Jay Roach

Jay Roach
Roach in 2013
Born	Mathew Jay Roach (1957-06-14) June 14, 1957 (age 67) Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Other names	M. Jay Roach
Alma mater	Stanford University (BA) University of Southern California (MFA)
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	1986–present
Notable work	Austin Powers Mystery, Alaska Meet the Parents Dinner for Schmucks The Campaign Trumbo Bombshell
Spouse	Susanna Hoffs ​ (m. 1993)​
Children	2

Mathew Jay Roach (born June 14, 1957) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Austin Powers film series, Meet the Parents , Dinner for Schmucks , The Campaign , Trumbo , and Bombshell . ^[1]

Roach also earned critical acclaim for directing and producing the political television drama films Recount , Game Change , and All the Way . He produced the films under his Everyman Pictures banner. ^[2] For his work, he has received four Primetime Emmy Awards from six nominations.

Early life and education

Roach was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S., where his father was a military worker. ^[3] He graduated from Eldorado High School in 1975. ^[4] He received a BA in economics from Stanford University in 1980,^{[ citation needed ]} and later earned a Master of Fine Arts in film production from the University of Southern California in 1986. ^[5]

Career

Roach's early entrance into film was in music videos. His first job was working as a cameraman on the music video for Eazy-E's "Eazy-er Said Than Dunn", which was directed by his film school friend John Lloyd Miller. ^[6] Roach made his directorial debut with the 1990 comedy film Zoo Radio. He received recognition for the commercially successful spy comedy film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), starring Mike Myers as the title character. He returned to direct the sequels Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002).

Roach also directed the sports comedy-drama film Mystery, Alaska , which was released in October 1999. He continued to direct critically and commercially successful comedies, including Meet the Parents (2000) and its sequel Meet the Fockers (2004), Dinner for Schmucks (2010), and The Campaign (2012). Roach expanded into other genres, directing the biographical period drama Trumbo (2015) and the biographical drama Bombshell (2019), which earned multiple Academy Award nominations.

Roach earned critical acclaim for directing multiple HBO political drama films. He directed Recount (2008), which earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Television Movie, in addition to the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV Film. He then directed Game Change , about the 2008 McCain/Palin campaign, which premiered March 2012 as one of the most watched films in HBO history. The film earned him additional Primetime Emmy Awards in the same categories as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film and a Peabody Award. ^[7] He also directed All the Way , which premiered in May 2016 and earned Roach two more Primetime Emmy Award nominations in the same categories.

Personal life

Roach is married to musician and actress Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles, with whom he has two sons. ^[8] Roach was raised a Southern Baptist, and converted to Judaism before marrying Hoffs. ^[3]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Producer
1990	Zoo Radio [a]	Yes	No
1997	Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery	Yes	No
1999	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	Yes	No
	Mystery, Alaska	Yes	No
2000	Meet the Parents	Yes	Yes
2002	Austin Powers in Goldmember	Yes	No
2004	Meet the Fockers	Yes	Yes
2010	Dinner for Schmucks	Yes	Yes
2012	The Campaign	Yes	Yes
2015	Trumbo	Yes	Uncredited
2019	Bombshell	Yes	Yes
2025	The Roses	Yes	Yes

Producer only

• The Empty Mirror (1996)
• 50 First Dates (2004) (Executive producer)
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
• Borat (2006)
• Charlie Bartlett (2007)
• Smother (2008)
• Brüno (2009)
• Little Fockers (2010)
• Sisters (2015)
• Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017)

Other credits

Year	Title	Role
1994	Blown Away [b]	Writer and associate producer

Television

TV series

Year	Title	Director	Executive Producer	Notes
2004	American Candidate	No	Yes	10 episodes
2005	Earth to America	Yes	No	TV special
2015	The Brink	Yes	Yes	10 episodes
2023	High Desert	Yes	Yes	8 episodes

TV movies

Year	Title	Director	Executive Producer
2008	Recount	Yes	Yes
2012	Game Change	Yes	Yes
2016	All the Way	Yes	Yes
2020	Coastal Elites	Yes	Yes

Other credits

Year	Title	Producer	Writer	Notes
1993	Space Rangers	Yes	Yes	Episode: "Fort Hope"
	Lifepod	Co-producer	Yes	TV movie
1997	Poltergeist: The Legacy	No	Yes	Episode: "Fear"
2019	Barry	No	No	Appeared as himself; Episode: "The Audition"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2008	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Television Movie	Recount	Won	[9]
		Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special		Won
2009	Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV Film		Won	[10]
	Golden Globe Award	Best Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated	[11]
	Producers Guild of America Award	Best Long-Form Television		Nominated	[10]
2012	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Television Movie	Game Change	Won	[9]
		Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special		Won
2013	Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV Film		Won	[10]
	Golden Globe Award	Best Miniseries or Television Movie		Won	[12]
	Producers Guild of America Award	Best Long-Form Television		Won	[10]
2016	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Television Movie	All the Way	Nominated	[9]
		Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special		Nominated
2017	Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV Film		Nominated	[10]

Notes

1. Credited as "M. Jay Roach"
2. Credited as "M. Jay Roach"

References

1. Stanford Magazine, July/Aug 2007
2. "Jay Roach". Variety . Retrieved November 4, 2012.
3. Pfefferman, Naomi (July 20, 2010). "'Schmucks' Director Redefines the Term". The Jewish Journal of Greater L.A. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
4. Lane, Charlotte Balcomb (June 11, 1999). "Native son directs 'Austin Powers'". Albuquerque Journal. p. B1.
5. Notable Alumni, USC School of Cinematic Arts Archived August 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine .
6. Ducker, Eric (June 7, 2012). "On the Job Training: Part Three". Wax Poetics. Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
7. Lazarus, Catie (June 5, 2013). "Talking to Jay Roach About 'Austin Powers', 'Meet the Parents', and Directing Big-Budget Comedies". splitsider.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
8. "No more manic Mondays". The Sun-Herald . September 5, 2005. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
9. "Jay Roach". Emmys.com. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
10. "Jay Roach - Awards". IMDb . Retrieved November 29, 2019.
11. "Recount". goldenglobes.com. Hollywood Foreign Press Association . Retrieved January 10, 2020.
12. "Game Change". goldenglobes.com. Hollywood Foreign Press Association . Retrieved January 10, 2020.

External links

• Jay Roach at IMDb
• Appearances on C-SPAN