Nationality American Role Film director Alma mater New York University Spouse Megan Wolpert | Genre Comedy Siblings Jill Dobkin Name David Dobkin | |
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Born June 23, 1969 (age 54)
Washington, D.C., U.S. ( 1969-06-23 ) Occupation Film director
producer
screenwriter
Composer Notable works Clay Pigeons
Shanghai Knights
Wedding Crashers
The Judge Education Walt Whitman High School (1987), Tisch School of the Arts, New York University Nominations BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Comedy Movies The Judge, Wedding Crashers, The Change‑Up, Shanghai Knights, Fred Claus Similar People Robert Duvall, Jeremy Strong, Vince Vaughn, Vera Farmiga, Scott Moore | ||
David Dobkin (born June 23, 1969) is an American film director, producer and former screenwriter. He is best known for directing the films Clay Pigeons, Shanghai Knights, Wedding Crashers, and The Judge.
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Early life
Dobkin was born in Washington, D.C., and attended Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree graduated with honors from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in Film & Television in 1991.
Career
Dobkin helmed his first feature film, Clay Pigeons, for Scott Free, the first film produced at Ridley and Tony Scott's production company that they did not direct. The black comedy about a series of small-town murders starred Vince Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix and Janeane Garofalo, and was distributed by Gramercy Pictures. Dobkin followed the film by directing the hit comedy Shanghai Knights starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson.
Dobkin has directed commercials for clients such as ESPN, Heineken (which earned him honors from SHOOT magazine), Carl's Jr., Coke, Honda, Coors Light and Sony PlayStation (which won a Bronze Lion at Cannes). His spots for the Utah Symphony were named "Spot of the Month" by Adweek Magazine and featured as the year's best in Communication Arts Magazine. Dobkin's music video credits include George Thorogood's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," Elton John's "You Can Make History", Coolio's "1, 2, 3, 4" (MTV best dance video award) and Maroon 5's "Sugar" & "Don't Wanna Know", to name a few.
Quickly attracting the attention of several music labels, Dobkin made his music video debut with two video clips from rapper Tupac Shakur, both of which turned Platinum. Fifteen more videos followed in quick succession for such diverse music groups as Extreme, Robin Zander, Sonic Youth, dada, Blues Traveler, and others.
Dobkin produced the film adaption of the Dark Horse comic Rest in Peace Department and helmed the comedy film The Change-Up starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman. He directed 2014's The Judge, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall. He also served as producer of the film through Big Kid Pictures, his production company.
Personal life
Dobkin married Megan Wolpert, a former film and television executive and daughter of screenwriter/producer Jay Wolpert.