Todd Phillips (born Todd Philip Bunzl; December 19, 1970) is an American filmmaker. Phillips began his career in 1993 and directed films in the 2000s such as ''

Road Trip A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance Travel, journey traveled by a car or a motorcycle. History First road trips by automobile The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by the automobile took place in German Em ...

'', '' Old School'', ''

Starsky & Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired ...

'', and '' School for Scoundrels''. He came to wider prominence in the early 2010s for directing ''The Hangover'' film series. In 2019, he co-wrote and directed the psychological thriller film '' Joker'', based on the DC Comics character of the same name, which premiered at the

76th Venice International Film Festival The 76th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2019, at Venice Lido in Italy. Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel was the jury president for the main competition. Alessandra Mastronardi hosted the ...

where it received the top prize, the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...

. ''Joker'' went on to earn Phillips three

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, with his co-writer

Scott Silver Scott Silver (born November 30, 1964) is an American screenwriter and film director. Silver is best known for such films as ''Johns (film), Johns'', ''The Mod Squad (film), The Mod Squad'', ''8 Mile (film), 8 Mile'', ''The Fighter'', for which h ...

, his second, third, and fourth Academy Award nominations after also being nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for ''

Borat ''Borat'' (also known as ''Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'') is a 2006 mockumentary directed by Larry Charles, which stars Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat Sagdiyev, a fictional Kazakhs, Kazakh jou ...

'' at the

79th Academy Awards The 79th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2006 and took place February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m ...

Early life

Phillips was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City, to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. He was raised in

Dix Hills, New York Dix Hills is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP), in the Huntington, New York, Town of Huntington, on Long Island, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 26,180 at the time of the 2020 census. Hi ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. He attended New York University Film School, but dropped out because he could not afford to complete his first film and pay tuition simultaneously. Around that time, he worked at Kim's Video and Music. Phillips appeared as one of the drivers in the first season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

hidden camera

docu-series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' Taxicab Confessions''. In a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' profile, Phillips said he had gotten in trouble for

shoplifting Shoplifting (also known as shop theft, shop fraud, retail theft, or retail fraud) is the theft of goods from a retail establishment during business hours. The terms ''shoplifting'' and ''shoplifter'' are not usually defined in law, and genera ...

as a young man.

Career

Phillips's first documentary film, '' Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies'', centered on the life and death of controversial

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

rocker

GG Allin Kevin Michael "GG" Allin (born Jesus Christ Allin; August 29, 1956 – June 28, 1993) was an American punk rock musician who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. His live performances often featured transgressive acts, i ...

, while as a junior at NYU. It went on to become one of the highest grossing student films at the time, even getting a limited theatrical release. Phillips wrote a letter to convicted serial killer, John Wayne Gacy, an acquaintance of GG, asking if he could paint a movie poster for the film. Phillips stated that "Gacy is really the executive producer" of the film, having raised $10,000 from selling replicas of his artwork. Next, he co-directed with then-partner Andrew Gurland for '' Frat House'', a second documentary about college fraternities; it premiered at the 1998

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

and won the Grand Jury Prize for documentary features. It was produced by

, but never aired on its channel because many of the film's participants claimed they were paid to re-enact their activities. It was never proven either way. His third documentary '' Bittersweet Motel'' centered on the

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts and live albums substantially feature improvisational "jam session, jamming". Typically, jam bands will play variations of pre-existing songs, extending them to musical improvisation, improvise ove ...

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

, covering its summer and fall 1997 tours, plus footage from their 1998 spring tour of Europe. It ends at The Great Went, a two-day festival held in upstate Maine which attracted 70,000 people. While at Sundance with ''Frat House'', Phillips met director-producer

Ivan Reitman Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946 – February 12, 2022) was a Canadian film director and producer. He was known for his comedy films, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Reitman was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998. ...

who led Phillips into writing and directing his comedy films, ''

'' and '' Old School'', for Reitman's Montecito Picture Company. Phillips also wrote and directed the 2004 film ''

'' starring

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), ' ...

and

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has frequently worked with filmmaker Wes Anderson, with whom he has shared writing and acting credits on the films '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and ''T ...

, as well as the 2006 film '' School for Scoundrels'', starring

Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker, singer and songwriter. He received international attention after writing, directing and starring in the independent film, independent Drama (film and television), drama f ...

and

Jon Heder Jonathan Joseph Heder (; born October 26, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for his breakout lead role as the title character of the comedy film ''Napoleon Dynamite'' (2004). He also voiced the character in the Fox animated serie ...

. In 2005, ''Details Magazine'' cited

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian known for his work in comedy films. Apatow is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he wrote, produced, and directed his films ''The 4 ...

Adam McKay Adam McKay (born April 17, 1968) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. McKay began his career as a head writer for the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') from 1995 to 2001. After leaving ''SNL'', McKay co-w ...

and Phillips as "The Frat Packagers". He worked on the satirical comedy ''

'' (2006), but he resigned his position as a director in early 2005, due to creative differences. Nevertheless, he was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, mus ...

for his role in fashioning the story. After establishing Green Hat Films in 2008, Phillips directed and produced ''

The Hangover ''The Hangover'' is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips, and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. It is the first installment in ''The Hangover'' trilogy. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, H ...

''. Made for a reported $35 million, it went on to become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy up to that time. Its worldwide gross stood at $480 million on February 3, 2012. The film went on to win the

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy). It also won Best Comedy at the 2009 Broadcast Film Critics Awards. Phillips took almost no up-front salary in exchange for a large share of the film's profits, and has said that the movie's enormous success, combined with his deal, makes it "my ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

''". After a worldwide gross of $467 million, his share in the film made Phillips around $50 million. In 2010, Phillips directed, produced and co-wrote the comedy '' Due Date'', which starred

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965), also known as RDJ, is an American actor. One of the highest-grossing actors of all time, his films as a leading actor have grossed over $14 billion worldwide. In 2008, Downey was named by ''Time ...

and Zach Galifianakis. It was a box office success, grossing $211,780,324 worldwide. In the fall of 2010, production on ''

The Hangover Part II ''The Hangover Part II'' is a 2011 American comedy film produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The sequel to the 2009 film ''The Hangover'' and the second installment in ''The Hangover'' trilogy, the film wa ...

'' began in Bangkok, Thailand that Phillips directed, produced and co-wrote. The film shot for 63 days and broke various records upon its release on May 26, 2011. With the film debuting at midnight with showings in 2,600 theaters, the film earned $10.4 million, breaking the record for the biggest midnight opening for an R-rated film. ''The Hangover Part II'' went on to accrue a launch day total of $31.6 million; nearly doubling ''The Hangover''s Friday launch opening ($16.7 million). This amount broke two further records; the highest-grossing opening day for a live-action comedy and the highest-grossing opening day for an R-rated comedy film, replacing ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'' ($26.7 million). The three-day opening weekend accumulated $85,946,294—an average of $23,923 per theater—becoming the highest grossing opening weekend for a comedy film, replacing ''

The Simpsons Movie ''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' created by Matt Groening. The film was directed by series veteran David Silverman (animator) ...

'' ($74 million). For the Memorial Day four-day weekend, the film amassed $103.4 million to become the fourth-highest-grossing Memorial Day weekend opening. Finally, the film's worldwide gross of $581,464,305 beat the previous R-rated comedy record holder ''The Hangover'' to become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy film of all time (now surpassed by both ''Deadpool'' movies). He returned to direct, write, and produce '' The Hangover Part III'', which was released in 2013. It grossed over $300 million, pushing '' The Hangover Trilogy''s total box office gross to $1.4 billion. In 2016, following the successes of ''The Hangover'' trilogy, Phillips directed, produced, and co-wrote the crime film '' War Dogs'', starring

Jonah Hill Jonah Hill (born Jonah Hill Feldstein; December 20, 1983) is an American actor. List of awards and nominations received by Jonah Hill, The accolades he has received include nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, BAFTA ...

and Miles Teller. In 2019, Phillips directed, co-wrote, and co-produced an origin story film based on

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

' supervillain the Joker, '' Joker'' (2019). The script, set in 1981, was co-written by

, and the film starred

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix ( ; ; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. Widely described as one of the most preeminent actors of his generation and known for Joaquin Phoenix filmography, his roles as dark, unconventional and eccentric charact ...

in the title role. It premiered at the

and was released in October 2019. Its sequel, ''Joker: Folie a Deux'', added Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn; released in 2024, the film was also directed, co-written, and co-produced by Phillips. The film was later panned by critics and audiences. After ''Joker: Folie à Deux'' was released, Phillips spent the weekend on his ranch in seclusion. Phillips has announced that he will be producing and directing a film version of the

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955) is an American novelist, lawyer, and former politician, known for his best-selling legal thrillers. According to the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 37 ...

story ''

The King of Torts ''The King of Torts'' (2003) is a legal fiction, legal/suspense fiction, suspense novel written by United States, American author John Grisham. Doubleday (publisher), Doubleday published the first edition () in hardcover format; it immediately de ...

'' and will star

Adam Brody Adam Jared Brody (born December 15, 1979) is an American actor. His breakout role was as Seth Cohen on the Fox television series '' The O.C.'' (2003–2007). For his performance as Noah in the Netflix romantic comedy series '' Nobody Wants T ...

in title role.

Personal beliefs

When asked in a 2014 interview by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

if he believes in God, Phillips replied: "Personally I don't. But I believe there's a higher power, a collective energy in people that you might say is God." Phillips said in 2019, in the aftermath of his dark drama ''Joker'' release, that he had stopped making comedy films because of the backlash of "

woke ''Woke'' is an adjective derived from African-American English used since the 1930s or earlier to refer to awareness of racial prejudice and Racial discrimination, discrimination, often in the construction ''stay woke''. The term acquired p ...

culture", saying: "Go try to be funny nowadays... There were articles written about why comedies don't work anymore – I'll tell you why, because all the fucking funny guys are like, 'Fuck this shit, because I don't want to offend you'. It's hard to argue with 30 million people on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Filmography

Film

Documentary film Feature film Acting credits

Television

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Todd 1970 births Living people 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American male film actors American male screenwriters American comedy film directors Directors of Golden Lion winners Film directors from Brooklyn Film producers from New York City Golden Globe Award–winning producers Jewish American male actors Jewish American screenwriters Jews from New York (state) Male actors from Brooklyn People from Dix Hills, New York Screenwriters from New York City Sundance Film Festival award winners Television producers from New York City Tisch School of the Arts alumni Writers from Brooklyn Postmodernist filmmakers