Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

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Jonathan Dayton (born July 7, 1957 in Alameda County , California ) and Valerie Jean Faris (born October 20, 1958 in Los Angeles County , California) are an American director duo.

biography

Jonathan Dayton and his wife Valerie Faris can look back on a large number of works as directors, producers, cameramen and screenwriters - together they have already worked together on over 75 projects. Her works include: Movies, TV Programs, Commercials, Music Videos, and two feature films. The couple celebrated their first success directing and developing an MTV show featuring alternative bands - The Cutting Edge . Because of their popularity, the directing duo was hired by the music broadcaster. They directed documentaries and award-winning music clips for bands like REM , The Red Hot Chili Peppers , Jane's Addiction , The Smashing Pumpkins , Oasis , Weezer , the Ramones and for artists like Macy Gray and Janet Jackson . Dayton and Faris have won two Grammys , nine MTV Music Awards and the Director of the Year Award from Billboard Magazine for their work .

Aside from music television, they directed several episodes of the sketch series Mr. Show with Bob and David for HBO , which gave them impetus for later works. For the big screen, they produced Penelope Spheeris' music documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988) and Gift (1993), a documentary by and about the band Jane's Addiction .

In 1998, the couple helped found Bob Industries , one of the leading production companies for commercials in the United States. They then staged many spots for such renowned companies as Volkswagen , PlayStation , GAP Inc. , Target , Ikea and Apple . In 2004, Jonathan Dayton and his wife were named one of Boards Magazine's Top Ten Best Directors for Commercials.

In 2006 Dayton and Faris made a successful feature film debut with Little Miss Sunshine . The film, based on an original screenplay by Michael Arndt , focuses on a bizarre American family from the southern states who are leaving for a beauty pageant in California with their six-year-old daughter. The slightly satirical film became a huge success both in America and in Europe and grossed more than seven times its production costs with almost sixty million US dollars at the US box office alone. At the 2007 Academy Awards , Little Miss Sunshine was nominated for the Academy Award in four categories and was honored with Awards for Supporting Actor Alan Arkin and Best Original Screenplay.

Filmography

Feature films

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