Todd Solondz (born October 15, 1959) is an acclaimed American filmmaker and playwright, recognized for his dark, socially conscious satire. His work, often taking a critical view on the 'dark underbelly of middle class American suburbia,' includes notable filmography titles such as Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), Happiness (1998), Storytelling (2001), Palindromes (2004), Life During Wartime (2009), Dark Horse (2011), and Wiener-Dog (2016). Solondz's career has been defined by his audacity to explore controversial themes such as rape, pedophilia, incest, suicide, and murder in his work. With his filmography reaping numerous awards and critical acclaim, he has been a seminal influence on transgressive cinema. Solondz, a professor at New York University as of 2024, was born in 1959 in Newark, New Jersey, and spent his formative years in its suburban outskirts. He studied English at Yale for his undergraduate degree and attended New York University's Master of Fine Arts program in film and television. In the 1980s, he kickstarted his career with a short film titled Schatt's Last Shot, setting the stage for a series of controversial and thought-provoking feature films that would follow. In 1989, his feature film Fear, Anxiety & Depression was released, marking the beginning of a brilliantly contentious career.