Chris Moukarbel

Last updated

Chris Moukarbel is a film director, writer, producer and contemporary artist. [1] His first feature documentary Me at the Zoo (Me @ The Zoo) premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival in 2012 [2] and was acquired by HBO Documentaries. [3] The film charts the rise of YouTube and tells the story of an early viral Internet celebrity, Chris Crocker of “Leave Britney Alone!” fame. Moukarbel was approached by Sheila Nevins to direct [4] the Emmy nominated documentary Banksy Does New York for HBO.

Contents

He is also the creator and director of the HBO series Sex On // which takes a look at sex and relationships in the Information age. It was conceived as a reboot of the classic show Real Sex. [5] [6] [7] His work often explores technology and identity. [8]

Moukarbel directed and produced the award winning film Gaga: Five Foot Two . [9] [10] It premiered at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival and was acquired by Netflix. His documentary Wig explores the New York City drag queen scene and the drag festival Wigstock. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 4, 2019, and premiered on June 18 on HBO. [11] His first narrative feature film Cypher starring Tierra Whack premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival where it won the award for best U.S Narrative Feature.

Art

Moukarbel made art videos and contemporary art while living in New York. [1] His best known video art project World Trade Center was made as part of his graduate school thesis at Yale School of Art. Moukarbel acquired a bootleg script for a then upcoming Oliver Stone film World Trade Center and he shot his own version using student actors. The short film was released freely on the internet as a way to pre-empt the Stone film and caused a highly publicized lawsuit by Paramount Pictures. [12]

In a New York Times article about the art project Moukarbel said in the interview "My film was offered free on the Internet… It cost $1,000 to produce. We're at a place now where technology allows the democratization of storytelling. Through their access and budget they're able to affect a lot of people's ideas about an event and also affect policy. I was deliberately using their script and pre-empting their release to make a statement about power." [13] After Paramount blocked the distribution of the video it continued to be shown at Witte de With Institute of Contemporary art who refused to comply with the court order.

His artwork has shown at Marianne Boesky Gallery, [14] Air de Paris, Witte de with [15] and Wallspace gallery among others.

Music videos

Moukarbel co-directed the REM music video Everyday is Yours to Win, [16] The Drums, I Felt Stupid [17] and Joan as Police Woman's Start of my Heart. [18]

Accolades

AwardYearCategoryNominee(s)Result
2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards [19] 2018Best Music DocumentaryGaga: Five Foot TwoWon
2015 News & Documentary Emmy Awards [20] 2015Outstanding Arts and Cultural ProgrammingBanksy Does New YorkNominated
2023 Tribeca Film Festival [21] 2023Best U.S Narrative FeatureCypherWon

Personal life

Moukarbel was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Lebanese parents and lives between Los Angeles and New York. [22] He attended Corcoran School of Art and Yale School of Art . [23]

Related Research Articles

Miguel Arteta is a Puerto Rican director of film and television, known for his independent film Chuck & Buck (2000), for which he received the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, and for the films The Good Girl (2002) and Cedar Rapids (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ondi Timoner</span> American film director

Ondi Doane Timoner is an American filmmaker and the founder and chief executive officer of Interloper Films, a production company located in Pasadena, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Corra</span> American documentary filmmaker

Henry John Corra is an American documentary filmmaker best known for pioneering what he calls "living cinema".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Curry</span> American film director (born 1970)

Marshall Curry is an Oscar-winning American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include Street Fight, Racing Dreams, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Point and Shoot, and A Night at the Garden. His first fiction film was the Academy Award-winning short film The Neighbors' Window (2019).

Adam Bhala Lough is an American film director, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker from Fairfax, Virginia. Known for his dramas about subcultures and popular youth cultures, several of Lough's films have been selected as part of the Sundance Film Festival, and is the only filmmaker with a feature film and a documentary in the festival, as well as a screenplay selected for the annual Sundance Screenwriter's Lab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Rossi</span> American filmmaker

Andrew Rossi is an American filmmaker, known for directing and writing The Andy Warhol Diaries (2022).

<i>Me at the Zoo</i> (2012 film) 2012 American film

Me at the Zoo is a 2012 documentary film directed by Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch and starring Cara Cunningham, then known as Chris Crocker. Me at the Zoo takes a look at the young video blogger from a small town in Tennessee. The documentary delves into the life of Cunningham, who was made famous on the internet through numerous public videos, notably her video "Leave Britney Alone", which garnered mainstream media attention. The film also explores how video sharing and social media have shaped the way people share their stories and go about their lives. On January 17, 2012, HBO Documentary Films secured the US broadcasting rights to the film. It premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2012, and on HBO on June 25, 2012.

Braden King is a New York-based filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. His feature film, Here (2011), starring Ben Foster and Lubna Azabal, premiered at the 2011 Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals and was distributed theatrically by Strand Releasing in 2012. A multimedia installation version of the project, Here [ The Story Sleeps ], premiered at The Museum of Modern Art in 2010 and toured internationally with live soundtrack accompaniment by composer Michael Krassner and Boxhead Ensemble. King's previous work includes the feature film Dutch Harbor: Where the Sea Breaks It's Back, the award-winning short film Home Movie and music videos for Glen Hansard, Sparklehorse, Sonic Youth, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Dirty Three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Talkington</span> American filmmaker, screenwriter, and author

Amy Virginia Talkington is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candescent Films</span>

Candescent Films is an American film production company that produces and finances documentary and narrative films that explore social issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Donahue (filmmaker)</span> American film director and producer

Tom Donahue is an American film director, producer, and co-showrunner. His work as writer, director, and showrunner includes the Paramount Plus Original docuseries Murder of God's Banker and the upcoming six-part docuseries Mafia Spies, based on the 2019 book by Thomas Maier about the CIA-Mafia assassination plots against Fidel Castro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonny de la Peña</span> American journalist

Nonny de la Peña is an American journalist, documentary filmmaker, and entrepreneur.

<i>Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead</i> (film) 2015 film by Douglas Tirola

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Douglas Tirola. The film is about National Lampoon magazine, and how the magazine and its empire of spin-offs changed the course of comedy and humor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Heineman</span> American documentary filmmaker

Matthew Heineman is an American documentary filmmaker, director, and producer. His inspiration and fascination with American history led him to early success with the documentary film Cartel Land, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film, a BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, and won three Primetime Emmy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Weinrib</span> Producer

Eric Weinrib is a filmmaker and TV producer from Plainview, New York, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim A. Snyder</span> American filmmaker and producer

Kim A. Snyder is an American filmmaker and producer. Previously, she spent some time contributing to Variety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penny Lane (filmmaker)</span> American independent filmmaker (born 1978)

Penny Lane is an American independent filmmaker, known for her documentary films. Her humor and unconventional approach to the documentary form, including the use of archival Super 8 footage and YouTube videos, have earned her critical acclaim.

<i>Banksy Does New York</i> 2014 film

Banksy Does New York is a 2014 HBO documentary film directed by Chris Moukarbel about Banksy's Better Out Than In project. The documentary covers Banksy's one month residency in October 2013, in which the artist presented a new work of art daily and announced the locations via his Instagram account each morning.

Marina Zenovich is an American filmmaker known for her biographical documentaries. Her films include LANCE, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind, Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic and Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which won two Emmy awards.

<i>Wig</i> (film) 2019 documentary film directed by Chris Moukarbel

Wig is a 2019 documentary film by Chris Moukarbel about Wigstock, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and later was telecasted on HBO on June 18, 2019.

References

  1. 1 2 "Introducing Chris Moukarbel" Interview Magazine, September 29, 2010
  2. ↑ ""Meet the filmmaker: Me at the Zoo's Chris Moukarbel" Sundance.tv". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  3. ↑ Peter Knegt, "HBO Buys Sundance Doc 'Me @the Zoo'" Indiewire, January 17, 2012
  4. ↑ "Interview: "Banksy Does New York" Director Chris Moukarbel Talks Creating a Crowd-Sourced Film and the Allure of the Infamous Street Artist" Complex.com}
  5. ↑ "HBO Sex Now Gets inside the World of Cam Girls" Vice Magazine
  6. ↑ "The Scintillating Details Behind HBO's New Docuseries 'SEX // NOW,' Debuting January 2014" Indiewire
  7. ↑ "Interactive Gets a New Meaning"
  8. ↑ "About: Chris Moukarbel" Archived August 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Toronto Film Review in "Variety"
  10. ↑ Film Review in "Vanity Fair"
  11. ↑ "Wig | Documentaries".
  12. ↑ "Paramount sues over 9/11 Internet film" USA Today
  13. ↑ "An Artist Releases a New Film After Paramount Blocks His First" New York Times
  14. ↑ Marianne Boesky Gallery [ permanent dead link ], October 26 – November 25, 2006.
  15. ↑ "Witte de With : Event : Don Quixote"
  16. ↑ "R.E.M. Recruits James Franco, Albert Maysles to Helm 'Collapse Into Now' Videos" Billboard.com
  17. ↑ "The Drums on Athletics, Their New Video" Interview Magazine
  18. ↑ "Interrogation: Joan as Police Woman" Interview Magazine
  19. ↑ Atkinson, Katie (18 June 2018). "MTV Movie & TV Awards 2018: Complete Winners List". Billboard . Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  20. ↑ "36th News & Documentary Emmy Nominees" Emmyonline.com
  21. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (15 June 2023). "Tribeca Festival: 'Cypher,' 'A Strange Path,' 'Between the Rains' Top Competition Award Winners". The Hollywood Reporter.
  22. ↑ Harris, Jeremy (2017). "How Lady Gaga Captured America's Queer Imagination". Vice.
  23. ↑ "Introducing Chris Moukarbel" Interview Magazine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.