Chris Moukarbel is an American film director, writer, producer, and contemporary artist,"Introducing Chris Moukarbel" Interview Magazine, September 29, 2010
/ref> who runs the award winning production company Permanent Wave Productions. His first feature documentary ''

Me at the Zoo "Me at the zoo" is a YouTube video uploaded on April 23, 2005, recognized as the first video uploaded to the platform. The 19-second video features Jawed Karim, one of the co-founders of YouTube, being recorded by his high school friend, Yakov ...

'' (Me @ The Zoo) premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and was acquired by HBO Documentaries. The film charts the rise of YouTube and tells the story of an early viral Internet celebrity, Chris Crocker of “Leave Britney Alone!” fame. Moukarbel was approached by Sheila Nevins to direct the Emmy nominated documentary '' Banksy Does New York'' for HBO. He is also the creator and director of the HBO series Sex On // which takes a look at sex and relationships in the Information age. It was conceived as a reboot of the classic show Real Sex. His work often explores technology and identity. Moukarbel directed and produced the award winning film '' Gaga: Five Foot Two''. It premiered at the 2017

Toronto Film Festival Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and was acquired by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. His documentary ''

Wig A wig is a head covering made from human or animal hair, or a synthetic imitation thereof. The word is short for "periwig". Wigs may be worn to disguise baldness, to alter the wearer's appearance, or as part of certain professional uniforms. H ...

'' explores the New York City drag queen scene and the drag festival

Wigstock Wigstock was an annual outdoor Drag (clothing), drag festival that began in 1984 in Manhattan's East Village, Manhattan, East Village that took place on Labor Day. Continuing, with a few gaps, until 2005, the festival would traditionally act as t ...

. It premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

on May 4, 2019, and premiered on June 18 on HBO. His first narrative feature fil
Cypher
starring

Tierra Whack Tierra Helena Whack (born August 11, 1995) is an American rapper and singer. She originally performed as "Dizzle Dizz" as a teenager but reverted to her birth name in 2017. Her debut mixtape, '' Whack World'', was released in May 2018 and recei ...

premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival where it won the award for best U.S Narrative Feature. Moukarbel produced the

Jeremy O. Harris Jeremy O. Harris (born June 2, 1989) is an American playwright, actor and screenwriter. Harris gained prominence for his 2018 ''Slave Play'', which received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Play. Harris is also known for his work in film ...

directed HBO film Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play. through his company Permanent Wave Productions. Moukarbel premiered his film The Honey Trap on Dec 6th, 2024 on Paramount+

Art

Moukarbel made art videos and contemporary art while living in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. His best know
video art project World Trade Center
was made as part of his graduate school thesis at

Yale School of Art The Yale School of Art is the art school of Yale University. Founded in 1869 as the first professional fine arts school in the United States, it grants Master of Fine Arts, Masters of Fine Arts degrees to students completing a two-year course in g ...

. Moukarbel acquired a bootleg script for a then upcoming

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

film

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

and he shot his own version using student actors. The short film was released freely on the internet as a way to pre-empt the Stone film and caused a highly publicized lawsuit by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. In
New York Times article
about the art project Moukarbel said in the interview "My film was offered free on the Internet… It cost $1,000 to produce. We're at a place now where technology allows the democratization of storytelling. Through their access and budget they're able to affect a lot of people's ideas about an event and also affect policy. I was deliberately using their script and pre-empting their release to make a statement about power." After Paramount blocked the distribution of the video it continued to be shown at Witte de With Institute of Contemporary art who refused to comply with the court order. His artwork has shown at Marianne Boesky Gallery, Air de Paris, Witte de with and Wallspace gallery among others.

Music videos

Moukarbel co-directed the REM music video Everyday is Yours to Win, The Drums, I Felt Stupid and Joan as Police Woman's Start of my Heart.

Accolades

Personal life

Moukarbel was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, to Lebanese parents and lives between

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

. He attended

Corcoran School of Art The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design (known as the Corcoran School or CSAD) is the professional art school of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.Peggy McGloneUniversity names first director of Corcoran School of the Arts an ...

and

."Introducing Chris Moukarbel" Interview Magazine
/ref> Chris Moukarbel was in a relationship with

Jake Shears Jason Sellards (born October 3, 1978), known professionally by the stage name Jake Shears, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist of New York City pop-rock band Scissor Sisters, who achi ...

, the frontman of the band Scissor Sisters from 2004-2015.

References

External links

*
Banksy Does New York

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moukarbel, Chris 21st-century American LGBTQ people Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American documentary film directors American people of Lebanese descent American gay men American LGBTQ film directors LGBTQ television directors LGBTQ film producers LGBTQ television producers