kingdom called Darkon, exploring themes of identity, community, and escapism. It premiered at film festivals and received notice for its non-judgmental depiction of an alternative subculture without narration or overt commentary. In 2007, Neel directed Alice Neel, a personal documentary about his grandmother, the acclaimed painter Alice Neel. The film uses her artwork, archival material, and interviews to chronicle her life, career, and personal experiences. In 2009, Neel released New World Order, which examines the world of conspiracy theorists and the 9/11 truth movement through observational access to its participants. These early documentaries established Neel's signature approach of close, character-focused observation of subcultures and constructed communities, often highlighting alternative social structures through individual stories.

Narrative feature career

Transition to narrative features and Goat (2016)

Continuing his work in narrative features, Andrew Neel directed and co-wrote Goat (2016) alongside David Gordon Green and Mike Roberts. The film adapts Brad Land's memoir Goat: A Memoir, depicting the harrowing experiences of a young college student navigating fraternity pledging and extreme hazing rituals. Goat centers on 19-year-old Brad Land (played by Ben Schnetzer), who pledges the fraternity of his older brother Brett (Nick Jonas) in an attempt to belong, only to endure increasingly violent and humiliating initiations that strain their relationship and probe themes of toxic masculinity, brotherhood, and trauma. The supporting cast includes Gus Halper as Chance, Danny Flaherty as Will, Virginia Gardner as Leah, and James Franco as Mitch. Produced by companies including Killer Films, Rough House Pictures, Rabbit Bandini Productions, and John Wells Productions, the 96-minute R-rated drama premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2016, before a limited theatrical and simultaneous VOD release on September 23, 2016, through Paramount Pictures. The film received positive critical reception, earning a 79% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 77 reviews, with a consensus describing it as "not an easy watch, but its thought-provoking themes, talented cast, and all-out intensity offer rewards for viewers willing to tough it out." It grossed $23,020 domestically during its limited run. Neel's approach drew on realistic, unflinching portrayals akin to his documentary roots to illuminate the disturbing underbelly of fraternity culture.

Writing and producing credits

Screenwriting and production roles

Andrew Neel has contributed to film and television as a screenwriter and producer on a range of projects, often collaborating with other directors and production teams beyond his own directed works. Neel served as writer for two episodes and co-producer for all ten episodes of the FX limited series A Teacher (2020), a drama exploring an inappropriate student-teacher relationship. His production credits include producer on the independent drama Stand Clear of the Closing Doors (2013), which follows a family in New York's Queens amid personal challenges, and executive producer on the documentary Breaking a Monster (2015), chronicling the rise of young rap group the Flatbush Zombies. Additional producing roles encompass executive producer on Bluebird (2013) and recent projects such as Limb After Limb (2023, short) as producer, Vacances (2025) as executive producer, and How to Feed a Dictator (post-production) as producer.

Critical reception and recognition

Awards, nominations, and critical impact

Neel's films have earned recognition at prominent film festivals, particularly through audience and jury awards for his documentaries and nominations for his narrative work. His documentary Darkon (2006) won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006. It also received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival that year. King Kelly (2012) won the Jury's Choice Award at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2012. The film earned an additional nomination for Best International Feature Film at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Neel's Goat (2016) was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016. The film received generally favorable reviews, holding a 78% Tomatometer approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 77 reviews, with critics praising its intense, thought-provoking examination of fraternity hazing, masculinity, and brotherhood. Darkon achieved an 89% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews. These festival selections and critical scores reflect Neel's standing in independent cinema for blending observational documentary techniques with narrative drama to explore American subcultures and social issues. His body of work has secured a modest but consistent pattern of recognition at key festivals such as Sundance and Los Angeles, contributing to discussions on indie filmmaking transitions.

Personal life

Personal background and influences

Andrew Neel was born on May 18, 1978, in Stowe, Vermont, and grew up in the state where his father, Hartley Neel, worked as a radiologist. As the grandson of the influential portrait painter Alice Neel (1900–1984), he was raised with an awareness of her artistic legacy, though she died in 1984 when he was young, leaving him with limited personal memories of her. Neel pursued higher education at Columbia University, initially as a pre-med student before shifting to philosophy and then to film studies after viewing Fritz Lang's M in an undergraduate course inspired him to explore the medium further. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in film studies with honors in 2001. Neel's familial tie to Alice Neel has profoundly shaped his perspective on art and storytelling, emphasizing uncompromising honesty and idiosyncrasy in creative work. He directed the 2007 documentary Alice Neel to offer a factual yet resonant portrait of her tumultuous life and legacy, deliberately avoiding sentimentality or self-focused therapy in favor of letting family interviews and archival material reveal her complexity. Neel has reflected that he maintained a "removed perspective" on his grandmother due to his youth at her passing, and he chose to remain off-camera to keep the focus on her story rather than his own. The process of making the film deepened his appreciation for bold, expressive painting techniques, which he described as cultivating a "real love for paint" and admiration for "ballsy paint-handling." In his own filmmaking, Neel is consistently drawn to themes of neo-tribalism—the ways people form groups and communities to find meaning in the modern world—as well as individuals living within constructed realities, interests that appear across his documentaries and narrative features. He has described writing and directing as a necessary means to interpret and share his view of the world, finding collaboration and exploration exhilarating.
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