Writer/Director Peter Gould was born and raised in the Chelsea neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, where he was expelled from several prestigious private schools. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Sarah Lawrence College, Peter became a prominent figure in the New York Indie film scene, working on various projects, including films by Scott and Beth B. and Troma Entertainment.
Peter's experiences in television commercials ultimately led him to pursue his dream of making his own films. He moved to the University of Southern California (USC) Graduate Production program, where he focused on writing and directing. Gould's memories of unhappy prep school experiences, Luis Buñuel films, and his fascination with women's feet influenced his work, particularly in his short film script "Dirty Little Secrets."
The film, which tells the story of a self-hating foot-fetishist who works in a department store, explores themes of self-discovery and the protagonist's confrontation with his desires and fears. Gould's script was selected from a pool of several hundred and was one of the year's major graduate productions at USC. He was also granted the opportunity to direct his own script, which received critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Nissan Focus Award and the Cine Golden Eagle.
Gould's film was showcased at several international film festivals, including the CILECT Film Festival in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, where it won the Audience Award and was featured on Czech television. The film also won the Hiroshima International Film Festival and was featured on Entertainment Tonight. As a result of his success, Gould was in high demand, with talent agencies competing for his representation and an appearance in PREMIERE magazine.
Gould's subsequent work as a screenwriter included the action film "Double Dragon," which set off the video-game movie trend. He has also directed music videos and written and directed a best-selling home video for children. For the past five years, Gould has taught film production in the prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program at the USC School of Cinema-Television. He has also taught at the Art Center in Pasadena.
Currently, Gould is preparing to direct his first feature film, a dark and quirky comedy scheduled to shoot in early 1997.
