Lance Oppenheim
Lance Oppenheim (born January 26, 1996) is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and producer. His work blends nonfiction storytelling with heightened, cinematic formalism. Oppenheim's documentaries include the films Some Kind of Heaven (2020) about The Villages, Florida, Spermworld (2024), about unregulated sperm donation, and You Can See Everything, about Elizabeth Holmes, which he co-directed with Nathan Fielder.
Lance Oppenheim

BarkBarkDotCom · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Lance Oppenheim
- Born
- 26 January 1996
- Birthplace
- Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
- Occupation
- Filmmaker
- Education
- Harvard University (BA)
- Nationality
- United States
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Lance Oppenheim (born January 26, 1996) is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and producer. His work blends nonfiction storytelling with heightened, cinematic formalism. Oppenheim's documentaries include the films Some Kind of Heaven (2020) about The Villages, Florida, Spermworld (2024), about unregulated sperm donation, and You Can See Everything, about Elizabeth Holmes, which he co-directed with Nathan Fielder.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Lance Oppenheim. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q27040203 · wikipedia · Lance Oppenheim
In this article
Biography
Biography
He also directed the HBO documentary series Ren Faire (2024), about the Texas Renaissance Festival. He made his narrative film debut in 2026 with Primetime.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Lance Oppenheim • Born — 26 January 1996 • Birthplace — Hollywood, Florida, U.S. • Occupation — Filmmaker • Children — 1 • Education — Harvard University (BA) • Years Active — 2013–present • Website — http: tobeformed.com
Early life and education
Early life and education
Oppenheim was born in Hollywood, Florida, the son of Roy and Ellen Oppenheim, and raised in Weston, Florida. He attended Pine Crest School from 2010 to 2014. He graduated from Harvard University in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in visual and environmental studies. At Harvard, Oppenheim studied under filmmakers Ross McElwee, Robb Moss, and Guy Maddin, and lived in Adams House.
Career
Career
In high school, Oppenheim directed several short documentaries, one of which PBS distributed nationwide. He sent documentary pitches to the New York Times Op-Docs' open submission portal, documenting "crazy things happening in [his] backyard", which the Times would "politely reject." While in college, Oppenheim directed three short documentaries acquired and distributed by The New York Times Op-Docs. His short The Happiest Guy in the World, about long-term cruise passenger Mario Salcedo, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018. Oppenheim directed and produced his debut feature, Some Kind of Heaven, a documentary exploring life inside The Villages, Florida, as part of his undergraduate senior thesis. In it, he follows four people living in The Villages and how they cope with later adult life. The film was produced by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and The New York Times as one of the paper's first feature-length productions. It premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam to critical acclaim and was later acquired by Magnolia Pictures. In 2023, Oppenheim appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Hollywood & Entertainment. His second film, Spermworld, premiered at the 2024 True/False Film Festival to critical acclaim, and is available on FX, Disney +, and Hulu. In 2024, Oppenheim completed his first television series, Ren Faire. The series, produced by HBO and Elara Pictures, premiered at the 2024 South by Southwest Film Festival. In 2025, Oppenheim served as a producer on The Python Hunt, directed by Xander Robin and produced by Artists Equity. Oppenheim made his narrative feature film debut with Primetime (2026), starring Robert Pattinson as To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen.
Documentary series
Documentary series
• Year — Title — Director — Producer — Creator • 2024 — Ren Faire
Music video
Music video
• Year — Song — Director — Artist • 2026 — "Lost Boys" — Phoebe Bridgers
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1996
Lance Oppenheim born at Fort Lauderdale.
Short film
Short film
• Year — Title — Director — Producer — Editor — Notes — Ref. • 2012 — The Dogmatic • 2013 — Quicksand • 2014 — The Off Season • 2016 — Long Term Parking — New York Times Op-Doc • 2017 — No Jail Time: The Movie • 2018 — The Happiest Guy in the World • The Paradise Next Door • 2024 — Frank
Documentary film
Documentary film
• Year — Title — Director — Producer — Notes • 2020 — Some Kind of Heaven • 2024 — Spermworld • 2025 — The Python Hunt • 2026 — You Can See Everything — Co-directed with Nathan Fielder
Feature film
Feature film
• Year — Title — Director — Producer — Notes • 2026 — Primetime — Executive
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Lance Oppenheim”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q27040203: Lance Oppenheim
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Radsken, Jill. Student and alumnus have films premiering at Sundance. The Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. January 21, 2020.
- 2.Radsken, Jill. Harvard filmmaker's documentary in Tribeca spotlight. The Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. April 20, 2018.
- 3.Diaz, Johnny. Teen filmmaker focuses on grandfather's lost memories. Sun Sentinel. October 17, 2013.
- 4.Rizov, Vadim. Lance Oppenheim. 27 August 2019.
- 5.Radsken, Jill. From the Everglades to Tribeca. The Harvard Gazette. 2018-04-20.
- 6.Goldrich, Robert. Tool Director Lance Oppenheim In Cruise Control At Tribeca: His New York Times' Op-Doc "The Happiest Guy in the World" debuts at festival. Shoot. 2018-05-03.
- 7.Meet 'Super Mario', the man who's lived on cruise ships for two decades. Aeon. 2022-02-24.
- 8.Willman, Thomas K. Arnold, Jem Aswad, Randee Dawn, Diane Garrett, Shirley Halperin, Paula Hendrickson, Steven J. Horowitz, Carole Horst, Todd Longwell, Brooke Mazurek, Addie Morfoot, Jenelle Riley, Chris. Variety's Power of Young Hollywood List 2020. August 5, 2020.
- 9.Carey, Matthew. Darren Aronofsky Returns To Sundance With 'Some Kind Of Heaven', Directed By Gifted Young Protégé With "Tremendous Potential". January 28, 2020.
- 10.Setoodeh, Ramin. Why the New York Times Is Getting Into the Documentary Films Business (EXCLUSIVE). January 21, 2020.
- 11.Ramos, Dino-Ray. Magnolia Pictures Acquires Darren Aronofsky-Produced Sundance Docu 'Some Kind Of Heaven'. August 17, 2020.
- 12.Lance Oppenheim. Forbes.
- 13.Aguilar, Carlos. The 2024 True/False Film Festival Brought a Parade, Sperm Donors, and a Weekend of Documentaries to Missouri. IndieWire. 2024-03-07.
- 14.Khosla, Proma. 'Ren Faire' Premiere Plunges Viewers Into Medieval Mind Games at SXSW. IndieWire. 2024-03-10.
- 15.Thompson, Anne. 'The Python Hunt': How Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Artists Equity Helped Turn a Snake-Hunting Contest Into a SXSW Doc Hit. IndieWire. March 14, 2025.
- 16.Fleming, Mike Jr. Artists Equity Unveils Slithery Docu 'The Python Hunt' At SXSW. Deadline Hollywood. March 8, 2025.
- 17.Grobar, Matt. Robert Pattinson, Lance Oppenheim Developing Crime Reporting Pic 'Primetime' For A24. Deadline Hollywood. October 22, 2024.
- 18.Quicksand. Short of the Week. 2013-08-01.
- 19.The Off Season. Short of the Week. 2014-12-22.
- 20.Oppenheim, Lance. Opinion | Home Is Where the Parking Lot Is (Published 2016). The New York Times. September 6, 2016.
- 21.Oppenheim, Lance. Opinion | No Jail Time: The Movie (Published 2017). The New York Times. December 5, 2017.
- 22.Oppenheim, Lance. Opinion | The Happiest Guy in the World (Published 2018). The New York Times. May 1, 2018.
- 23.Oppenheim, Lance. Opinion | The Paradise Next Door (Published 2021). The New York Times. February 21, 2021.
- 24.Gauvey Herbert, David. Frank. SXSW Film Festival. February 28, 2024.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Lance Oppenheim is recorded with the occupation documentarian. Recorded as film director, film editor, documentarian and film producer.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
37,604 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Lance HammerPerson
- Lance HoolPerson
- Lance HoytPerson
- Lance KerwinPerson
- Lance PercivalPerson
- Lancelot Oduwa ImasuenPerson
- Lanciné DiabiPerson
- Lando FioriniPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Lance Oppenheim?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.