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Vadim Perelman makes his feature film directorial debut on House of Sand and Fog, following a successful career as a commercial director. The film also marks his first screenplay credit. Perelman was drawn to the story, having been shaped by his own immigrant experience.

Born in 1963 in Kiev, which was then part of the former Soviet Union, Perelman was an only child who lived with his immediate and extended family in a communal flat. When he was only nine years old, his father was tragically killed in a car accident. Five years later, Perelman and his mother were granted permission to leave Kiev, and arrived in Europe as refugees. Struggling to find a new home for themselves, they lived in Vienna for two months, followed by a year in Rome. During this time, Perelman survived as a street urchin, scraping up enough food and money to support himself and his mother as they waited for a visa to go to Canada. When it finally came, they left for the country where Perelman would ultimately build a new life and start his career.

Following some rather tumultuous teenage years, Perelman finally began to concentrate on his formal education. He attended the University of Alberta, majoring in physics and math, before a sophomore-year class in filmmaking completely changed his focus. Moving to Toronto, he studied at the Ryerson Film Institute for two years before launching his own Toronto-based production house. After honing his skills directing and editing music videos, he decided to make the move to Los Angeles to further his career. Over the next three years, Perelman established himself as an innovative and much sought-after director of commercials and music videos. His credits include a number of memorable spots for such multi-national clients as Microsoft, General Motors, Panasonic, Nike, Airwalk, AT&T, Sony Playstation, Coors and Mastercard. It was on his way back from a commercial location shoot that he first saw the book House of Sand and Fog in an airport store. After reading it on the plane, he knew immediately that it was the perfect project with which to make his segue to feature films.

Perelman is next set to direct The Talisman, a fantasy adventure to be produced by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy.