Career
Blumenfeld began his career in television in the late 1990s, working on the Nash Bridges TV series (CBS, 1998-2001) as a second second assistant director, then progressing to first assistant director across multiple seasons.3 The first assistant director role sits at the center of a film set's day-to-day operations: the 1st AD manages the shooting schedule, coordinates departments, calls the set to order, and serves as the on-set link between the director and production. The dual path from 1st AD to producer credit is a common trajectory for ADs who develop a close working relationship with a director over many years.
His feature film career gained momentum in the mid-2000s. He was first assistant director on Jason Reitman's satirical comedy Thank You for Smoking (2006) and on Reitman's breakthrough film Juno (2007), a Best Picture-nominated drama that won Diablo Cody the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.34 The Juno collaboration established an enduring professional partnership: Blumenfeld remained with Reitman as first assistant director through Up in the Air (2009, also serving as associate producer), Young Adult (2011, associate producer), Labor Day (2013, co-producer), Men, Women & Children (2014, co-producer), and The Front Runner (2018, first assistant director).3
Outside the Reitman filmography, Blumenfeld worked as first assistant director on notable productions including:3
- Jennifer's Body (2009, dir. Karyn Kusama)
- End of Watch (2012, dir. David Ayer, associate producer)
- Sabotage (2014, dir. David Ayer, executive producer)
- Draft Day (2014, dir. Ivan Reitman, associate producer)
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, dir. J.J. Abrams, additional photography unit)
- The DUFF (2015)
- 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016, dir. Dan Trachtenberg)
- Nocturnal Animals (2016, dir. Tom Ford)
- Baywatch (2017)
- Tully (2018, dir. Jason Reitman, executive producer)
- A Million Little Pieces (2018)
- Jacob's Ladder (2019)
- Project Power (2020)
- The Black Phone (2021, dir. Scott Derrickson)
- Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)
- Me Time (2022)
- No One Will Save You (2023)
His producer credits reflect gradual elevation: from associate producer (Up in the Air, Young Adult, End of Watch, Draft Day) to co-producer (Labor Day, Men, Women & Children) to executive producer (Sabotage, Tully, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Black Phone 2). On Saturday Night (2024, dir. Jason Reitman), he served as both first assistant director and full producer.35
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Blumenfeld served dual roles on Ghostbusters: Afterlife: first assistant director and executive producer.1 The film, directed by Jason Reitman and produced by Ivan Reitman, is set several decades after the original films and follows the grandchildren of Egon Spengler as they discover his legacy in a small Oklahoma town. Blumenfeld's executive producer credit on Afterlife reflects the long-running partnership with Reitman; he had held escalating producer credits on nearly every Reitman feature going back to 2009. Afterlife was filmed primarily in Alberta, Canada, and released in November 2021 after a pandemic-delayed theatrical rollout.
As first assistant director, Blumenfeld managed the day-to-day schedule and on-set operations for a large-scale production involving child actors, significant location work, and extensive visual effects sequences. The role of 1st AD on a tent-pole film of this size is substantial: coordinating departments across multi-day location shoots (the Spengler farm, Summerville streets, the mines) and managing child labor regulations for leads Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, and Logan Kim.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
Blumenfeld returned in a dual capacity as second assistant director and producer on Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, directed by Gil Kenan.2 The film continued the storyline from Afterlife, relocating the Spengler family to New York City and reuniting them with the original Ghostbusters. Principal photography was based largely in London, with additional work in New York.
References
