Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris | |
|---|---|
 Dayton and Faris in 2006 | |
| Born | Jonathan Dayton (1957-07-07)July 7, 1957 (age 68) Alameda County, California, U.S. Valerie Faris (1958-10-20)October 20, 1958 (age 67) Los Angeles County, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television |
| Occupation(s) | Film directors, music video directors |
| Notable work | Little Miss Sunshine Ruby Sparks Battle of the Sexes |
| Children | 3 |
Jonathan Dayton (born July 7, 1957) andValerie Faris (born October 20, 1958) are a duo of American directors and producers for films andmusic videos. They started their career directing videos for such artists asRed Hot Chili Peppers,R.E.M. andthe Smashing Pumpkins. Together they directed the filmsLittle Miss Sunshine (2006),Ruby Sparks (2012), andBattle of the Sexes (2017). They also directed theNetflix comedy seriesLiving with Yourself (2019) and episodes of theHulu seriesFleishman Is In Trouble (2022).
Dayton was born inAlameda County, California, and grew up inGrass Valley, California. After graduating fromYgnacio Valley High School inConcord, California, he attended theUCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, in the late 1970s.[1][better source needed] Faris is a native ofLos Angeles and the daughter of Paula Forbes, a supervising painter, and Jim Faris, a film editor.[2] Faris met Dayton while attending UCLA as a dance student.[1][better source needed]
As a pair, Dayton and Faris have directed and produced music videos, documentaries, commercials and films. They have directed music videos for bands such asOasis,Red Hot Chili Peppers,Beastie Boys, andR.E.M. Their 1996 video for "Tonight, Tonight" byThe Smashing Pumpkins won sixMTV Video Music Awards. Another of their videos that found significant success was for the 1990Extreme song "More Than Words".[3]
They directed a number of sketches for the 1995-1998HBO sketch comedy seriesMr. Show.[3]
In 1998, they established a production company, Bob Industries. Through this company the pair directed commercials for companies such asHewlett-Packard,Volkswagen,Sony,GAP,Target,IKEA,Apple Computer, andESPN. The two directed a 1999 commercial for theVolkswagen Cabrio, titledMilky Way, whose soundtrack consisted entirely of the 1972Nick Drake song "Pink Moon", and which is credited with initiating a massive revival of interest in Nick Drake's music.[4]
They began to be offered feature films to direct at around this time; among projects that they turned down wereThe Mod Squad (1999) andBad Boys II (2003).[3]
In 2001, they began to work on the filmLittle Miss Sunshine; it was released in 2006.[3] The film won the Audience Award at the 2006 Sydney Film festival and an ovation at the 2006Sundance Film Festival, and wasnominated for anAcademy Award for Best Picture. Their directing style for the film involved a high level of improvisation to allow the actors to create organic connections to the roles.[5]
In 2006, the pair were announced as the directors of a planned screen adaptation ofTom Perrotta's novelThe Abstinence Teacher forWarner Independent Pictures.[6] In 2007 Perrotta wrote a screenplay with input from Dayton and Faris.[7] However, by 2012 they had left the project, and it was taken over by directorLisa Cholodenko.[8]
Their next film wasRuby Sparks in 2012. Dayton and Faris then directedBattle of the Sexes, about the tennis match betweenBillie Jean King andBobby Riggs, withEmma Stone as King andSteve Carell as Riggs. The film also starsElisabeth Shue,Alan Cumming, andSarah Silverman; it was released in 2017.[citation needed]
Dayton and Faris married and began working as creative partners after meeting in college. They have three children together.[1][better source needed]
Directors
Producers
 | This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
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Valerie Faris | |
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| Jonathan Dayton | |