Aaron and Adam Nee, sometimes referred to as the Nee brothers, are an American filmmaking duo best known for their feature films The Last Romantic (2006), Band of Robbers (2015), and The Lost City (2022).
Although the brothers work separately at times – Adam acts and writes solo or with other writing partners, and Aaron directs documentary projects and commercials – their collaboration on short and feature films, music videos for bands including A Fine Frenzy [1] [2] and Terrene, [3] garnered them recognition as a filmmaking team. Their feature film The Last Romantic made Aaron and Adam Nee the winners of the Emerging Filmmakers Award at the 29th Starz Denver Film Festival. [4] The festival described it as: "Ambitious in its narrative and visual aesthetics, this film is also the rare work by a first-time filmmaker that is both very funny and very smart," and "buoyed by an impressive and charming central performance as well as an eccentric and hilarious supporting cast." [5]
They were also featured in Filmmaker 's "25 New Faces of Independent Film 2006". [6]
An earlier collaborative work of Aaron and Adam Nee was the music of ru(ok). Both brothers still create music separately, and Aaron scores many of the projects he has produced. [7]
In April 2018, it was announced that Aaron and Adam Nee would be directing a reboot of Masters of the Universe. [8] The duo would also be co-writing the screenplay with David Callaham. [9] The film was set to be released on Netflix, with production set to begin in 2023. [10] On July 18, 2023, it was announced that Netflix has canceled the film but Mattel Films was looking for a new studio to buy the project. Aaron and Adam Nee went on to direct a Lego film instead. [11] On May 1, 2024 it was confirmed that the Masters of the Universe film would be released on June 5, 2026 by Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films with Travis Knight directing and Chris Butler would write the screenplay based on initial drafts written by Aaron and Adam Nee and David Callaham. [12]
Aaron Nee, the elder Nee brother, attended the University of Central Florida. [13] Aaron's work as a cinematographer in their debut feature has been called some of the most beautiful DV cinematography in independent film to date. [14] His documentary following convicts released from prison and their journey to rehabilitation and transformation was released at the end of 2008.
Aaron also does motion graphics and visual effects through his company G.R.O.W. LLC. [15]
The younger Nee brother moved to New York City as a young adult to pursue acting, which entailed day work on such television projects as Law & Order and Sex and the City . Adam starred in the 2006 film The Last Romantic, [6] Able Danger, [16] and South of Heaven, in which he acted alongside Aaron, playing brothers Roy and Dale Coop. [17] He currently resides in Los Angeles. He was formerly married to actress Allison Miller.
Year | Title | Directors | Writers | Producers | Editors | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | The Last Romantic | Yes | Yes | No | No | Also cinematographer (Aaron only) |
2009 | Clark Kent Has a Dream | Yes | Yes | Adam Nee | Yes | TV series |
2015 | Band of Robbers | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
2016 | You Can Never Really Know Someone | Yes | Yes | Adam Nee | No | Short film |
2022 | The Lost City | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
2026 | Masters of the Universe | No | Yes | No | No | Development, screenplay written by Chris Butler based on the initial drafts written by Aaron and Adam Nee and David Callaham |
TBA | Untitled live-action/animated Lego film | Yes | No | No | No | Development |
Aaron Nee only
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | DoP | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Return | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary film |
The Last Romantic, starring Adam Nee, James Urbaniak and Shalom Harlow, which was shot on DV for under $20,000, opened at the SXSW film festival. [6] The film was selected to play in The New York Times' and Emerging Pictures' "Undiscovered Gems of 2006", [18] a series of films highlighting some of the best undistributed films of the past year. The film has been labeled as belonging to the Mumblecore movement, although others have argued that its cinematography, story, and use of professional actors excludes it from such a grouping. [19]
Mattel, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth and Elliot Handler in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. Mattel has a presence in 35 countries and territories; its products are sold in more than 150 countries.
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, his accolades include nominations for three Grammy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2023, Sandler was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
He-Man is a superhero and the protagonist of the sword and planet Masters of the Universe franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books, and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by his superhuman strength and in most variations, is the alter ego of Prince Adam. He-Man and his friends attempt to defend the secrets of Castle Grayskull, the planet Eternia, and the rest of the universe from the evil forces of his archenemy Skeletor. He-Man is the twin brother of She-Ra.
Adora, known by her alter ego She-Ra, is a fictional superheroine in the Masters of the Universe franchise. She is introduced as the protagonist of the 1985 Filmation series She-Ra: Princess of Power, which reveals her to be the long lost twin sister of He-Man. She-Ra again appears in the 2018 reboot She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. A series of toys under her name was produced by Mattel in 1984. She has also appeared in a number of Masters of the Universe comic books, most notably in DC Comics' 2012–2018 MOTU comic series, a roughly 1,000 page single story arc, collected in the 2019 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Omnibus hardcover release. In these comics and in the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline, she also has an evil persona called Despara. As Despara, she makes an appearance at the end of Rob David and Kevin Smith's 2024 Netflix release Masters of the Universe: Revolution, the third installment of the 2021 Masters of the Universe: Revelation animated series. She also features in multiple story books, mainly Golden Books and Ladybird books, and in some MOTU games.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line Masters of the Universe. The show was one of the most popular animated shows of the 1980s.
She-Ra: Princess of Power is an American animated series produced in 1985 by Filmation. A spin-off of Filmation's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, She-Ra was aimed primarily at a young female audience to complement He-Man's popularity with young males. Unlike He-Man, which was based on the Masters of the Universe toy line by Mattel, the creation of She-Ra was a collaboration between Filmation and Mattel. The initial group of characters and premise were created by uncredited writers Larry DiTillio and J. Michael Straczynski for Filmation, while the characters introduced later were designed by Mattel. Mattel provided financial backing for the series, as well as an accompanying toy line. The series premiered in 1985 and was ended in 1987, after 2 seasons and 93 episodes.
Masters of the Universe is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man and Skeletor on the planet Eternia, with a vast lineup of supporting characters in a hybrid setting of medieval sword and sorcery, and sci-fi technology. A follow-up series, She-Ra: Princess of Power revolves around He-Man's sister She-Ra and her rebellion against The Horde on the planet Etheria. Since its initial launch, the franchise has spawned a variety of products, including multiple lines of action figures, six animated television series, several comic series, video games, books and magazines, a daily newspaper comic strip, and two feature films.
Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer and director. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Jared Lawrence Hess and Jerusha Elizabeth Hess are husband-and-wife American filmmakers best known for their work on Napoleon Dynamite (2004), Nacho Libre (2006) and Gentlemen Broncos (2009), all of which they co-wrote and which were directed by Jared. For their film Ninety-Five Senses, they were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
Edgar Howard Wright is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a signature editing style that includes transitions, whip pans and wipes. He first made independent short films before making his first feature film A Fistful of Fingers in 1995. Wright created and directed the comedy series Asylum in 1996, written with David Walliams. After directing several other television shows, Wright directed the sitcom Spaced (1999–2001), which aired for two series and starred frequent collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Marc Preston Webb is an American filmmaker and music video director. Webb made his feature film directorial debut in 2009 with the romantic comedy 500 Days of Summer and went on to direct The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), which were later dubbed the "Webb-Verse" by Marvel Studios in 2021. He also directed the drama films Gifted and The Only Living Boy in New York and the upcoming Disney remake of Snow White (2025).
Rian Craig Johnson is an American filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with the neo-noir mystery film Brick (2005), which received positive reviews and grossed nearly $4 million on a $450,000 budget. Transitioning to higher-profile films, Johnson achieved mainstream recognition for writing and directing the science-fiction thriller Looper (2012) to critical and commercial success. Johnson landed his largest project when he wrote and directed the space opera Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), which grossed over $1 billion. He returned to the mystery genre with Knives Out (2019) and its sequel Glass Onion (2022), both of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, respectively.
Joseph McGinty Nichol, known professionally as McG, is an American director, producer, and former record producer.
Beginning with the release of an eponymous video game in 1984, Barbie, a fashion doll manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and debuted on March 9, 1959, has been featured in a media franchise predominantly consisting of a film series and media formats across technologies like television and the Internet. Since then, it has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time and has been referred to among fans as the "Barbie Cinematic Universe".
David Elias Callaham is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for co-writing the screenplays for the films Doom (2005), The Expendables (2010), Zombieland: Double Tap (2019), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Mortal Kombat, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).
Masters of the Universe is an American animated superhero fantasy television series produced by Kevin Smith and Powerhouse Animation Studios. A spiritual sequel to the 1983–1985 series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe by Filmation, while ignoring the events of The New Adventures of He-Man (1990), the plot of Revelation explores unresolved storylines from the original 1980s series. Netflix released the first series, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, in two parts, with five episodes debuting July 23, 2021, then five additional episodes on November 23, 2021. In June 2022, Netflix announced a second series, Masters of the Universe: Revolution, which premiered its first part on January 25, 2024.
Mattel Television Studios is the television production division of American toy and entertainment company Mattel, originally founded on March 31, 2016 as the successor to Mattel's earlier entertainment division, Mattel Playground Productions, under the name Mattel Creations.
Barbie: Princess Adventure is a 2020 animated musical adventure comedy children's streaming television film directed by Conrad Helten and written by Ann Austen, which was first released on Netflix in the United States on September 1, 2020.
He-Man, a fictional superhero from the sword and sorcery franchise Masters of the Universe created by Mattel, has often attracted queer interpretations and discussions over his status as a gay icon. His first appearance was in the 1982 comics included with his toy figures. The animated television series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which aired from 1983 to 1986, focused on the character and established traits that would remain consistent in future installments of the franchise.
This is the new Almost Lover video directed by the brothers Nee.
Director The Brothers Nee
Music video for the song "Unwelcome," by Seattle band Terrene. Directed by The Nee Brothers.
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