Joe Swanberg
| Joe Swanberg | |
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Joe Swanberg in 2014
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| Born | August 31, 1981 Detroit, Michigan |
| Occupation | Film director, screenwriter, actor, producer |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Spouse(s) | Kris Williams (2007-present) |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | http://www.joeswanberg.com |
Joe Swanberg (born August 31, 1981) is an American independent director, producer, writer, and actor. Known for micro-budget dramas[1] which make extensive use of improvisation,[2][3][4] Swanberg is considered a major figure in the mumblecore film movement.[2][3] His films often focus on relationships, sex, technology, and the filmmaking process.[1][2][5][6]
Contents
Life and career
Swanberg was born on August 31, 1981 in Detroit, Michigan, and was mostly raised in Georgia and Alabama.[7][8] He graduated from Naperville Central High School in suburban Chicago and attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale as a film major, earning a Bachelor's Degree in 2003.
In 2005, Swanberg directed his first feature, Kissing on the Mouth. He followed it with LOL (2006), which marked Swanberg's first time working with actress Greta Gerwig. Gerwig and Swanberg collaborated on the director's next two features: Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007), which also starred filmmakers Andrew Bujalski, Ry Russo-Young, and Mark Duplass and marked Swanberg's first collaboration with animator and actor Kent Osborne; and Nights and Weekends (2008), on which Gerwig shared a directing credit. Swanberg's next feature, Alexander the Last, was produced by Noah Baumbach, who would later cast Gerwig opposite Ben Stiller in his 2010 film Greenberg.
After spending all of 2009 working on Silver Bullets, Swanberg finished seven features in 2010: Uncle Kent, Caitlin Plays Herself, The Zone, Art History, Silver Bullets, Privacy Setting and Autoerotic (co-directed with horror filmmaker Adam Wingard). Uncle Kent premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011 and Silver Bullets and Art History premiered at the Berlinale in February. The rest of the 2010 films premiered theatrically in 2011 after screenings at film festivals. Four of these were later included in Joe Swanberg: Collected Films 2011, a DVD boxed set from the music and video label Factory 25.[9]
In 2012 Swanberg wrote and directed the film Drinking Buddies, starring Olivia Wilde, Jake M. Johnson, Anna Kendrick and Ron Livingston. The film was produced by Alicia Van Couvering and Andrea Roa and shot by Beasts of the Southern Wild cinematographer Ben Richardson. The film was acquired by Magnolia Pictures shortly after its SXSW Premiere.
The following year Swanberg shot Happy Christmas, starring himself, Melanie Lynskey, Lena Dunham and Anna Kendrick from Drinking Buddies . This was the first of his films to be shot on 16mm film, rather than digital.[10] The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
His next film as director is Digging for Fire,[10] which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and stars Jake Johnson.[11] The film will be released on August 21, 2015 by The Orchard.[12]
Swanberg is a noted proponent of internet-based distribution for independent films and has made his 2011 feature, Marriage Material, available for free on his Vimeo page.[13]
He cites Elaine May, Paul Mazursky, Lars Von Trier,[2] Marco Ferreri,[2] and Eric Rohmer as influences on his oeuvre.[2]
Filmography
As director, producer, and writer
| Year | Film | Type | Credited as | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Writer | Editor | Cinematographer | |||
| 2015 | Digging for Fire | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2015 | Queen of Earth | Feature Film | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| 2014 | Happy Christmas | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2013 | 24 Exposures | Feature Film | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2013 | Drinking Buddies | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2013 | All the Light in the Sky | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2012 | Marriage Material | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2012 | V/H/S (Segment: "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger") | Feature Film | Yes | Unknown | No | Yes | No |
| 2011 | Caitlin Plays Herself | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2011 | Autoerotic | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2011 | The Zone | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2011 | Art History | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2011 | Silver Bullets | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2011 | Uncle Kent | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2009 | Alexander the Last | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2008 | Nights and Weekends | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2008 | Swedish Blueballs | Short Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2007 | Hannah Takes the Stairs | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2006 | LOL | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2005 | Kissing on the Mouth | Feature Film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
As actor
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Lace Crater | |
| 2014 | Thou Wast Mild and Lovely | Akin |
| 2013 | Proxy | Patrick Michaels |
| 2013 | The Sacrament | Jake |
| 2013 | White Reindeer | George |
| 2013 | You're Next | Drake Davison |
| 2012 | Marriage Material | Joe |
| 2012 | V/H/S (Segment: "Second Honeymoon") | Sam |
| 2012 | The Kings of Yorktown | |
| 2011 | Caitlin Plays Herself | |
| 2011 | Autoerotic | |
| 2011 | The Zone | |
| 2011 | Art History | Sam |
| 2011 | Silver Bullets | Ethan |
| 2011 | Uncle Kent | |
| 2010 | Audrey the Trainwreck | Jeremy Roth |
| 2010 | Blackmail Boys | Andrew Kenneth Tucker |
| 2010 | A Horrible Way to Die | Kevin |
| 2010 | Everyone Says I Look Just Like Her | Brandon |
| 2009 | The Mountain, the River and the Road | Tom |
| 2009 | Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever | Hazmat Team |
| 2009 | You Wont Miss Me | |
| 2008 | Paintbrush (short) | Danny |
| 2008 | Nights and Weekends | James |
| 2008 | Present Company | Archibald King |
| 2008 | Untied Strangers (short) | Wes |
| 2007 | The Timebox Twins (short) | Boy |
| 2007 | Grammy's (short) | Clarence |
| 2007 | Quiet City | Adam |
| 2007 | Hohokam | The Jeffery |
| 2006 | Young American Bodies (TV series) | Ben |
| 2006 | LOL | Tim |
| 2005 | Kissing on the Mouth | Patrick |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Brody, Richard. The Front Row: Joe Swanberg in Berlin. The New Yorker.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Kramer, Gary. Interview: Joe Swanberg. Slant.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Trachta, Ali. Interview: Filmmaker Joe Swanberg. Chicagoist.
- ↑ Levin, Robert. SXSW Interview: 'Alexander the Last' Director Joe Swanberg. Film School Rejects.
- ↑ Denby, David. Uncle Kent. The New Yorker.
- ↑ Brody, Richard. The Front Row: "Silver Bullets" Tonight. The New Yorker.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://podcastone.com/program?action=viewProgram&programID=592
- ↑ Joe Swanberg: Collected Films 2011
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 4:3 Happy Christmas: An Interview with Writer/Director Joe Swanberg. 4:3
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ http://www.comingsoon.net/movie/digging-for-fire-2015
- ↑ Vimeo
External links
- Joe Swanberg at the Internet Movie Database
- Official site
- GreenCine: "More excited than I have ever been": Interview with Joe Swanberg
- indieWIRE INTERVIEW: Joe Swanberg, director of "LOL"
- Filmmaker Magazine: What I Meant to Say
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Joe Swanberg, Hell Is For Hyphenates, August 31, 2014
- Articles with hCards
- American film directors
- Film directors from Michigan
- Living people
- Writers from Detroit, Michigan
- 1981 births
- American film producers
- American male film actors
- American male screenwriters
- 21st-century American male actors
- American male television actors
- American cinematographers
- American film editors
