---
name: "Greg Mottola"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/greg-mottola"
fi1m_id: "greg-mottola"
imdb_id: "nm0609549"
tmdb_id: 54733
wikidata_id: "Q1356738"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "11 July 1964"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_as: "director"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-17T15:30:48.989420+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Greg Mottola

## Identity

Greg Mottola

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/greg-mottola
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** greg-mottola
- **IMDb ID:** nm0609549
- **TMDB ID:** 54733
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1356738
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Mottola, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1356738, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0609549/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/54733

Director. Born 11 July 1964 in Dix Hills, Long Island, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 11 July 1964, Dix Hills, Long Island, New York, USA
- **Active:** 2003–present
- **Also known as:** Gregory J. 'Greg' Mottola, Gregory J. Mottola
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 3 directing, 1 other
- **Frequently works with:** [Barbie Adler](https://film.one/person/barbie-adler.md), [Michael Cera](https://film.one/person/michael-cera.md), [Ron Weiner](https://film.one/person/ron-weiner.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as director, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 84 (2), 2010s 81 (1), 2020s 78 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 82 to 75 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 3, Drama 1
- **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $171m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Mottola, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1356738, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0609549/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/54733

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*Arrested Development*](https://film.one/tv/arrested-development.md) (87), [*Nobody Wants This*](https://film.one/tv/nobody-wants-this.md) (78)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Superbad*](https://film.one/film/superbad.md) (82)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Greg Mottola

> Greg Mottola is good with people who are embarrassed by what they want. We like the warmth and restraint of his comedies, though the writing does not always give his actors enough to work with.

In *Nobody Wants This* (2024), Kristen Bell and Adam Brody make the attraction between their characters convincing enough to carry us past some thin writing. We enjoyed their company because the romance felt credible, even when the obstacles needed more thought. Mottola directs episodes of the series, so we should not give him sole credit for what works. But the leads’ ease together fits his preference for natural performances and comedy built from awkward situations.

He wrote and directed the independent road comedy *The Daytrippers* (1996), then spent years directing television, including *Undeclared* (2001) and *Arrested Development* (2003). *Superbad* (2007) brought his mainstream breakthrough, keeping a large ensemble lively without neglecting the individual characters. With *Adventureland* (2009), he returned to writing and directing more personal material about coming of age. Its feeling develops without requiring the comedy to stop for a solemn passage. He has since moved between studio comedies, television and writer-director projects such as *Confess, Fletch* (2022).

He favours making actors comfortable and letting scenes play in real time, which helps explain why the performances can feel unforced. That approach suits his recurring interest in young adulthood, when embarrassment can be painful enough without a director insisting that we laugh. The broader assignments include the science-fiction road comedy *Paul* (2011), with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The uneven *Keeping Up with the Joneses* (2016) gives us less reason to recommend him indiscriminately.

Our reservations about *Nobody Wants This* are more specific. The supporting cast is funny, but the writing makes too little of the religious differences it puts between the leads. We want the romance to work, and we also want the series to think harder about the difficulty it has chosen for them. Start there for Bell and Brody, with the caveat that the series is better at attraction than at taking their differences seriously.

## Biography

Greg Mottola is an American film and television director and screenwriter. He was born on 11 July 1964 in Dix Hills, New York, and holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA in film from Columbia University.

Mottola wrote and directed the independent feature *The Daytrippers* (1996). He later directed episodes of television series including *Arrested Development* before returning to features with *Superbad* (2007), *Adventureland* (2009), which he also wrote, *Paul* (2011) and *Confess, Fletch* (2022). He has directed episodes of *Nobody Wants This* (2024).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Directed (3) — the average rests on these

- *Nobody Wants This* (2024), Fi1m 78, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/nobody-wants-this.md)
- *Superbad* (2007), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/superbad.md)
- *Arrested Development* (2003), Fi1m 87, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/arrested-development.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Scott Pilgrim vs. the World* (2010), Fi1m 81, Thanks — [page](https://film.one/film/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world.md)

## Complete filmography (30)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Not Suitable for Work* (2026), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *The Miniature Wife* (2026), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *Nobody Wants This* (2024), series, Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/nobody-wants-this.md)
- *Command Z* (2023), series, Producer
- *Confess, Fletch* (2022), Screenplay, Executive Producer, Director
- *Peacemaker* (2022), series, Director
- *DAVE* (2020), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *The Dangerous Book for Boys* (2018), series, Writer, Director, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Keeping Up with the Joneses* (2016), Director
- *Clear History* (2013), Director
- *The Newsroom* (2012), series, Director
- *Paul* (2011), Director
- *Scott Pilgrim vs. the World* (2010), Thanks — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world.md)
- *Adventureland* (2009), Director, Writer
- *Superbad* (2007), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/superbad.md)
- *The Comeback* (2005), series, Director
- *Cracking Up* (2004), series, Director
- *Arrested Development* (2003), series, Director — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/tv/arrested-development.md)
- *The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke* (2003), Director
- *Hollywood Ending* (2002), as Assistant Director
- *Undeclared* (2001), series, as Young Professor · Director
- *Celebrity* (1998), as Director
- *The Daytrippers* (1997), Writer, Director
- *Loser: The Movie* (1996), as Cheese Eater
- *Dr. Ded Bug* (1989), as "Harvey" the Cockroach (voice)
- *Haunted* (1988), Production Assistant
- *Swingin' in the Painter's Room* (1988), Editor, Writer, Director, Set Designer, Producer
- *The Hatbox* (1985), Director, Editor, Cinematography
- *Untitled Bane and Deathstroke Film*, Director
- *The Rockford Files*, series, Director, Executive Producer

## Gallery

- ![Greg Mottola](https://film.one/media/person/24469/gallery-968218d83245.jpg) Greg Mottola — Peggster.net at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mythbusted/, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/GregMottolaJuly09.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kristen Wiig (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/24469/gallery-1f5dfd00bf57.jpg) Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kristen Wiig (2011) — Paul Hudson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/%27Paul%27_US_Premier_at_SXSW_-_5525985227.jpg/1280px-%27Paul%27_US_Premier_at_SXSW_-_5525985227.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Greg Mottola. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader , Jeffrey Tambor, Joe Lo Truglio, Seth Rogen, and Sigourney Weaver (2010)](https://film.one/media/person/24469/gallery-771601a9dde5.jpg) Greg Mottola. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader , Jeffrey Tambor, Joe Lo Truglio, Seth Rogen, and Sigourney Weaver (2010) — https://www.flickr.com/photos/rwoan/, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Paul_panel_at_SDCC_2010_%284854777267%29.jpg/1280px-Paul_panel_at_SDCC_2010_%284854777267%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Greg Mottola](https://film.one/media/person/24469/gallery-c9713d5fef53.jpg) Greg Mottola — Image via TMDB
- ![Greg Mottola](https://film.one/media/person/24469/gallery-8433dfead18d.jpg) Greg Mottola — Image via TMDB
- ![Greg Mottola](https://film.one/media/person/24469/gallery-e8b0e0172772.jpg) Greg Mottola — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/greg-mottola