Damien Chazelle | |
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.jpg) Chazelle in 2014 | |
| Born | Damien Sayre Chazelle[1] (1985-01-19)January 19, 1985 (age 40) Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Citizenship |
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| Alma mater | Harvard University (BA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2008–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Bernard Chazelle Celia Chazelle |
| Awards | Full list |
| Signature | |
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Damien Sayre Chazelle (/ʃəˈzɛl/; born January 19, 1985)[2] is an American filmmaker.[3] He directed the psychological dramaWhiplash (2014), the musical romanceLa La Land (2016), the biographical dramaFirst Man (2018), and the period black comedyBabylon (2022).
ForWhiplash, he was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. His biggest commercial success came withLa La Land, which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards, winning six includingBest Director, making him theyoungest person to win the award at age 32.[4][5]
Chazelle was born inProvidence, Rhode Island[2] to a Catholic family.[6][7] His French-American father,Bernard Chazelle, is the Eugene Higgins Professor ofcomputer science atPrinceton University.[8] His mother,Celia Chazelle,[9] is from an English-Canadian family based inCalgary,Alberta, and teaches medieval history atThe College of New Jersey.[10]
Chazelle was raised inPrinceton, New Jersey, where, although a Catholic, he attended aHebrew school for four years due to his parents' dissatisfaction with his religious education at a church Sunday school.[7]
Chazelle has a sister,Anna Chazelle,[11] who is an actress.[9] Their English-born maternal grandfather, John Martin, is the son of stage actress Eileen Earle.[9]
Filmmaking was Chazelle's first love, but he subsequently wanted to be a musician and struggled to make it as a jazz drummer atPrinceton High School. He has said that he had an intense music teacher in the Princeton High School Studio Band, who was the inspiration for the character of Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons) in Chazelle's breakout filmWhiplash. Unlike the film's protagonist Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), Chazelle stated that he knew instinctively that he never had the talent to be a great drummer and after high school, pursued filmmaking again.[12] He studied filmmaking in the Visual and Environmental Studies department atHarvard University and graduated in 2007.[13][14]
At Harvard, he lived inCurrier House as roommates with composer and frequent collaboratorJustin Hurwitz.[15] The two were among the original members of the indie-pop groupChester French, formed during their freshman year.[16]
Chazelle wrote and directed his debut feature,Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, as part of his senior thesis project with classmate Justin Hurwitz at Harvard.[17] The film premiered atTribeca Film Festival in 2009 and received various awards on the festival circuit, before being picked up by Variance Films for limited release and opening to critical acclaim.[18]
After graduation, Chazelle moved to Los Angeles with the ultimate goal of attracting interest to produce his musical romantic dramaLa La Land.[19] He worked as a freelance writer in Hollywood; among his writing credits areThe Last Exorcism Part II (2013) andGrand Piano (2013). He was also brought in byJ. J. Abrams'Bad Robot to re-write a draft of10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) with the intention of also directing, but Chazelle ultimately chose to directWhiplash instead.[20]
Chazelle initially describedWhiplash as a writing reaction to being stuck on another script: "I just thought, that's not working, let me put it away and write this thing about being a jazz drummer in high school." He stated he initially did not want to show the script around, as it felt too personal, and "I put it in a drawer".[12] Although nobody was initially interested in producing the film,[21] his script was featured onThe Black List in 2012 as one of the best unmade films of that year. The project was eventually picked up by Right of Way Films andBlumhouse Productions, who suggested that Chazelle turn a portion of his script into a short film as proof-of-concept. The 18-minute short was accepted at the 2013Sundance Film Festival, where it was well-received;[22] financing was then raised for the feature film, and, in 2014, it was released to a positive critical reaction.[23]Whiplash received numerous awards on the festival circuit[24][25] and earned fiveOscar nominations, includingBest Adapted Screenplay for Chazelle, winning three.[26] Thanks to the success ofWhiplash, Chazelle was able to attract financiers for his musical romantic dramaLa La Land.[19] The film opened theVenice International Film Festival on August 31, 2016, and began a limited release in the United States on December 9, 2016, with a wider release on December 16, 2016.[27][28] It received universal acclaim and numerous awards.[29] Chazelle received praise for his work on the film and received several top honors, including aGolden Globe and anAcademy Award for Best Director, making Chazelle the youngest director to win each award, at age 32.[5] A stage musical adaptation of the film is in development, withAyad Akhtar andMatthew Decker adapting from Chazelle's script and Hurwitz,Benj Pasek andJustin Paul returning as songwriters after winning Golden Globes and Academy Awards forthe score and original song "City of Stars".Marc Platt, another collaborator of Chazelle who produced this film andBabylon, will also return to produce the stage adaptation.[30]
Chazelle next directed thebiographical dramaFirst Man (2018) forUniversal Pictures. With a screenplay byJosh Singer, the biopic is based on authorJames R. Hansen'sFirst Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, written aboutthe astronaut.[31][32] The film starredRyan Gosling asNeil Armstrong andClaire Foy as Janet Armstrong. The film received positive reviews,[33] withOwen Gleiberman ofVariety writing that "Chazelle orchestrates a dashingly original mood of adventure drenched in anxiety".[34] It earned fourAcademy Award nominations forBest Production Design,Best Sound Editing, andBest Sound Mixing, winning forBest Visual Effects at the91st Academy Awards.[35]
In December 2019, he listed the films that inspired him forLaCinetek, a French streaming platform that collects lists of favorite films from filmmakers.[36] Featuring 64 films, his selection[37] includes works byJacques Demy (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg),Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut,Barry Lyndon), andRichard Linklater (Before Sunset).
Chazelle directed the first two episodes of the May 2020-releasedNetflix musical drama television miniseriesThe Eddy.[38][39] The series is written byJack Thorne, with Grammy-winning songwriterGlen Ballard andAlan Poul attached as executive producers. The series starredAndré Holland andJoanna Kulig and was set inParis consisting of eight episodes.[40]
In July 2019,Variety reported that his next film, calledBabylon, set in 1920s Hollywood, was scheduled to be released in 2021, co-produced by his wife,Olivia Hamilton. Chazelle was eyeingEmma Stone to star;[41] In December 2020, it was reported thatMargot Robbie was in talks to replace Stone.[42]The Hollywood Reporter reported thatBabylon would have a limited release on December 25, 2022, before expanding into wide release on January 6, 2023.[43] The film's final cast includedMargot Robbie,Brad Pitt,Li Jun Li,Jovan Adepo andJean Smart. The film was abox office bomb receiving $4.5 million opening weekend. Many industry experts predicted that the film would need to make $250 million just to break even against its $80 million budget and marketing costs.[44] The film received polarizing reviews.[45] Manhola Dargis ofThe New York Times wrote, "Throughout this disappointing movie, what's missing is the one thing that defined the silent era at its greatest and to which Chazelle remains bafflingly oblivious: its art."[46] At the same time,Wall Street Journal film critic Kyle Smith called the movie "one of the year's most ambitious and impressive works."[47]
In December 2022, Chazelle and Hamilton signed afirst-look deal withParamount Pictures.[48] In April 2024, it was reported that Chazelle would produce his next film, a prison drama set for release in 2025, alongside his wife Hamilton under their Wild Chickens Productions banner.[49][50][51] In December 2024, it was reported that Chazelle's next film would instead be a biopic aboutEvel Knievel, withLeonardo DiCaprio andAdrien Brody in talks to star, from a script byWilliam Monahan.[52] However, once production plans were on pause as DiCaprio weighed up his involvement, Chazelle pivoted back to working on the prison drama.[53]
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Chazelle married producer Jasmine McGlade in 2010; they divorced in 2014.[54][55] In October 2017, Chazelle and actressOlivia Hamilton, aPrinceton University graduate and formerMcKinsey & Company consultant, announced their engagement,[55][56] and they married September 22, 2018.[57] They have a son who was born in November 2019.[58] Their second child was born in December 2022.[59] Chazelle is fluent in French.[60][61]
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench[a] | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2011 | Maria My Love | No | No | Co-producer |
| 2013 | The Last Exorcism Part II | No | Yes | No |
| Grand Piano | No | Yes | No | |
| 2014 | Whiplash | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2016 | 10 Cloverfield Lane | No | Yes | No |
| La La Land | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2018 | First Man | Yes | No | Yes |
| 2022 | Babylon | Yes | Yes | No |
| TBA | Heart of the Beast | No | No | Yes |
Short film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Day and Night | No | No | No | Cinematographer |
| 2013 | Whiplash | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2016 | Surrogate | No | No | Yes | |
| 2020 | The Stunt Double[62] | Yes | No | No | |
| 2021 | Perfetto. Espresso Made Right[63] | Yes | No | No | |
| After Laughter | No | No | Associate | ||
| 2024 | Cartier: A Season Tale[64] | Yes | No | No |
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Executive Producer | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | The Eddy | Yes | Yes | 2 episodes |
| Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
| 2014 | Whiplash | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2016 | La La Land | 14 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| 2018 | First Man | 4 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2022 | Babylon | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |
| Total | 26 | 10 | 26 | 9 | 15 | 10 | |
Their daughter, Damien's mother Celia, is the oldest of three children and married French-American Bernard Chazelle, a professor of computer science at Princeton
