Gregg Araki
Araki in 2025
Born	(1959-12-17)December 17, 1959 (age 65) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	University of California, Santa Barbara (B.A.) University of Southern California (M.F.A.)
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1987–present
Style	New Queer Cinema

Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his involvement with theNew Queer Cinema movement. HisTeenage Apocalypse film trilogy, consisting ofTotally F***ed Up(1993),The Doom Generation(1995) andNowhere (1997), has been heralded as a cult classic. His filmKaboom (2010) was the inaugural winner of theQueer Palm at theCannes Film Festival.

Araki was born in Los Angeles on December 17, 1959, toJapanese American parents.^[1][2] He grew up in nearbySanta Barbara, California, and enrolled in college at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara.^[3] He graduated with a B.A. from UCSB in 1982.^[2][4] He later attended theUniversity of Southern California'sSchool of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in 1985.^[2][3][5]

Araki made his directorial debut in 1987 withThree Bewildered People in the Night. With a budget of only $5,000 and using a stationary camera, he told the story of a romance between a video artist, her sweetheart, and her gay friend.^[3][6] Two years later, Araki followed up withThe Long Weekend (O' Despair), another film with a $5,000 budget.^[3][6] His third film,The Living End (1992), saw an increase to $25,000. DirectorJon Jost lent him camera equipment and provided spare film stock.^[7] He often had to shoot his early movies spontaneously and without proper permits.^[2]

Despite the financial constraints, Araki's films received critical acclaim. He received awards from theLocarno International Film Festival and theLos Angeles Film Critics Association, with an additional nomination for aSundance Film Festival award.^[2][8]

Araki's next three movies—Totally F***ed Up(1993),The Doom Generation (1995), andNowhere (1997)—were collectively dubbed theTeenage Apocalypse trilogy.^[3] The trio has been characterized as "... teen alienation, hazy sexuality and aggression."^[9] A former student of his at UC Santa Barbara,Andrea Sperling, co-produced the films with him.^[10]

The trilogy saw Araki work increasingly with more notable actors and actresses includingRose McGowan,Margaret Cho,Parker Posey,Guillermo Díaz,Ryan Phillippe,Heather Graham, andMena Suvari among others.

The trilogy received varying degrees of reviews, from a thumbs down and "zero stars" byRoger Ebert to "Literally the Best Thing Ever" byRookie, and was eventually heralded as cult classics.^[11][12][13]

Araki's following film,Splendor (1999), was both an homage toscrewball comedies of the 1940s and 1950s and a response to the controversy surrounding his ongoing relationship (despite Araki self-identifying as gay) with actressKathleen Robertson.^[2][3] Hailed as the director's most optimistic film to date,^{[citation needed]} it made its premiere at the 1999Sundance Film Festival.^[14]

Araki's next project was the ill-fatedMTV productionThis Is How the World Ends, originally planned with a budget of $1.5 million.^[15] He viewed it as a chance to reach the masses through MTV's viewership and signed on to do the project despite the budget being cut to $700,000.^[2][15] Araki wrote, directed, and shot the pilot episode, but ultimately MTV decided against the project and the effort never aired.^[2][15]

Following a short hiatus, Araki returned in 2004 with the critically acclaimedMysterious Skin, based on the 1995Scott Heim novel of the same name.^[2] This marked Araki's first work with someone else's source material.^[15][16]

Araki's next feature was the stoner comedySmiley Face (2007), featuringAnna Faris,Adam Brody, andJohn Krasinski, written by Dylan Haggerty. It marked a stark change from the dark, heavy drama ofMysterious Skin, a change purposely planned by Araki.^[15][16] It received very favorable reviews, with some describing it as another of Araki's potential cult classics.^[15][17][18]

Kaboom marked Araki's tenth film and made its premiere at the2010 Cannes Film Festival. It was awarded the first everQueer Palm for its contribution to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues.^[19]

Araki followed that film withWhite Bird in a Blizzard (2014), which was given limited release to mixed reviews. Araki returned to television with the 2019 seriesNow Apocalypse, co-executive produced byGregory Jacobs andSteven Soderbergh onStarz.

Araki's next film, the comedy/thrillerI Want Your Sex, will starOlivia Wilde,Cooper Hoffman, andCharli XCX. The screenplay was written by Araki andKarley Sciortino.^[20]

One notable feature of Araki's work is the frequent presence ofshoegaze music. This was first seen in the soundtrack ofTotally Fucked Up, and was also substantially featured in the filmsNowhere andMysterious Skin.^[1][21] BothThe Living End andNowhere owe their titles to this shoegaze influence:The Living End afterThe Jesus and Mary Chain song of the same name, andNowhere afterRide's albumNowhere.^[22]

In 2010,Kaboom was named the first-ever winner of theCannes Film FestivalQueer Palm.^[19] Araki has also been honored with the 2006 Filmmaker on the Edge Award at theProvincetown International Film Festival.^[23] In 2013, Araki was recognized by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City with the retrospectiveGod Help Me: Gregg Araki.^[24][25][26]

Araki has previously self-identified as "a gay Asian American".^[27] However, he had a relationship with actressKathleen Robertson from 1997 to 1999.^[28][29][30] In a 2014 interview, at which time he was in a relationship with a male partner, Araki said: "I don't really identify as anything", adding "I'd probably identify as gay at this point, but I have been with women."^[31]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toGregg Araki.

• Gregg Araki atIMDb
• Young, Beautiful, and F***ed: A conversation with Gregg Araki and other members of The Doom Generation inBright Lights Film Journal

• 1959 births
• 20th-century American LGBTQ people
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century American screenwriters
• 21st-century American LGBTQ people
• 21st-century American male writers
• 21st-century American screenwriters
• American cinematographers
• American film directors of Japanese descent
• American film editors
• American LGBTQ film directors
• American LGBTQ people of Asian descent
• American LGBTQ screenwriters
• American male screenwriters
• American male television writers
• American television directors
• American writers of Japanese descent
• Film directors from Los Angeles
• Film producers from California
• LGBTQ people from California
• LGBTQ television directors
• Living people
• Television producers from California
• Television writers from California
• University of California, Santa Barbara alumni
• USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from April 2025
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from December 2014
• Commons category link from Wikidata