Hiro Murai

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Hiro Murai
Born 1983 (age 40–41)
Tokyo, Japan
Alma mater University of Southern California
Occupation Filmmaker
Years active 2005–present
Website hiromurai.com

Hiro Murai (born 1983)[1] is a Japanese-American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. His most notable works include internationally successful music videos for artists such as Childish Gambino, Earl Sweatshirt, Chet Faker, Flying Lotus, David Guetta, St. Vincent, The Shins, The Fray, Bloc Party, Queens of the Stone Age, and FKA Twigs.[2]

He received a Grammy Award in 2019 for Best Music Video for "This is America" with Childish Gambino.[3] He also received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the FX series Atlanta (2016–present), and the HBO limited series Station Eleven (2022).[4]

Early life and education

Murai was born to Japanese popular music composer Kunihiko Murai.[1] He moved to Los Angeles when he was nine years old. He graduated with a degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.[5]

After graduation, Murai turned to freelance work as the director of photography for numerous music videos, as well as VFX and storyboarding, most notably for Ace Norton. After some time Murai began to direct low budget films.

Career

In 2013, he directed the short film Clapping for the Wrong Reasons,[6][7] a companion piece for Childish Gambino's second studio album, Because the Internet, and its attached screenplay. In the same year, he created a multi-panel video set for Frank Ocean's performance at the Grammys.[8][9]

Since 2016, Murai has directed several episodes of the comedy-drama Atlanta, collaborating again with Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino).[10][11] For his work on the show, he has received three nominations for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.[12]

In 2016 he directed a Nike campaign starring Chance The Rapper.[13]

He directed the music video for Childish Gambino's "This Is America", released on May 5, 2018, which was described as "the most talked-about music video of recent memory",[14] and which Billboard critics ranked 10th among the "greatest music videos of the 21st century."[15] In 2019, Murai won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video for directing the video.[citation needed]

In November 2018, the trailer for his debut feature film Guava Island, starring Donald Glover and Rihanna, premiered at the Pharos Festival in New Zealand.[16] Guava Island was released on April 13, 2019, by Amazon Studios through Amazon Prime Video. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 74% based on reviews from 43 critics, with an average rating of 6.60/10.[17] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[18]

In 2021, Murai directed the first and third episode the science fiction miniseries Station Eleven for HBO Max.[19]

In June 2018, it was announced that he would direct a science fiction feature film, Man Alive, written by David Robert Mitchell.[20]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Credits Notes Ref
2019 Guava Island Director Stars Donald Glover & Rihanna [21][22]

Television

Year Title Director Producer Executive
producer		 Notes Ref.
2016–present Atlanta Yes Yes Yes Directed 32 episodes; produced/executive produced 31 episodes [10]
2017 Legion Yes No No Episode: "Chapter 6" [23]
2017 Sea Oak Yes No Yes Amazon Video pilot [24]
2017 Snowfall Yes No No Episode: "Trauma" [25]
2018–present Barry Yes No No 4 episodes; HBO comedy series [26]
2021–2022 Station Eleven Yes No Yes 2 episodes; HBO Max limited series [27]
2022 The Bear No No Yes Hulu series [28]

Music videos

Year Title Artist Director Notes Ref.
2005 "Small Apartment Party Epiphany" Make Believe Yes Co-directed with Steve Drypolcher
Brandon Driscoll-Luttringer
2006 "Crooked Teeth" Death Cab for Cutie Director of photography
"Someday You Will Be Loved" Death Cab for Cutie Director of photography
"Cobrastyle" Teddybears Director of photography
2007 "Living a Lie" Aqueduct Director of photography
2009 "Submarine Symphonika" The Submarines Director of photography
"Signs (Armand Van Helden Remix)" Bloc Party Yes
"Me-Time" Busdriver Yes
"Heartless" The Fray Yes
"Unbalanced Pieces" Soulsavers Yes
"Staying In Love" Raphael Saadiq Yes
2010 "Airplanes" B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams Yes
"DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" Usher featuring Pitbull Yes
"The Show Goes On" Lupe Fiasco Yes
2011 "Stereo Hearts" Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine Yes
2012 "Shady Love" Scissor Sisters vs. Krystal Pepsy Yes
"Mind Control" Friends Yes
"It's Only Life" The Shins Yes
"She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)" David Guetta featuring Sia Yes
"Chum" Earl Sweatshirt Yes
"Cheerleader" St. Vincent Yes
2013 "Hive" Earl Sweatshirt Yes
"High Road" Cults Yes
"3005" Childish Gambino Yes
2014 "Smooth Sailing" Queens of the Stone Age Yes
"Sweatpants" Childish Gambino Yes
"Do You" Spoon Yes
"Gold" Chet Faker Yes
"#CAKE" Shabazz Palaces Yes
"Never Catch Me" Flying Lotus Yes
"Telegraph Ave" Childish Gambino Yes
2015 "Sober" Childish Gambino Yes
"Grief" Earl Sweatshirt Yes
2016 "Take It There" Massive Attack Yes
"Day Ones" Baauer Yes
"Black Man in a White World" Michael Kiwanuka Yes
2017 "Dis Generation" A Tribe Called Quest Yes [29]
2018 "This Is America" Childish Gambino Yes [30]
2020 "sad day" FKA Twigs Yes

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2017 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Comedy Series Atlanta Nominated [35]
2018 Nominated [36]
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series "Teddy Perkins", Atlanta Nominated
2022 "New Jazz", Atlanta Pending [37]
Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie "Wheel of Fire", Station Eleven Pending

References

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External links

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