Martin Desmond Roe

Last updated
Martin Desmond Roe
Nationality British, American
Alma mater University of Southern California (MFA, Cinema-Television, 2008)
Somerville College, Oxford (B.A., Classics, 2001)
Occupation(s) Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active2009–present
Known for Buzkashi Boys, Tom vs Time, Breaking2, Kobe Bryant's Muse [1]
Website dirtyrobber.com

Martin Desmond Roe is a British-American film and television director, writer, and producer. [2] [3] [1] He is best known for Buzkashi Boys (2012), [4] [5] Kobe Bryant's Muse (2015), [6] [3] Breaking2 (2017), [2] [7] [8] Tom vs Time (2018), [9] and We are the Champions (2020). [10] [11] [12] Roe is the founder and Creative Director of Dirty Robber, a Los Angeles–based production company. [3]

Contents

Martin Roe's short film Two Distant Strangers was met with critical acclaim; at the 93rd Academy Awards, it received the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. [13] [14]

Education

Born in Bristol, England, [15] Roe studied Latin and Ancient Greek at Somerville College, Oxford, [16] graduating in 2001 with a BA in Classics. He moved to Los Angeles and entered the USC School of Cinematic Arts, earning an MFA in Cinema and Television in 2008. [17] [18]

Career

Roe became interested in filmmaking and storytelling while staging plays during his time at Oxford. After finishing USC film school he founded Dirty Robber, a production company. [16] His first major success came in 2012 when Roe co-wrote the screenplay for Buzkashi Boys, a short film that was directed by Sam French. [5] Written in a week, on location in Kabul, Afghanistan, the film was inspired by the true life story of Fawad Mohammidi, [19] a homeless 14 year old street vendor and explored his friendship with another boy and their love for the traditional horse sport Buzkashi. [5] Buzkashi Boys gained critical acclaim [20] [21] winning numerous film festival awards, [22] [23] [24] and was nominated for the 2013 Best Live Action Short Film at the Academy Awards. [4]

In 2017, after directing a number of commercials for Nike, Inc., [25] Roe was invited as creative lead on Breaking2 sports documentary, a joint project of Nike and National Geographic in association with Dirty Robber. [26] The documentary short followed three world class athletes, Eliud Kipchoge, Lelisa Desisa, and Zersenay Tadese as they attempted to run a marathon in under two hours. [8] [27] Breaking2 won several awards in advertising industry [28] [29] including a Gold Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. [30] Roe also took part as an executive producer of 6 episodes for Tom vs Time, a collaborative web television series project directed by Gotham Chopra, which won Emmy Award for Outstanding Serialized Sports Documentary (NBC Sports). [9] In 2020, he co-directed the short film Two Distant Strangers, about police killings in the United States, which stars Joey Bada$$ and Andrew Howard, and which won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short in 2021. [31]

In 2023, Roe co-directed alongside Travon Free, BS High a documentary for HBO, revolving around the Bishop Sycamore High School scandal. [32] [33]

Roe is an owner and creative director of Dirty Robber Productions, a Los Angeles-based company with the focus on documentaries, T.V series, shows and sports events. Among Dirty Robber's most notable productions are Religion of Sports, [34] [35] Tom vs Time, [36] Kobe Bryant’s Muse (in collaboration with Kobe Inc.), [37] [38] Why We Fight (ESPN+), Wiz Khalifa: Behind the Cam (DIRECTV), [39] and We are the Champions, a documentary series about various contests and sports traditions. [3] [40]

Plagiarism allegation

In April 2021, Cynthia Kao posted a video on the social media site TikTok alleging that Roe's film, Two Distant Strangers (2020), plagiarized a short film she had directed in December 2016 titled Groundhog Day For a Black Man. [41] [42] The contents of Kao's film were similar to the plot of Two Distant Strangers, which are both about a black man trying to relive the same day over and over until he can survive a police altercation. Furthermore, in 2020, during the George Floyd protests, social media news outlet NowThis contacted Kao about featuring the film on their Facebook and Instagram pages. The following year, Netflix released Two Distant Strangers in collaboration with NowThis, excluding any credit of Kao's name or that she had anything to do with the original idea for the movie in any way. [43] NowThis responded to the claims, citing the fact that the film was independently conceived and in final production before they became involved, disputing any connection to Kao. [44]

Filmography

YearTitleCreditNotes
2023 BS High Co-directorDocumentary film
2020 Two Distant Strangers Co-directorShort [45]
2020We are the ChampionsExecutive producer
(6 episodes)
Director
(2 episodes)		TV documentary series [2]
2019Wiz Khalifa: Behind the CamDirector
(5 episodes)		TV documentary mini-series [2]
2019Why We FightExecutive producer
(15 episodes)		TV documentary series [27]
2018Shut Up and DribbleExecutive producer
(3 episodes)		TV documentary series [46]
2018 Tom vs Time Executive producer
(6 episodes)		Documentary web television series
(Emmy Award Winner) [9]
2017Breaking2DirectorTV movie documentary
Cannes Gold Lions Winner
Co-production of National Geographic Studios and Dirty Robber Productions [8] [47]
2017Uninterrupted PresentsExecutive producer
(2 episodes)		TV series documentary
2016Religion of SportsExecutive producer (18 episodes)
Director
Writer		TV series documentary [48] [49]
2015Kobe Bryant's MuseProducerTV movie documentary [6]
2012 Buzkashi Boys Co-producer
Co-writer		Short

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References

  1. 1 2 "Martin Roe's Filmography". IMDb.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Brands like HP and Apple try film to reach young consumers who skip commercials". Los Angeles Times. 11 June 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "US Focus: Dirty Robber". Shots Insight.
  4. 1 2 "Buzkashi Boys shoots for Oscar with tale of Afghan child dreamers". The Guardian. 15 February 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 "Sam French on Buzkashi Boys, his Oscar-Nominated Short About Afghanistan's Brutal National Sport". Vanity Fair. 23 January 2013.
  6. 1 2 "New Film Imagines Being Kobe". Below the Line News. 17 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "This Documentary Takes You Inside the 2-Hour Marathon Pursuit". Runners World. 14 September 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 "Breaking2 by National Geographic and Dirty Robber for Nike". Cannes Lions.
  9. 1 2 3 "'Tom vs. Time' is now an Emmy Award-winning show". Boston.
  10. ↑ "'We Are the Champions' EPs on Documenting Niche Sports, Including Dog Dancing". Variety. 17 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "Rainn Wilson's We Are The Champions Is a Docuseries With Heart". PrimeTimer. 17 November 2020.
  12. ↑ "'We Are the Champions' Review: Netflix Doc Series Is a Lighthearted Celebration of Human Achievement". IndieWire. 17 November 2020.
  13. ↑ "Short "Two Distant Strangers makes Oskar History. Here's why it's controversial". The Los Angeles Times.
  14. ↑ "Oscars 2021: The Complete Winners List". Variety.
  15. ↑ "Former Bristol Boy, Oscar nominee Martin Roe". Visit Bristol. 18 February 2016.
  16. 1 2 "Pro Video Coalition". Fueling creativity at Coyote Post. 29 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "Martin Roe's Education". Personal LinkedIn profile.
  18. ↑ "SCA In Motion - Fall 2015". University of Southern California. 2 February 2016.
  19. ↑ "Oscars 2013: Afghan boy's astonishing journey to the Academy Awards". The Telegraph. 16 February 2013.
  20. ↑ "Afghan Dreams: In New Film, Nation's Untold Stories". NPR.org. NPR.
  21. ↑ Holden, Stephen (31 January 2013). "Movie Review: Far From Epic Length, but on the Shortlist for Oscar Glory". The New York Times.
  22. ↑ "Buzkashi Boys Makes Oscar Shortlist". 30 November 2012.
  23. ↑ "2012 Film Festival Award Winners Announced". Rhode Island International Film Festival. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  24. ↑ "ECU Filmfestival 2013" . Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  25. ↑ "Martin Desmond Roe's Profile". AdAge.
  26. ↑ "Nike Found an Unlikely Partner in National Geographic to Co-Produce a Marathon Documentary". AdWeek. 20 September 2017.
  27. 1 2 "Rep Sheet Roundup: ICM Partners Signs 'The Chi' Star Tiffany Boone". THR. 22 January 2018.
  28. ↑ "AICP Awards - Breaking2". AICP Awards Archive.
  29. ↑ "2018 One Show - Breaking2". The One Club.
  30. ↑ "National Geographic Partners Takes Home Total of 9 Awards in Cannes Lion 2018 Wins First-Ever Gold Lion with "Breaking2"". National Geographic Partners. 26 June 2018.
  31. ↑ Thorpe, Isha (2021-04-25). "Joey Badass, Travon Free and Diddy win Oscar for 'Two Distant Strangers'". REVOLT. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  32. ↑ Carey, Matthew (August 29, 2022). "HBO Launches Production On 'BS High,' Doc About Football Team From "Fake" School That Got Drubbed On National TV". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  33. ↑ "HBO Original Documentary BS HIGH Debuts August 23". Warner Bros. Discovery . August 3, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  34. ↑ "AT&T Audience Network Renews Docuseries 'Religion Of Sports' For Season 3". Deadline. 26 June 2018.
  35. ↑ "One of the greatest MMA documentaries ever made is available to watch on Netflix right now". Sports Joe. 2 March 2018.
  36. ↑ "Tom Brady Is Getting His Own Facebook Watch Reality Series". Variety. 9 January 2018.
  37. ↑ "TV Review: 'Kobe Bryant's Muse'". Variety. 17 February 2015.
  38. ↑ "Kobe Bryant's Muse". Clio Awards.
  39. ↑ "Wiz Khalifa Gets Candid in New Documentary Series Behind the Cam". Billboard. 17 April 2019.
  40. ↑ "Dirty Robber Production: Works". Official Website.
  41. ↑ "Netflix Two Distant Strangers copied Groundhog Day for Black Man". Wiredup Report. 14 April 2021. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021.
  42. ↑ Schonfeld, Zach (2021-05-11). "'Two Distant Strangers' Won an Oscar. Then Came Messy Plagiarism Allegations". VICE. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  43. ↑ Akhauri, Tanvi. "Woman's TikTok About Oscar-Winning Short's Close Resemblance To Her Film Goes Viral". www.shethepeople.tv. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  44. ↑ Moore, Kasey (2021-05-01). "'Two Distant Strangers' Plagiarism Claims Explained". What's on Netflix. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  45. ↑ "Behind the Scenes of New Short Film, 'Two Distant Strangers,' About Police Killings in America". The Hollywood Reporter. 19 January 2021.
  46. ↑ "'Shut Up and Dribble': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. November 2018.
  47. ↑ "Breaking2: A Nike Brand Film by Martin Desmond Roe". Africa Film. 27 August 2018.
  48. ↑ "Religion of Sports". The Futon Critic.
  49. ↑ "AT&T Audience: Network To Debut Original Series "Religion of Sports" Nov. 15". AT&T.
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