Jason Woliner (born June 1, 1980) is an American director, writer and a former child actor. He is best known for being in the sketch comedy show ''

Human Giant ''Human Giant'' is a sketch comedy show starring writer/performers Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer, and directed primarily by Jason Woliner. The show ran for two seasons on MTV. In 2008, the group was offered a third season and was rep ...

'', as a non-performing member who instead worked behind the scenes as director. Woliner won a Golden Globe award for directing ''

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm ''Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'', or simply ''Borat Subsequent Moviefilm'' or ''Borat 2'', is a 2020 mockumentary Comedy film, black comedy film d ...

''.

Early life and education

Woliner attended

Pelham Memorial High School The Pelham Memorial High School is the only high school within the town of Pelham Town, New York, United States. It is part of the Pelham Union Free School District. The district (of which this is the sole comprehensive high school) includes ...

and for higher study at

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

from 1998 to 2000 before dropping out to pursue a directing career. His first acting credit was at age nine, appearing in ''

Weekend at Bernie's ''Weekend at Bernie's'' is a 1989 American black comedy film directed by Ted Kotcheff, written by Robert Klane, and starring Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman, Catherine Mary Stewart, and Terry Kiser. It tells the story of two young in ...

.''

Career

After leaving school, Woliner began making films and videos, both on his own and with comedians in New York, which led to the formation of

. The first three Human Giant videos ("Shutterbugs", "Illusionators", and the "Shittiest Mixtape Boombox Blast") caught the eyes of executives at MTV, who offered the group a pilot. The show ran for two seasons. He was the non-performing member of the comedy group

and directed the bulk of their output. After that, he directed, co-wrote, and acted as showrunner on the cult

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

series '' Eagleheart'' starring

Chris Elliott Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer known for his surreal sense of humor. He was a regular performer on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' while working as a writer there (1983–1988), created ...

. Woliner has directed episodes of

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

's '' The Last Man on Earth'',

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's '' Parks and Recreation'', and

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

's ''

Nathan for You ''Nathan for You'' is an American satirical docu-reality comedy television series starring Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder. The series was created by Fielder and Michael Koman and premiered on February 28, 2013, on the American cable televisi ...

'' and ''

Jon Benjamin Has a Van Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given". The name is spelled Jón in Iceland and on the Faroe Islands. In the Nordic countries, it is derived from Johannes. Notable people * Jon Aaraas (born 198 ...

'', among others. In 2020, he directed ''

''. He has collaborated with writer-performer

Brett Gelman Brett Gelman (born October 6, 1976) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Murray Bauman in Netflix's horror-supernatural series ''Stranger Things'' and as Martin in the BBC comedy '' Fleabag''. Gelman began his care ...

on a series of horror/comedy specials for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

. The first of these, titled '' Dinner with Friends with Brett Gelman and Friends'', aired in April 2014, and the second special, titled ''

Dinner with Family with Brett Gelman and Brett Gelman's Family ''Dinner with Friends with Brett Gelman and Friends'' is a 2014 American television special created and written by Brett Gelman and Jason Woliner for Adult Swim. The special features Brett Gelman as a demented version of himself, along with seve ...

'', aired in February 2015. The third special, ''Brett Gelman's Dinner in America'', aired in July 2016. Woliner and Gelman wrote the specials together; Gelman stars and Woliner directed. In 2020, he directed the comedy film ''

'', and won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture with

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen ( ; born 13 October 1971) is an English comedian, actor and performance artist. Known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral General Haf ...

. In 2023, Woliner directed '' Paul T. Goldman'', a hybrid documentary-comedy series for

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

Filmography

Film

Special thanks * ''Origin Story'' (2018) * '' Mister America'' (2019)

Television

References

External links

*
A.V. Club interview with Human Giant

Human Giant site
Living people 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American male child actors American male comedians American male film actors American television writers American male television writers American television directors Comedians from the Bronx Film directors from New York City Male actors from the Bronx Screenwriters from New York (state) Writers from the Bronx 1980 births {{US-film-director-1980s-stub