Hiro Murai
Hiro Murai | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983 (age 40–41) Tokyo, Japan |
| Alma mater | University of Southern California |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Website | hiromurai |
Hiro Murai (born 1983)[1] is a Japanese-born 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 and Queens of the Stone Age.[2] In 2013, he directed the short film Clapping for the Wrong Reasons,[3][4] 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.[5][6]
In 2016, he directed several episodes of the comedy-drama Atlanta, collaborating again with Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino.[7] 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.[8] In the same year, he directed a Nike campaign starring Chance The Rapper.[9]
On February 10, 2019, the music video for Childish Gambino's "This Is America", directed by Murai, won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video.
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 as he collaborated with Donald Glover once again.[10] 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 77% based on reviews from 26 critics, with an average rating of 6.46/10.[11] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[12]
Early life and education
Murai was born to Japanese popular music composer Kunihiko Murai (ja:村井邦彦).[1] He moved to Los Angeles when he was nine years old and later graduated with a degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.[13]
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.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Artist | Director | Other | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Small Apartment Party Epiphany" | Make Believe | Yes | Co-directed with Brandon Driscoll-Luttringer and Steve Drypolcher | ||
| 2006 | "Crooked Teeth" | Death Cab for Cutie | Yes | Director of photography | ||
| "Someday You Will Be Loved" | Death Cab for Cutie | Yes | Director of photography | |||
| "Cobrastyle" | Teddybears | Yes | Director of photography | |||
| 2007 | "Living a Lie" | Aqueduct | Yes | Director of photography | ||
| 2009 | "Submarine Symphonika" | The Submarines | Yes | 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 | [14] | ||
| 2018 | "This Is America" | Childish Gambino | Yes | [15] |
| Year | Title | Credits | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Guava Island | Director | Stars Donald Glover & Rihanna | [16][17] |
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Executive producer | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–present | Atlanta | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directed 14 episodes, produced 10 episodes, executive produced 2 episodes | [7] |
| 2017 | Legion | Yes | Episode: "Chapter 6" | |||
| 2017 | Sea Oak | Yes | Yes | Amazon Video pilot | ||
| 2017 | Snowfall | Yes | Episode: "Trauma" | |||
| 2018–present | Barry | Yes | 4 episodes | |||
| 2020 | Station Eleven | Yes | Yes | Upcoming miniseries |
Awards
- (2009) MVPA Award for Best Video under $25K. The Fray "Heartless"
- (2012) Best Music Video Lists: Pitchfork / BuzzFeed / Consequence of Sound / Video Static / Co.Create / NPR Music - for St. Vincent "Cheerleader" and Earl Sweatshirt "Chum"
- (2013) MVPA Best Electronic Video: David Guetta - "She Wolf"[18]
- (2014) UKMVA Director of the Year / Best Rock / Indie Video International QOTSA for Smooth Sailing.[19]
- (2014) Best Music Videos Lists: The Verge, Pitchfork, IMVDB, Stereogum
- (2018) MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction: Childish Gambino - "This Is America"[20]
- (2019) Grammy Award for Best Music Video: Childish Gambino - "This Is America"[21]
References
- ^ a b "Music video by Tokyo-born filmmaker wins Grammy". Japan News. February 11, 2019.
- ^ "Music Videos". www.hiromurai.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
- ^ "Other Films". www.hiromurai.com.
- ^ "Music Video Director Hiro Murai Is Donald Glover's Secret Weapon - DJBooth Article". Djbooth.net. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ Murai, Hiro (2013-02-27), Frank Ocean "Forrest Gump" Grammy Visuals, retrieved 2018-11-26
- ^ "Behind the Scenes of Frank Ocean's Grammys Performance with Director Hiro Murai". The FADER. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
- ^ a b Nguyen, Hanh. "'Atlanta': Hiro Murai Directs FX's Beautiful and Baffling Series | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
- ^ "Hiro Murai". emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
- ^ Murai, Hiro (2016-08-06), Nike x Chance The Rapper - We The People, retrieved 2018-11-26
- ^ "'Guava Island' Trailer: Watch Donald Glover & Rihanna's New Movie Trailer". Stereogum. 2018-11-25. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
- ^ "Guava Island (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 April 2019. [verification needed]
- ^ "Guava Island". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 14 April 2019. [verification needed]
- ^ "An Interview with Director Hiro Murai". www.booooooom.com.
- ^ Blistein, Jon (March 30, 2017). "Watch A Tribe Called Quest's Gorgeous 'Dis Generation' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
- ^ Kim, Michelle (March 6, 2018). "Watch Childish Gambino's Video for New Song "This Is America"". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
- ^ Guava Island, retrieved 2018-11-26
- ^ "Donald Glover and Rihanna to Star in New Movie: Watch the Trailer | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
- ^ "NEWS: 2013 MVPA Award Nominees". VideoStatic. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ "UK Music Video Awards 2014: Hiro Murai wins Best Director, DANIELS take Video Of The Year, Joseph Kahn accepts Icon Award on Promo News". PromoNews. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ Park, Andrea (August 20, 2018). "Full list of 2018 MTV Video Music Awards winners". CBS News. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
- ^ Contreras, Cydney (February 10, 2019). "This Is America Best Music Video 2019 Grammy Award Dedicated to Childish Gambino's Late Father". E! Online. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
External links
- Official website
- Hiro Murai at IMDb
- Hiro Murai at the Internet Music Video Database
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
