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Romanian filmmaker and actor Lupu Pick is best remembered for two German chamber dramas (as part of the Kammerspiel school of cinema that in direct contrast to expressionism, promoted tightly woven, highly unified stories, and naturalistic acting in spartan settings), Shattered and New Year's Eve, both of which he made in close collaboration with screenwriter Carl Mayer. Pick was born in Iasi, Romania, and got his start on the Eastern European stage. In 1915, he acted in his first German film. Three years later, he became a director and by the early '20s had become the most prominent maker of Kammerspiel films. A bitter argument ended Pick's collaboration with Mayer. Without his colleague, Pick's reputation as a filmmaker gradually eroded as the quality of his films became much less consistent. By the early '30s, his career abruptly ended.