Cary Joji Fukunaga | |
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Born | Oakland, California, U.S. | July 10, 1977
Education | |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2003–present |
Cary Joji Fukunaga (born July 10, 1977) is an American filmmaker. A director of TV and film, he first came to wide prominence by directing the first season of the HBO series True Detective (2014). [1] He is known for directing critically acclaimed films such as the thriller Sin nombre (2009), the period drama Jane Eyre (2011), the war drama Beasts of No Nation (2015) and the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die (2021). He also co-wrote the Stephen King adaptation It (2017).
He was the first director of East Asian descent to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, as the director and executive producer of True Detective. He also directed and executive produced the Netflix limited series Maniac (2018), and executive produced and directed several episodes of the Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air (2024).
Fukunaga was born on July 10, 1977 [2] in Oakland, California. His father, Anthony Shuzo Fukunaga, was a third-generation Japanese American, born in an internment camp during World War II. [3] His mother, Gretchen May Grufman, is Swedish-American [4] [5] and worked as a dental hygienist, and later as a college history instructor and university assistant professor of history. Fukunaga inherited his interest in history from her. [6] His parents eventually divorced. [4] His family often relocated within the San Francisco Bay Area, moving to Berkeley, Albany, Vallejo, Benicia, Sebastopol and back to Oakland. [5]
Fukunaga attended Analy High School. [7] He graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1999 [8] [9] and attended the Grenoble Institute of Political Studies, where he studied geopolitics and international law. [10]
Fukunaga had originally wanted to be a professional snowboarder, but switched to filmmaking in his mid-twenties. [11] He got his start as a camera intern and later applied to film school. [12] He enrolled in the New York University Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program. [13] [14]
Fukunaga wrote and directed the short film Victoria para Chino (2004) while at NYU, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival and received a Student Academy Award in 2005. [15] It won an Audience Award for Best Narrative Student Short Film at the 2004 Austin Film Festival, a Best Student Film award at the 2006 Ashland Independent Film Festival, a BAFTA/LA Award for Excellence – Honorable Mention award at the 2005 Aspen Shortsfest, Best Student Film at the 2005 BendFilm Festival, Best Short Film and an Audience Award for Best Short Film at the 2005 Gen Art Film Festival, Best Short Film at the 2005 Milan International Film Festival, and the Jury Prize for Best Student Short at the 2004 Woodstock Film Festival.[ citation needed ]
Fukunaga wrote and directed the short films Kofi (2003) and Sleepwalking in the Rift (2012). [16] [17] He wrote and directed a segment in the omnibus film Chinatown Film Project (2009). [18]
Fukunaga made his feature film debut with Sin Nombre , which he wrote and directed. It received positive reviews [19] [20] and a number of awards, including the Directing award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and a New Director's Award for Fukunaga at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival. In 2009, it won Best Foreign Language Film awards from the Austin Film Critics Association, the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards, the Florida Film Critics Circle Awards, the San Diego Film Critics Society Awards (2nd place for Best Foreign Language Film), and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards. Cinematographer Adriano Goldman won the Cinematography award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival; and at the 2009 Stockholm Film Festival, the film won a Best Actor award for Edgar Flores, and Best Directorial Debut and FIPRESCI Prizes for Fukunaga. It also brought Fukunaga the 2010 Premios ACE award for Cinema – Best First Work.
The film was nominated for Best Feature, Best Director and Best Cinematography at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards, and was nominated by the 2009 British Independent Film Awards (Best Foreign Film), the 2010 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (Best Foreign Language Film), the 2009 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (Most Promising Filmmaker; Best Foreign Language Film), the 2010 Image Awards (Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture), the Bronze Horse at the 2009 Stockholm Film Festival and the 2009 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize.
In 2010, Fukunaga directed a new film adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell and Judi Dench. It was released in 2011 and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Costume Design for Michael O'Connor, and a 2012 Goya Award for Best European Film.
It was nominated for a 2012 BAFTA Award (Best Costume Design), a 2012 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award (Best Costume Design), the 2012 Costume Designers Guild Awards (Excellence in Period Film), the 2012 Evening Standard British Film Awards (Best Technical Achievement), the 2011 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards (Best Costume Design), the 2011 Satellite Awards (Best Costume Design).
The 2012 Australian Film Institute awards as well as the 2011 British Independent Film Awards nominated Mia Wasikowska for a Best Actress award. Screenwriter Moira Buffini (as well as author Charlotte Brontë) were nominated for a 2012 USC Scripter Award.
Fukunaga directed, wrote and filmed Beasts of No Nation , based on the novel of the same name by Uzodinma Iweala, in which Idris Elba stars as Commandant, a lead character. [21] The movie was picked up by Netflix for a reported $12 million as part of an effort to expand into original films. [22] On November 25, 2015, Fukunaga was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director and Best Cinematography for his work on Beasts of No Nation, and the film received a nomination for Best Feature. [23]
On September 20, 2018, it was announced that Fukunaga would direct the 25th James Bond film, replacing Danny Boyle. [24] He is the first American filmmaker to direct an official Bond film for EON Productions. Fukunaga was originally considered to direct Spectre before Sam Mendes returned. [a] The film, eventually titled No Time to Die , was co-written by Fukunaga alongside Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and was eventually released in October 2021 in the United States. [25]
Fukunaga directed all eight episodes of the first season of the 2014 HBO TV series True Detective , which was written and created by novelist and screenwriter Nic Pizzolatto. [26] The series stars Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Michelle Monaghan. Fukunaga served as an Executive Producer on the show. The series received critical praise and was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Directing for Fukunaga, who won. For the second season of True Detective, Fukunaga did not return as director, but continued to serve as executive producer. [27] [28] [29] [30] [31]
Fukunaga was originally slated to direct the 2018 TNT TV series The Alienist . [32] [33] However, due to scheduling conflicts he was replaced by Jakob Verbruggen, although he retained a "created by" credit and remained as an executive producer. [34] Fukunaga served as executive producer for the follow-up series to The Alienist, The Angel of Darkness, based on the novel of the same name. [35]
Fukunaga directed all ten episodes of the dark comedy series Maniac for Netflix. [36] It premiered on September 21, 2018. [37] [38]
Fukunaga has written most of the films he has directed. The short films that he has written the screenplays for include Kofi (2003) and Victoria para chino (2004). He wrote the screenplay to his feature film, Sin Nombre (2009), as well as his segment for the omnibus film, Chinatown Film Project (2009).
Through his production company, Parliament of Owls, [39] Fukunaga has produced or served as executive producer on most of the projects he has directed. He was the executive producer for his short films Kofi (2003) and Victoria para chino (2004). He was an executive producer on Andrew Okpeaha MacLean's feature film thriller, On the Ice , which won "Best Debut Film" and the Crystal Bear (Best Feature Film for the Generation 14+) at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival, among other awards.
Fukunaga served as an executive producer for the HBO series he directed, True Detective . Warner Bros. chose Fukunaga to develop its adaptations of Stephen King's It (2017 and 2019), the first of which was initially due to start shooting in summer 2015. [40] Fukunaga was set to direct the first film and was expected to co-write the second. [40] [41] Three weeks before production was slated to begin, Fukunaga left the project. [42]
Fukunaga served as a cinematographer on a number of short film projects, including Handmade [43] (2013; documentary short directed by Rob Meyer), Sikumi (2008; also known as Sikumi (On the Ice) about an Inuit hunter on the frozen Arctic Ocean, directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean), Team Queen (2007) (a short film directed by Leah Meyerhoff), the feature documentary Death of Two Sons (2006; directed by Micah Schaffer), the short films Clear Water (2005; directed by Natalie Mooallem), White (2005; directed by Sebastian Mantilla), Kinnaq Nigaqtuqtuaq (2005; directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean), Two Men (2005) (directed by Ian Olds) and Mating Call (2004; directed by Patricio Serna).
He served as a camera operator on the short Glory at Sea (2008) (directed by Beasts of the Southern Wild director Benh Zeitlin), as a gaffer on the short film Just Make Believe (2008) (directed by Jadrien Steele), as an additional cinematographer on the TV documentary Small Steps: Creating the High School for Contemporary Arts (2007), assistant camera on the short film Dock (2004; directed by Nina Martinek), additional photography for the documentary Lockdown, USA (about the "War on Drugs" campaign and directed by Rebecca Chaiklin and Michael Skolnik), additional camera for Autumn's Eyes (2006; directed by Paola Mendoza and Gabriel Noble), a grip on the feature film Mango Kiss (2004; directed by Sascha Rice), and as an additional film loader on the feature film Black Cadillac (2003; directed by John Murlowski and starring Randy Quaid).
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Fukunaga is documenting humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine. [44]
In February 2017, it was reported Fukunaga was in talks to direct Shockwave, a drama about the lead-up to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. [45] In March 2021, he signed on to direct and produce Tokyo Ghost, based on the science fiction comic book series of the same name. [46]
Since May 2016, it was reported that Fukunaga, alongside Spielberg, could finalize the long-sought epic film about Napoleon that Stanley Kubrick worked on until the last days of his life. [47]
In September 2024, it was reported that Fukunaga would direct and produce the Jo Nesbø crime thriller adaptation Blood on Snow. Nesbø was adapting the script (with revisions by Ben Power), based on his own best-selling novel of the same name. Tom Hardy and Aaron Taylor Johnson were attached to star. Filming was due to take place later that year. [48]
Fukunaga lives in New York City. He has lived in France, Japan, Mexico City and London, [49] [4] and is fluent in English, French and Spanish. He considers screenwriter Naomi Foner as a mentor. [50]
In October 2021, Raeden Greer accused Fukunaga of pressuring her into doing a topless scene for True Detective that was not included in her contract for her role as a stripper. [51]
In April and May 2022, three women accused Fukunaga of various forms of sexual harassment, including pursuing relationships with them. [52]
Actress and skateboarder Rachelle Vinberg posted videos to Instagram accusing Fukunaga of grooming her and many other young actresses, citing in particular her experience filming his "A Perfect Day" Samsung commercial in 2016 (when she was 18 years old), and said that she had been in therapy for a year and diagnosed with PTSD as a result of his behavior in their relationship. [53] On May 5, 2022, twins Hannah and Cailin Loesch, who worked on Maniac , accused Fukunaga of sexual harassment and grooming. [54] [55]
Short film
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | Kofi | Yes | Yes | Executive |
2004 | Victoria para chino | Yes | Yes | Yes |
2012 | Sleepwalking in the Rift | Yes | Yes | Executive |
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | DoP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Chinatown Film Project | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Sin nombre | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
2011 | Jane Eyre | Yes | No | No | No |
2015 | Beasts of No Nation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
2017 | It | No | Yes | No | No |
2020 | Joe Bell | No | No | Yes | No |
2021 | No Time to Die | Yes | Yes | No | No |
TBA | Blood on Snow | Yes | No | Yes | No |
Executive producer
Cinematographer only
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2004 | Mating Call | Short film |
The Adventures of Supernigger: Episode I – The Final Chapter | ||
2005 | Two Men | |
Kinnaq Nigaqtuqtuaq | ||
White | ||
Clear Water | ||
2006 | Death of Two Sons | Documentary film |
2007 | Team Queen | Short film |
2008 | Sikumi (On the Ice) | |
2013 | Handmade | |
Year | Title | Director | Executive producer | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | True Detective | Yes | Yes | No | Season 1 |
2018 | The Alienist | No | Yes | Yes | Episodes "These Bloody Thoughts" and "Castle in the Sky" |
Maniac | Yes | Yes | No | Miniseries | |
2024 | Masters of the Air | Yes | No | No | 4 episodes |
Omnivore | No | Yes | Yes | Episodes "Chile" and "Rice" |
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(February 2019) |
Douglas Alexander Smith is a Canadian actor known for his work on the HBO series Big Love as Ben Henrickson. His other work includes Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013), Terminator Genisys (2015), Vinyl, Miss Sloane, When We Rise (2017), The Alienist (2018–2020) and the second season of HBO's Big Little Lies (2019).
The 2009 Sundance Film Festival was held during January 15, 2009 until January 25 in Park City, Utah. It was the 25th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival.
Sin nombre is a 2009 adventure thriller film written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, about a Honduran girl trying to immigrate to the United States, and a boy caught up in the violence of gang life.
Paulina Gaitán Ruíz is a Mexican actress. She is best known throughout Mexican television and movies. She is more recently known for her role in the popular Netflix series, Narcos, as the devoted young wife of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.
Adriano Goldman is a Brazilian television director and cinematographer born in São Paulo, Brazil. He won "Excellence in Cinematography Award: Dramatic" during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival for his cinematography in Cary Joji Fukunaga's 2009 film Sin Nombre.
Kristyan Ferrer is a Mexican actor in various roles since 2001. He played the role of El Smiley in the award-winning film Sin Nombre, directed by US director Cary Joji Fukunaga. For his lead roles in the films Guten Tag, Ramón (2014) and 600 Millas (2015), Ferrer won the Ariel Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role in The Black Minutes in 2022.
Jane Eyre is a 2011 romantic gothic drama film directed by Cary Fukunaga and starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender. The screenplay is written by Moira Buffini based on Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name.
True Detective is an American anthology crime drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto for the premium cable network HBO. The series premiered on January 12, 2014, and each season of the series is structured as a self-contained narrative, employing new cast ensembles, and following various sets of characters and settings.
Beasts of No Nation is a 2015 American war drama film written, co-produced, shot, and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. It follows a young boy who becomes a child soldier as his country experiences a horrific civil war. Shot in Ghana and starring Idris Elba, Abraham Attah, Ama K. Abebrese, Grace Nortey, David Dontoh, and Opeyemi Fagbohungbe, the film is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Uzodinma Iweala, the book itself being named after a Fela Kuti album.
"The Long Bright Dark" is the series premiere of the anthology crime drama True Detective, which initially aired on HBO in the United States on January 12, 2014. It was directed by executive producer Cary Joji Fukunaga and written by series creator Nic Pizzolatto. The episode introduces a pair of Louisiana State Police homicide detectives, Rustin "Rust" Cohle and Martin "Marty" Hart, as well as series regulars played by Michelle Monaghan, Michael Potts, and Tory Kittles. In the episode, Martin and Rustin are forced to recount the history of the Dora Lange murder investigation as new evidence suggests the perpetrator remains at large.
The first season of True Detective, an American anthology crime drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto, premiered on January 12, 2014, on the premium cable network HBO. The principal cast consisted of Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Potts, and Tory Kittles. The season had eight episodes, and its initial airing concluded on March 9, 2014. Each following True Detective season has its own self-contained story, following a disparate set of characters in various settings.
"The Locked Room" is the third episode of the first season of the American anthology crime drama television series True Detective. The episode was written by series creator Nic Pizzolatto, and directed by executive producer Cary Joji Fukunaga. It was first broadcast on HBO in the United States on January 26, 2014.
"Who Goes There" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American anthology crime drama television series True Detective. The episode was written by series creator Nic Pizzolatto, and directed by executive producer Cary Joji Fukunaga. It was first broadcast on HBO in the United States on February 9, 2014.
"Form and Void" is the eighth episode and season finale of the first season of the American anthology crime drama television series True Detective. The episode was written by series creator Nic Pizzolatto, and directed by executive producer Cary Joji Fukunaga. It was first broadcast on HBO in the United States on March 9, 2014.
The Kreizler series is a series of historical mystery novels written by Caleb Carr, and published by Random House.
Jakob Verbruggen is a Belgian television and film director. He studied at the Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema and Sound (RITCS) in Belgium.
The Alienist is an American period crime drama–thriller television series based on the 1994 novel of the same name by Caleb Carr. The ten-episode limited series first aired on TNT as a sneak peek on January 21, 2018, before its official premiere on January 22, 2018, airing until March 26, 2018. The series stars Daniel Brühl, Luke Evans, and Dakota Fanning as an ad hoc team assembled in mid-1890s New York City to investigate a serial killer who is murdering street children. The series incorporates fact with fiction by including the characters that are historical figures, such as Theodore Roosevelt, who held the post of police commissioner from 1895 to 1897. On August 16, 2018, TNT ordered a sequel series based upon the 1997 follow-up novel The Angel of Darkness. The second season, titled The Alienist: Angel of Darkness, premiered on July 19, 2020, and aired through August 9, 2020.
Richard Brown is a Scottish film and television producer based in New York and London whose credits include True Detective, Catch-22, Outlaw King, This England and 44 Inch Chest.
This is a list of winners for the Sundance Film Festival Directing Award for dramatic features.
The following is a list of unproduced Cary Joji Fukunaga projects in roughly chronological order. Over the course of his career, American filmmaker Cary Joji Fukunaga has ammased a number of projects he worked on that never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell or were cancelled, while others were taken over and would see life under a different production team.
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