Jonathan Dayton (born July 7, 1957) and Valerie Faris (born October 20, 1958) are a team of American film and music video directors who received critical acclaim for their feature film directorial debut, '' Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006). Later the married couple directed the romantic comedy-drama ''

Ruby Sparks ''Ruby Sparks'' is a 2012 American romantic fantasy comedy-drama film written by Zoe Kazan and directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton. It stars Paul Dano as an anxious novelist whose fictional character, Ruby Sparks, played by Kazan, co ...

'' (2012), and the biographical sports drama '' Battle of the Sexes'' (2017). Their most recent directing project is the 2019

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

comedy series, ''

Living with Yourself ''Living with Yourself'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Timothy Greenberg that premiered on October 18, 2019, on Netflix. It stars Paul Rudd and Aisling Bea. Rudd also serves as an executive producer, alongsi ...

'', starring

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame i ...

, and the 2022 Hulu series '' Fleishman Is In Trouble''.

Life and career

Dayton was born in

Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Alam ...

, and grew up in

Grass Valley, California Grass Valley is a city in Nevada County, California, United States. Situated at roughly in elevation in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, this northern Gold Country city is by car from Sacramento, from Sacramento ...

. After graduating from

Ygnacio Valley High School Ygnacio Valley High School (YVHS) is a public secondary school located in Concord, California, United States. It draws students from Concord as well as from the neighboring communities of Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill. The school opened in 1962, a ...

Concord, California Concord ( ) is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 129,295 in 2019 making it the eighth largest city in the San Francisco Bay ...

, he attended the UCLA Film School, studying film and television in the late 1970s; while there, he met Valerie Faris, a dance student and native of Los Angeles County, California, who became his wife and his partner. They have three children together. Valerie is the daughter of Paula Forbes, a supervising painter, and Jim Faris, a film editor. As a pair, Dayton and Faris have directed and produced music videos, documentaries, commercials and films. They have directed music videos for bands such as Oasis,

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

, Beastie Boys, and

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

Their 1996 video for " Tonight, Tonight" by

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Ch ...

won six

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video categor ...

s. Another of their videos that found significant success was for the 1990 Extreme song "

More Than Words "More Than Words" is a song by American rock band Extreme, released as the fifth track and third single from their second album, ''Pornograffitti'' (1990), in March 1991. It is a ballad built around acoustic guitar work by Nuno Bettencourt and ...

". They directed a number of sketches for the 1995-1998 HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show''. In 1998, they established a production company, Bob Industries. Through this company the pair directed commercials for companies such as Hewlett-Packard,

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

, GAP, Target, IKEA, Apple Computer, and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

. The two directed a 1999 commercial for the Volkswagen Cabrio, titled ''Milky Way'', whose soundtrack consisted entirely of the 1972 Nick Drake song " Pink Moon", and which is credited with initiating a massive revival of interest in Nick Drake's music. They began to be offered feature films to direct at around this time; among projects that they turned down were ''

The Mod Squad ''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III ...

'' (1999) and ''

Bad Boys II ''Bad Boys II'' is a 2003 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. The sequel to the 1995 film '' Bad Boys'' and the second film in the ''Bad Bo ...

'' (2003). In 2001, they began to work on the film '' Little Miss Sunshine''; it was released in 2006. The film won the Audience Award at the 2006 Sydney Film festival and an ovation at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and was

nominated A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...

for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Their directing style for the film involved a high level of improvisation to allow the actors to create organic connections to the roles. In 2006, the pair were announced as the directors of a planned screen adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel '' The Abstinence Teacher'' for

Warner Independent Pictures Warner Independent Pictures was an independent film division of the American film studio Warner Bros., itself a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, which then was known as TimeWarner. Established in August 2003, its first release was 2004's ' ...

.LaPorte, Nicole, and Pamela McClintock
"'Sunshine' duo in talks for next feature: Dayton, Faris may adapt 'Abstinence Teacher'"
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', 2006-12-06. Retrieved on 2007-07-07. In 2007 Perrotta wrote a screenplay with input from Dayton and Faris.Schwartz, Missy
"The Q&A: Tom Perrotta: His Novel Take on Suburban Life"

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

, 2007-10-15. Retrieved on 2007-10-20. However, by 2012 they had left the project, and it was taken over by director

Lisa Cholodenko Lisa Cholodenko (born June 5, 1964) is an American screenwriter and director. Cholodenko wrote and directed the films '' High Art'' (1998), ''Laurel Canyon'' (2002), and '' The Kids Are All Right'' (2010). She has also directed television, includ ...

. Their next film was ''

'' in 2012. Dayton and Faris then directed '' Battle of the Sexes'', about the tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, with Emma Stone as King and

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in ''The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Ca ...

as Riggs. The film also stars

Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Judson Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), '' Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), ''B ...

, Alan Cumming, and

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Silverman was a writer and performer on ''Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced '' The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 to ...

; it was released in 2017.

Filmography

Directors

* '' Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006) * ''

'' (2012) * '' Battle of the Sexes'' (2017) * ''

Living With Yourself ''Living with Yourself'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Timothy Greenberg that premiered on October 18, 2019, on Netflix. It stars Paul Rudd and Aisling Bea. Rudd also serves as an executive producer, alongsi ...

'' (2019)

Producers

* '' The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years'' (1988) * ''Gift (Jane's Addiction)'' (1993)

Videography

Directors

* "Wolves, Lower",

(1982) * " Blue Kiss (Version 2)",

Jane Wiedlin Jane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin (born May 20, 1958) is an American musician and singer, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of the new wave band The Go-Go's. She has also had a successful solo career. The Go-Go's w ...

(1986) * " Been Caught Stealing", Jane's Addiction (1990) * " Hole Hearted", Extreme (1991) * "

", Extreme (1991) * " Weight of the World", Ringo Starr (1992) * " Bad Luck",

Social Distortion Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness (lead vocals, lead guitar), Jonny Wickersham (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Brent Harding (bass, backing voca ...

(1992) * "

Pets A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...

", Porno for Pyros (1993) * "

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

(1994) * "Gun",

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yama ...

(1994) * "I Don't Want to Grow Up", Ramones (1995) * "

Tongue The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste ...

(1995) * " Star 69",

(1995) * " The Good Life",

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

(1996) * "

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

(1996) * " Tonight, Tonight",

(1996) * " Spider-Man", Ramones (1996) * " All Around the World", Oasis (1997) * "

The End Is the Beginning Is the End "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" is a Grammy Awards of 1998, Grammy Award-winning song by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. Released as a single by the Smashing Pumpkins in the aftermath of their 1995 album ''Mellon Col ...

(1997; co-directed with

Joel Schumacher Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designer. H ...

) * " Perfect",

(1998) * " She Will Have Her Way",

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician who is known for being a member of Crowded House, Split Enz (which he co-fronted with brother Tim), and Fleetwood Mac. Finn rose to prominence in the late ...

(1998) * " Go Deep", Janet Jackson (1998) * " Barbarella",

Scott Weiland Scott Richard Weiland (; né Kline, October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. During a career spanning three decades, Weiland was best known as the lead singer of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from ...

(1998) * " She's Got Issues",

The Offspring The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guit ...

(1999) * " Freak on a Leash",

KoЯn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 by ...

(1999; co-directed with

Todd McFarlane Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic book creator, artist, writer, filmmaker and entrepreneur, best known for his work as the artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horro ...

and Graham Morris) * " Road Trippin'",

(2000) * "

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word) ''Californication'' is a portmanteau of California and fornication, appearing in ''Time'' on May 6, 1966 and written about on August 21, 1972, additionally seen on bumper stickers in the U.S. ...

(2000) * "

Otherside "Otherside" is a song by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was released as the third single from their seventh studio album, ''Californication'' (1999), and confronts the battles addicts have with their prior addictions. The track was ...

(2000) * " Sexual Revolution",

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday. Gray ha ...

(2001) * " Sing", Travis (2001) * "

Side Side or Sides may refer to: Geometry * Edge (geometry) of a polygon (two-dimensional shape) * Face (geometry) of a polyhedron (three-dimensional shape) Places * Side (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, Greece * Side (Caria), a town of an ...

", Travis (2001) * "When Your Eyes Say It", Britney Spears (2001) (unreleased) * " The Zephyr Song",

(2002) * " By the Way",

(2002) * " Tell Me Baby",

(2006)

Executive producers

* " Thirty-Three",

(1996) * "

The New Pollution "The New Pollution" is a song by American musician Beck, released as the third single from his fifth album, ''Odelay'' (1996). It samples the song "Venus" by Joe Thomas. In the US, the song peaked at number 78 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and num ...

", Beck (1997)

Producers

* "In My Darkest Hour", Megadeth (1988) * " Hole Hearted", Extreme (1991) * "

", Extreme (1991) * " Outshined",

(1991)

Live action directors

* " Shadrach", Beastie Boys (1989)

Awards

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

Award nomination for ''Little Miss Sunshine'' (Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures) * BAFTA nomination for ''Little Miss Sunshine'' (David Lean Award for Direction) *

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

for ''Little Miss Sunshine'' (Director) * Best Director at

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

for ''Little Miss Sunshine'' * ANDY Award for Sony PlayStation "Gravity Bomb" (Advertising Club of New York) * Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando "Gravity Bomb" (Clio Award) * Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando campaign: "Gravity Bomb / Tractor Beam" (2004 Winner Advertising Club of New York) * Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando campaign: "Gravity Boots, Gravity Bomb, Tractor Beam" (Clio Award) * Best Rock Video, "By the Way" (

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online votin ...

, 2003) * Director of the Year (Billboard Music Award, 2000) * Best Direction, "Californication" (MTV Video Music Awards) * 9 Nominations for "Freak On A Leash" (MTV Video Music Awards) * 4 Nominations for The Smashing Pumpkins "The End Is The Beginning Is The End" (MTV Video Music Awards) * 5 Nominations for "Californication" (MTV Video Music Awards) * Best Short Form Video, "Freak On A Leash" (Grammy Awards) * Nomination for Oasis "All Around the World" (Grammy Awards) * Nomination for The Smashing Pumpkins "Tonight Tonight" (Grammy Awards) * 6 Awards for The Smashing Pumpkins "Tonight Tonight" (MTV Video Music Awards) * Best Alternative Video for The Smashing Pumpkins "1979" (MTV Video Music Awards) * 3 Nominations for Porno for Pyros "Pets" (MTV Video Music Awards) * Best Alternative Video for Jane's Addiction "Been Caught Stealing" (MTV Video Music Awards) * Best Longform Video for Janet Jackson "Rhythm Nation 1814" (Grammy Awards)

References

External links

* * * and
Bob Industries official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dayton, Jonathan, And Valerie Faris American music video directors César Award winners Filmmaking duos Grammy Award winners Independent Spirit Award for Best Director winners Living people Married couples People from Grass Valley, California Film directors from California UCLA Film School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)