Eugene Kotlyarenko

Directing

Eugene Kotlyarenko

Born 1986-01-01 · Odessa, USSR (Ukraine)

Eugene Kotlyarenko is a Ukrainian-American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. His feature writing-directing work includes 0s & 1s (2011), A Wonderful Cloud (2015), Wobble Palace (2018), We Are (2020) and Spree (2020). Kotlyarenko was born in Odesa to a Jewish-Ukrainian family. He grew up in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn and on Long Island, attending Columbia University before moving to Los Angeles. In 2010, He made his directorial debut, SkyDiver (Instructional Video #4: Preparation for Mission), starring Kate Lyn Sheil, Lawrence Michael Levine, and Sophia Amoruso. The next year, He co-wrote, edited, and directed 0s & 1s, starring Morgan Krantz, Jeremy Blackman, Matty Cardarople, and Ahna O'Reilly. In 2012, He wrote, starred, and directed Feast of Burden, premiered at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. In 2015, A Wonderful Cloud, starring Kate Lyn Sheil, John Ennis, and himself, premiered at the SXSW Film Festival. In 2018, Kotlyarenko wrote, starred, and directed Wobble Palace starring Dasha Nekrasova, Jack Kilmer, and himself. The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival to positive reviews with New York Times, critic Teo Bugbee praising the film as "[...] a sendup of broke-artist types that shimmers with abashed affection". A review on The Playlist by Lena Wilson echoed this sentiment, writing that it: "[...] perfectly reproduces a subculture, both visually and narratively". In 2020, Kotlyarenko wrote, produced, starred, and directed Spree starring Joe Keery, Sasheer Zamata, David Arquette, Kyle Mooney, Lala Kent and Mischa Barton, the film was executive produced by Drake. It premiered on January 24, 2020, at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival as part of the NEXT category, and was released theatrically and via video on demand in the United States on August 14, 2020, by RLJE Films. The same year, he wrote and directed We Are, starring Dasha Nekrasova, Keith Poulson, and Vishwam Velandy. In 2024, He wrote, starred, and directed The Code. It stars Dasha Nekrasova, Peter Vack, and Ivy Wolk, it premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival. He has executive produced films such as How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Pet Shop Days, Rotting in the Sun, and the upcoming The Carpenter's Son. He has also produced films such as Harka, Magic Farm, Candelabra, and the upcoming Born to Kill.

Acting credits

The Beaches of Agnès poster
7.7

Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new wave, turns the camera on herself with this unique autobiographical documentary. Composed of film excerpts and elaborate dramatic re-creations, Varda's self-portrait recounts the highs and lows of her professional career, the many friendships that affected her life and her longtime marriage to cinematic giant Jacques Demy.

The Beaches of Agnès

2008

The Code poster
6.4

Early-pandemic, Jay and Celine head to a rental house to reconnect. While Celine films a documentary on their disintegrating relationship, a recently ‘cancelled’ Jay becomes increasingly paranoid about his portrayal, setting up hidden cameras to spy on Celine.

The Code

2025

A Wonderful Cloud poster
4.9

When Eugene’s ex-GF Katelyn lands in LA to disband their business, the two of them must negotiate between past tensions and future possibilities, in this raw bittersweet rom-com that walks the line between fiction and reality.

A Wonderful Cloud

2015

Wobble Palace poster
5.4

A couple on the verge of a nervous break-up decide to split their home over the weekend and test the waters of independence.

Wobble Palace

2018

Cece's Interlude poster
NR

When a wannabe documentarian sees a viral video of a young trans woman claiming to be pregnant, she thinks she found the perfect subject for her next film.

Cece's Interlude

2025

The Hedonist poster
NR

After a nervous breakdown, a young office assistant flees to his parents' house in Arizona and hires an escort to take care of him.

The Hedonist

2025

No artwork available
NR

A collection of disjointed vignettes follows a self-important writer on a hike, a lost driver re-routed away from the hospital, a philosopher in search of the best Chinese food, a couch-surfer on a midnight joyride, a spirited conspiracy theorist, and other young urban wanderers in the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles.

Lowlands

2013

Feast of Burden poster
1.3

A group of old friends gather for a dinner party full of dark secrets, mysterious forces and deadly consequences.

Feast of Burden

2012

In the Glow of Darkness poster
NR

As a young hacker challenges the corporation behind Meme—a drug that mines users’ psyches to deliver personalized psychedelic trips and hyper-targeted ads—intersecting stories unfold in strange, fractured rhythms.

In the Glow of Darkness

2025

SkyDiver (Instructional Video #4: Preparation for Mission) poster
2.0

A young man, reeling from a long-distance romance gone awry, spirals increasingly deeper into depression and desperation as he video chats with his close friends and gets involved with a New Age, Right-wing, domestic terrorist cell.

SkyDiver (Instructional Video #4: Preparation for Mission)

2010

Wild Card poster
NR

Two strangers are brought together by a video dating service.

Wild Card

2022

No artwork available
NR

"A short lil' documentary I made about my family in late 2006, when I was ~20yo" - Eugene Kotlyarenko

No Word for "Grandparents" in Russian

2011

Behind the camera

The Carpenter's Son poster
5.9

A remote village in Roman-era Egypt explodes into spiritual warfare when a carpenter, his wife and their child are targeted by supernatural forces.

The Carpenter's Son

2025

Spree poster
6.4

Desperate for an online following, a rideshare driver has figured out a deadly plan to go viral and he will stop at nothing to get his five minutes of fame.

Spree

2020

Spree poster
6.4

Desperate for an online following, a rideshare driver has figured out a deadly plan to go viral and he will stop at nothing to get his five minutes of fame.

Spree

2020

Spree poster
6.4

Desperate for an online following, a rideshare driver has figured out a deadly plan to go viral and he will stop at nothing to get his five minutes of fame.

Spree

2020

No artwork available
NR

In Eugene Kotlyarenko’s mixed-media caper, a disgraced urban explorer (Cole Sprouse) discovers a cache of vintage denim only to run afoul of the Yakuza when he is lured to Japan to sell the jeans by one of his subscribers (Kiko Mizuhara).

Vintage Violence

2026

No artwork available
NR

In Eugene Kotlyarenko’s mixed-media caper, a disgraced urban explorer (Cole Sprouse) discovers a cache of vintage denim only to run afoul of the Yakuza when he is lured to Japan to sell the jeans by one of his subscribers (Kiko Mizuhara).

Vintage Violence

2026

The Code poster
6.4

Early-pandemic, Jay and Celine head to a rental house to reconnect. While Celine films a documentary on their disintegrating relationship, a recently ‘cancelled’ Jay becomes increasingly paranoid about his portrayal, setting up hidden cameras to spy on Celine.

The Code

2025

The Code poster
6.4

Early-pandemic, Jay and Celine head to a rental house to reconnect. While Celine films a documentary on their disintegrating relationship, a recently ‘cancelled’ Jay becomes increasingly paranoid about his portrayal, setting up hidden cameras to spy on Celine.

The Code

2025

The Code poster
6.4

Early-pandemic, Jay and Celine head to a rental house to reconnect. While Celine films a documentary on their disintegrating relationship, a recently ‘cancelled’ Jay becomes increasingly paranoid about his portrayal, setting up hidden cameras to spy on Celine.

The Code

2025

Magic Farm poster
5.7

A misguided American documentary crew working for an edgy media company travels to rural Argentina to profile a local musician, but their ineptitude leads them into the wrong small town. As they collaborate with locals to attempt to fabricate a viral trend, unexpected connections blossom, while a pervasive crisis looms unacknowledged in the background.

Magic Farm

2025

A Wonderful Cloud poster
4.9

When Eugene’s ex-GF Katelyn lands in LA to disband their business, the two of them must negotiate between past tensions and future possibilities, in this raw bittersweet rom-com that walks the line between fiction and reality.

A Wonderful Cloud

2015

A Wonderful Cloud poster
4.9

When Eugene’s ex-GF Katelyn lands in LA to disband their business, the two of them must negotiate between past tensions and future possibilities, in this raw bittersweet rom-com that walks the line between fiction and reality.

A Wonderful Cloud

2015

Wobble Palace poster
5.4

A couple on the verge of a nervous break-up decide to split their home over the weekend and test the waters of independence.

Wobble Palace

2018

Wobble Palace poster
5.4

A couple on the verge of a nervous break-up decide to split their home over the weekend and test the waters of independence.

Wobble Palace

2018

Harka poster
6.8

Ali is a young Tunisian who dreams of a better life and ekes out a lonely existence selling contraband oil on the black market. When his father dies, he is forced to care for his two younger sisters who have been left to their own devices in a house from which they will soon be evicted. As he wrestles with the sudden weight of responsibility and the injustices he faces, anger and indignation stir within Ali – that of a generation still fighting to be heard more than a decade after the revolution…

Harka

2022

0s & 1s poster
5.1

Los Angeles, 2006. Life is Easy 2.0 for James Pongo. He has a cushy job, a busy social life and an alluring love interest all through the click of a mouse. But when he wakes up after a night of reckless partying to discover that his computer is missing, James' hyper-connected reality takes a nosedive. Told entirely through the websites, programs, games and social networks, 0s & 1s uses James Pongo's nihilistic adventure to question our growing dependency on these alternate digital realities.

0s & 1s

2011

0s & 1s poster
5.1

Los Angeles, 2006. Life is Easy 2.0 for James Pongo. He has a cushy job, a busy social life and an alluring love interest all through the click of a mouse. But when he wakes up after a night of reckless partying to discover that his computer is missing, James' hyper-connected reality takes a nosedive. Told entirely through the websites, programs, games and social networks, 0s & 1s uses James Pongo's nihilistic adventure to question our growing dependency on these alternate digital realities.

0s & 1s

2011

We Are poster
5.0

When Doug - a hapless employee at a VR startup - is forced to work the night shift, he becomes fast friends with a squatting vagrant named Stick. Increasingly belittled by his domineering wife, Vera, and the company's reckless owner, Vikas, Doug falls under Stick's charming spell over the course of several delirious nights. As the two of them bond over the nature of reality, virtual and otherwise, Stick begins empowering Doug to take back control of his life...but to what end?

We Are

2020

We Are poster
5.0

When Doug - a hapless employee at a VR startup - is forced to work the night shift, he becomes fast friends with a squatting vagrant named Stick. Increasingly belittled by his domineering wife, Vera, and the company's reckless owner, Vikas, Doug falls under Stick's charming spell over the course of several delirious nights. As the two of them bond over the nature of reality, virtual and otherwise, Stick begins empowering Doug to take back control of his life...but to what end?

We Are

2020

We Are poster
5.0

When Doug - a hapless employee at a VR startup - is forced to work the night shift, he becomes fast friends with a squatting vagrant named Stick. Increasingly belittled by his domineering wife, Vera, and the company's reckless owner, Vikas, Doug falls under Stick's charming spell over the course of several delirious nights. As the two of them bond over the nature of reality, virtual and otherwise, Stick begins empowering Doug to take back control of his life...but to what end?

We Are

2020

Feast of Burden poster
1.3

A group of old friends gather for a dinner party full of dark secrets, mysterious forces and deadly consequences.

Feast of Burden

2012

Feast of Burden poster
1.3

A group of old friends gather for a dinner party full of dark secrets, mysterious forces and deadly consequences.

Feast of Burden

2012

No artwork available
NR

Follows a teenage Vietnamese refugee's initiation into a ruthless New York gang in Chinatown during the late 1980s, a feral crime-drama in the vein of City of God.

Born to Kill

No artwork available
NR

7 students experience sublime weirdness and brush their teeth.

7 Transcendental Operations

2006