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, Queens of the Stone Age, and FKA Twigs.[2]
He received a Grammy Award in 2019 for Best Music Video for "This is America" with Childish Gambino.[3] He also received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the FX series Atlanta (2016–2022), and the HBO limited series Station Eleven (2021–2022).[4] He was a frequent director of Bill Hader's HBO series Barry (2018–2023) and executive produces the Hulu series The Bear (2022–present).
Murai was born to Japanese popular music composer Kunihiko Murai.[1] He moved to Los Angeles when he was nine years old. He graduated with a degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.[5]
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.
In 2013, he directed the short film Clapping for the Wrong Reasons,[6][7] 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.[8][9]
Since 2016, Murai has directed several episodes of the comedy-drama Atlanta, collaborating again with Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino).[10][11] 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.[12]
In 2016 he directed a Nike campaign starring Chance The Rapper.[13]
He directed the music video for Childish Gambino's "This Is America", released on May 5, 2018, which was described as "the most talked-about music video of recent memory",[14] and which Billboard critics ranked 10th among the "greatest music videos of the 21st century."[15] In 2019, Murai won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video for directing the video.[16]
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.[17] 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 74% based on reviews from 43 critics, with an average rating of 6.60/10.[18] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[19]
In 2021, Murai directed the first and third episodes of the science fiction miniseries Station Eleven for HBO Max.[20]
In June 2018, it was announced that he would direct a science fiction feature film, Man Alive, written by David Robert Mitchell.[21]
Year | Title | Credits | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Clapping for the Wrong Reasons | Director | Stars Donald Glover | [22] |
2019 | Guava Island | Director | Stars Donald Glover & Rihanna | [23][24] |
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Executive producer |
Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016–2022 | Atlanta | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directed 26 episodes; produced/executive produced 41 episodes | [10] |
2017 | Legion | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Chapter 6" | [25] |
2017 | Sea Oak | Yes | No | Yes | Amazon Video pilot | [26] |
2017 | Snowfall | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Trauma" | [27] |
2018–2019 | Barry | Yes | No | No | 4 episodes; HBO comedy series | [28] |
2021–2022 | Station Eleven | Yes | No | Yes | 2 episodes; HBO Max limited series | [29] |
2022 | The Bear | No | No | Yes | Hulu series | [30] |
Year | Title | Artist | Director | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | "Small Apartment Party Epiphany" | Make Believe | Yes | Co-directed with Steve Drypolcher Brandon Driscoll-Luttringer |
|
2006 | "Crooked Teeth" | Death Cab for Cutie | Director of photography | ||
"Someday You Will Be Loved" | Death Cab for Cutie | Director of photography | |||
"Cobrastyle" | Teddybears | Director of photography | |||
2007 | "Living a Lie" | Aqueduct | Director of photography | ||
2009 | "Submarine Symphonika" | The Submarines | 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 | [31] | |
2018 | "This Is America" | Childish Gambino | Yes | [32] | |
2020 | "sad day" | FKA Twigs | Yes |
Award | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grammy Awards | 2019 | Best Music Video | "This Is America", Childish Gambino | Won | [35] |
Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | 2022 | Best Directing in a Streaming Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | "Wheel of Fire", Station Eleven | Nominated | |
Best Directing in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Comedy | "New Jazz", Atlanta | Nominated | [36] | ||
MTV Video Music Awards | 2015 | Best Direction | "Sober", Childish Gambino | Nominated | [37] |
2018 | "This Is America", Childish Gambino | Won | [38] | ||
Primetime Emmy Awards | 2017 | Outstanding Comedy Series | Atlanta | Nominated | [39] |
2018 | Nominated | [40] | |||
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | "Teddy Perkins", Atlanta | Nominated | |||
2022 | "New Jazz", Atlanta | Nominated | [41] | ||
Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie | "Wheel of Fire", Station Eleven | Nominated | |||
UK Music Video Awards | 2016 | Best Director | Himself | Nominated | [42] |