# Hiro Murai

Hiro Murai (born 1983) is a Japanese-born American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He is best-known for music videos for Childish Gambino, Earl Sweatshirt, Chet Faker and others.
He rose to prominence with his work on the FX series Atlanta (2016–2022), created by and starring frequent collaborator Donald Glover, on which he served as a director and producer. For his work on the series, he received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He would also serve as a director on four episodes on the HBO comedy-drama series Barry (2018–2023), and as a director and executive producer on the HBO limited series Station Eleven (2021–2022), the latter of which also garnered him a further Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
His music video and television work has received widespread acclaim, and garnered him a Primetime Emmy Award (for his work as an executive producer on the Hulu series The Bear) and a Grammy Award (for his work on "This Is America").

## Early life and education

Murai was born to Japanese popular music composer Kunihiko Murai. He moved to Los Angeles when he was nine years old. He graduated with a degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
After graduation, Murai turned to freelance work as the director of photography for numerous music videos, as well as VFX and storyboarding, most notably for Ace Norton. After some time Murai began to direct low budget films.

## Career

In 2013, he directed the short film Clapping for the Wrong Reasons, a companion piece for Childish Gambino's second studio album, Because the Internet, and its attached screenplay. In the same year, he created a multi-panel video set for Frank Ocean's performance at the Grammys.
Since 2016, Murai has directed several episodes of the comedy-drama Atlanta, collaborating again with Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino). For his work on the show, he has received three nominations for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.
In 2016 he directed a Nike campaign starring Chance The Rapper.
He directed the music video for Childish Gambino's "This Is America", released on May 5, 2018, which was described as "the most talked-about music video of recent memory", and which Billboard critics ranked 10th among the "greatest music videos of the 21st century." In 2019, Murai won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video for directing the video.
In June 2018, it was announced that he would direct a science fiction feature film, Man Alive, written by David Robert Mitchell.
In November 2018, the trailer for his debut feature film Guava Island, starring Donald Glover and Rihanna, premiered at the Pharos Festival in New Zealand. Guava Island was released on April 13, 2019, by Amazon Studios through Amazon Prime Video. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 74% based on reviews from 43 critics, with an average rating of 6.60/10. On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
In 2021, Murai directed the first and third episodes of the science fiction miniseries Station Eleven for HBO Max.
Murai directed the first two episodes of the 2024 action comedy drama Mr. & Mrs. Smith starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine.

## Filmography

Short film
* Clapping for the Wrong Reasons (2013)
Feature film
* Guava Island (2019)
* Bushido (2025)

### Television

| Year | Title | Director | Executive producer | Notes |
| 2016–2022 | Atlanta | Yes | Yes | Directed 26 episodes |
| 2017 | Legion | Yes | No | Episode "Chapter 6" |
| 2017 | Sea Oak | Yes | Yes | TV pilot |
| 2017 | Snowfall | Yes | No | Episode "Trauma" |
| 2018–2019 | Barry | Yes | No | 4 episodes |
| 2021–2022 | Station Eleven | Yes | Yes | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | The Bear | No | Yes | |
| 2024 | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Yes | Yes | 2 episodes |

### Music video

Director
| Year | Title | Artist | Notes |
| 2005 | "Small Apartment Party Epiphany" | Make Believe | Co-directed with Steve Drypolcher and Brandon Driscoll-Luttringer |
| 2009 | "Signs (Armand Van Helden Remix)" | Bloc Party | |
| 2009 | "Me-Time" | Busdriver | |
| 2009 | "Heartless" | The Fray | |
| 2009 | "Unbalanced Pieces" | Soulsavers | |
| 2009 | "Staying In Love" | Raphael Saadiq | |
| 2010 | "Airplanes" | B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams | |
| 2010 | "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" | Usher featuring Pitbull | |
| 2010 | "The Show Goes On" | Lupe Fiasco | |
| 2011 | "Stereo Hearts" | Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine | |
| 2012 | "Shady Love" | Scissor Sisters vs. Krystal Pepsy | |
| 2012 | "Mind Control" | Friends | |
| 2012 | "It's Only Life" | The Shins | |
| 2012 | "She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)" | David Guetta featuring Sia | |
| 2012 | "Chum" | Earl Sweatshirt | |
| 2012 | "Cheerleader" | St. Vincent | |
| 2013 | "Hive" | Earl Sweatshirt | |
| 2013 | "High Road" | Cults | |
| 2013 | "3005" | Childish Gambino | |
| 2014 | "Smooth Sailing" | Queens of the Stone Age | |
| 2014 | "Sweatpants" | Childish Gambino | |
| 2014 | "Do You" | Spoon | |
| 2014 | "Gold" | Chet Faker | |
| 2014 | "#CAKE" | Shabazz Palaces | |
| 2014 | "Never Catch Me" | Flying Lotus | |
| 2014 | "Telegraph Ave" | Childish Gambino | |
| 2015 | "Sober" | Childish Gambino | |
| 2015 | "Grief" | Earl Sweatshirt | |
| 2016 | "Take It There" | Massive Attack | |
| 2016 | "Day Ones" | Baauer | |
| 2016 | "Black Man in a White World" | Michael Kiwanuka | |
| 2017 | "Dis Generation" | A Tribe Called Quest | |
| 2018 | "This Is America" | Childish Gambino | |
| 2020 | "sad day" | FKA Twigs | |
| 2024 | "Little Foot Big Foot" | Childish Gambino | |
Director of photography
| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2006 | "Crooked Teeth" | Death Cab for Cutie |
| 2006 | "Someday You Will Be Loved" | Death Cab for Cutie |
| 2006 | "Cobrastyle" | Teddybears |
| 2007 | "Living a Lie" | Aqueduct |
| 2009 | "Submarine Symphonika" | The Submarines |

## Awards and nominations

* (2009) MVPA Award for Best Video under $25K. The Fray "Heartless"
* (2012) Best Music Video Lists: Pitchfork / BuzzFeed / Consequence of Sound / Video Static / Co.Create / NPR Music - for St. Vincent "Cheerleader" and Earl Sweatshirt "Chum"
* (2013) MVPA Best Electronic Video: David Guetta - "She Wolf"
* (2014) UKMVA Director of the Year / Best Rock / Indie Video International QOTSA for Smooth Sailing.
* (2014) Best Music Videos Lists: The Verge, Pitchfork, IMVDB, Stereogum
| Award | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| Grammy Awards | 2019 | Best Music Video | "This Is America", Childish Gambino | Won |
| Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | 2022 | Best Directing in a Streaming Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | "Wheel of Fire", Station Eleven | Nominated |
| Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | 2022 | Best Directing in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Comedy | "New Jazz", Atlanta | Nominated |
| MTV Video Music Awards | 2015 | Best Direction | "Sober", Childish Gambino | Nominated |
| MTV Video Music Awards | 2018 | Best Direction | "This Is America", Childish Gambino | Won |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2017 | Outstanding Comedy Series | Atlanta | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2018 | Outstanding Comedy Series | Atlanta | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2018 | Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | "Teddy Perkins", Atlanta | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2022 | Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | "New Jazz", Atlanta | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2022 | Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie | "Wheel of Fire", Station Eleven | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2023 | Outstanding Comedy Series | The Bear | Won |
| UK Music Video Awards | 2016 | Best Director | Himself | Nominated |