Critically acclaimed writer, producer, and director Todd Solondz grew up near Newark, New Jersey and his films eerily reflect his suburban background. True: They were all shot in New Jersey suburbs. False: They contain the saccharine harmlessness typical of Hollywood suburbia. Solondz's movies, 1996's Welcome to the Dollhouse, 1998's Happiness, and 2002's Storytelling delve into the gloomy alleys of everyman's (and everywoman's) psyche, drawing bittersweet comedy out of dark, often upsetting moments. Solondz himself agrees that "it's hard to separate what I find funny from what I'm moved by. These are the two currents at work in me: There's a humor in some things that, at the same time, are disturbing and sadden us.... These characters are interesting not because they're 'dysfunctional,' but because they have real problems, crushing hardships, moral dilemmas, and so forth, and yet they somehow still manage to get up in the morning."

Since studying at New York University's film school, leaving the "industry" to teach ESL classes, and then returning to make Dollhouse, Todd has championed his own style of filmmaking. It's a style dictated not by conventional movie entertainment methods or what you "can" and "cannot" say, but rather by the realness and ambiguity of his characters and situations. His films are fraught with scenes where you hate to laugh because they make you cringe; yet your emotions are stirred because the scenes are so authentic, so human. He insists that his movies aren't for everyone - you'll just have to see for yourself if you're going to be moved or shaken.

In 1996, Welcome to the Dollhouse, a feature Todd wrote, produced and directed, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and many other awards. In 1998, Happiness, which he wrote and directed, won the International Critics' Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and many other awards as well. Todd also wrote and directed Storytelling, released in January 2002, which was screened at Cannes, the New York Film Festival, and Sundance.