Rob Rice
Directing
Biography
Rob is a filmmaker from western Massachusetts, based in LA. He did an MFA at CalArts and, before changing careers, worked as a CRISPR engineer at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Ponderosa, his second feature, premieres at Tribeca 2026 and stars Jack Dylan Grazer, Alexis Bledel and Bill Camp. His debut, Way Out Ahead of Us, was produced by Matt Porterfield, premiered at the 2022 FIDMarseille and is distributed by Factory 25. His recent work as a producer includes Tyler Taormina’s Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point (Cannes 2024), Lucy Kerr’s Family Portrait (Locarno 2023, co-producer, co-writer), and the forthcoming debut feature from Advik Beni.
Known For

No description available.
Ponderosa

Every year, a family home is turned into a haunted house. The purpose is not only to be as terrifying as possible, but also to create a spectacular attraction to draw the neighbors in. The situation grows increasingly complicated, broken and distressed as the family’s problems intercede in their plans and as their real lives become the film’s true and overriding scary haunt.
Room Temperature

A sprawling family's futile attempts at capturing a family photo take a dreamlike turn when the matriarch vanishes and one daughter becomes desperate to find her.
Family Portrait

Six roommates share a cramped four bedroom apartment. One moves out. Another moves in. In the process, the precarious balance of their routines is comically disrupted.
How to Live Together

Two parents try to keep the dad's terminal illness a secret from their daughter so that they don't spoil her plans to move to the city. The mother and father are played by a real couple, who are dealing with the man's real illness, and their daughter is played by an actress, cast to play the child they never had, but always dreamed of.
Way Out Ahead of Us

A strange dream. Favors for friends. The end of the world. . . It’s just one of those days for Alex as he runs errands he never needed to, while trying to make sense of a recurring deja vu throughout the journey of his day.