David Dobkin (director)

David Dobkin (born 23 June 1969)^[2][1] is an American director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the films Clay Pigeons, Shanghai Knights, Wedding Crashers, The Judge, and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

David Dobkin
Born	(1969-06-23) June 23, 1969 (age 56)[1] Washington D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Film director film producer screenwriter composer
Nationality	American
Genre	Comedy
Years active	1992–present
Notable works	Shanghai Knights Wedding Crashers The Judge Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Early life

Dobkin was born on 23 June 1969^[1] in Washington, D.C., where he attended Lafayette Elementary School,^[2] and later was raised in the suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, where he attended Walt Whitman High School.^[3]

Career

Dobkin made his music-video debut with a video clips for rapper Tupac Shakur.^[3] Fifteen more videos followed for such music groups as Extreme, Robin Zander, Sonic Youth, dada, Blues Traveler, and others.^{[citation needed]} Dobkin's music-video credits include George Thorogood's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," Elton John's "You Can Make History", and Coolio's "1, 2, 3, 4". Dobkin also collaborated with band Maroon 5 in their music videos "Sugar", "Girls Like You", "Memories" and "Middle Ground"^{[citation needed]} and an upcoming documentary film. As of 2021, no word when the film will be released.^[4][5]

After shooting television commercials,^[3] Dobkin broke into feature films with 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 next directed the comedies Shanghai Knights (2003), starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, and Wedding Crashers (2005), with Wilson and Vaughn.^[6]

Through his production company Big Kid Pictures,^[6] Dobkin both produced and directed Fred Claus (2007), starring Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, and The Change-Up (2011), starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman.^[6] He co-wrote and was an executive producer of the film adaptation of Dark Horse Comics' R.I.P.D. (2013),^[7] Dobkin directed 2014's The Judge, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall.^[8]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
1992	52nd St. Serenade	Yes	No	No	Short film
1995	Ice Cream Man	No	No	Yes
1998	Clay Pigeons	Yes	No	No	Directorial debut
2003	Shanghai Knights	Yes	No	No
2005	The Ropes	No	Executive	No	Short film
	Wedding Crashers	Yes	No	No
2007	Mr. Woodcock	No	Yes	No
	Fred Claus	Yes	Yes	No
2011	The Change-Up	Yes	Yes	No
2012	Last Call	No	Executive	No
2013	Jack the Giant Slayer	No	Yes	Story
	R.I.P.D.	No	Executive	Story
2014	The Judge	Yes	Yes	Story
2015	Vacation	No	Yes	No
	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	No	Executive	No
2017	King Arthur: Legend of the Sword	No	Executive	Story
2020	Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga	Yes	No	No
2023	Under the Boardwalk	No	Yes	Story
TBA	Untitled Maroon 5 documentary film[4]	Yes	No	No	Post-production

As himself

• Lennon or McCartney (2014)^[9]
• Here's to Life: The Story of the Refreshments (2017)

Television

Year(s)	Title	Director	Executive Producer	Notes
1995	Love Street	Yes	No	Episode: "Freudian Slip"
2005	2005 MTV Movie Awards	Yes	No	Segment: "Crashers"
2011	Friends with Benefits	Yes	Yes	Director (episode "Pilot") / Producer (13 episodes)
2013	The Gabriels	No	Yes	TV movie
2015–2019	Into the Badlands	Yes	Yes	Director (3 episodes) / Executive Producer (32 episodes)
2018	Iron Fist	Yes	Yes	Episode: "The Fury of Iron Fist"
	Sugar	Yes	Yes	Director (2 episodes) / Executive Producer (8 episodes)
2019–2022	Green Eggs and Ham	No	Yes	13 episodes (also directing consultant)
2021–present	Resident Alien	Yes	Yes	Director (episode: "Pilot) / Executive Producer
2025	Stick	Yes	No	Director (2 episodes)

Music videos

Title	Year	Artist(s)	Notes	Ref.
1993	"Keep Ya Head Up"	Tupac featuring Dave Hollister
	"I Get Around"	Tupac featuring Shock G and Money-B
	"Defense & Desire"	Blues Traveler
1994	"All I Am"	Dada
	"I Don't Know Where It Came From"	Ride
	"Street Life"	Intelligent Hoodlum
1995	"Hip Today"	Extreme
	"Bus Stops"	The Nonce
	"One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer"	John Lee Hooker
1996	"You Can Make History (Young Again)"	Elton John
	"1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)"	Coolio
	"Just the Two of Us"	Toshinobu Kubota featuring Caron Wheeler
	"Like Marvin Gaye Said (What's Going On)"	Speech
	"Banditos"	The Refreshments
1998	"Boogie King"	The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
	"I Got You Babe"	Merril Bainbridge featuring Shaggy
2015	"Sugar"	Maroon 5
2016	"Don't Wanna Know"
2018	"Girls Like You"	Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B	Original, Volume 2 and Vertical Video versions	[10][11][12]
2019	"Memories"	Maroon 5		[13]
2020	"Nobody's Love"			[14]
2023	"Middle Ground"			[15]

Commercials

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.^[16]