In high school, Oppenheim directed several short documentaries, one of which PBS distributed nationwide. He sent documentary pitches to the
New York Times Op-Docs' open submission portal, documenting "crazy things happening in [his] backyard", which the
Times would "politely reject." He broke through to the
New York Times while studying at Harvard's undergraduate Visual and Environmental Studies program. In college, Oppenheim directed three short documentaries acquired and distributed by
The New York Times Op-Docs. His short
The Happiest Guy in the World, about a long-term cruise passenger
Mario Salcedo, premiered at the
Tribeca Film Festival in 2018. Oppenheim directed and produced his debut feature,
Some Kind of Heaven, a documentary exploring life inside
The Villages, Florida, as part of his undergraduate senior thesis. In it, he follows four seniors living in The Villages and how they cope with later adult life. The film was produced by filmmaker
Darren Aronofsky and
The New York Times, one of the paper's first feature-length productions. The film premiered at the
2020 Sundance Film Festival and
International Film Festival Rotterdam to critical acclaim and was later acquired by
Magnolia Pictures. In 2023, Oppenheim appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Hollywood & Entertainment. Oppenheim's second film,
Spermworld, premiered at the 2024
True/False Film Festival to critical acclaim, and is available on
FX,
Disney +, and
Hulu. In 2024, Oppenheim completed his first television series,
Ren Faire. The series, produced by
HBO and
Elara Pictures, premiered at the 2024
South by Southwest Film Festival. In 2025, Oppenheim served as a producer on
The Python Hunt directed by Xander Robin, produced by
Artists Equity. He is set to make his narrative feature film debut with
Primetime, starring
Robert Pattinson. ==Filmography==