# Ilya Naishuller

Ilya Viktorovich Naishuller (Russian: Илья Викторович Найшуллер; born November 19, 1983) is a Russian film director and musician. He is known for directing the action films Hardcore Henry (2015) and Nobody (2021). He is also the founder of the film production company Versus Pictures and the indie rock band Biting Elbows.

## Life

Naishuller was born in Moscow, the son of a surgeon mother and a businessman father of Jewish background. From the ages of seven to fourteen he lived in London and attended a private school.
He studied at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and met several filmmakers that he would collaborate with later. Naishuller left school to pursue music. In 2008, he founded the rock band Biting Elbows as lead singer and guitarist. In 2011, he released the EP Dope Fiend Massacre and the debut album Biting Elbows.
In 2011, he directed and edited the music video for The Stampede, a song featured in Dope Fiend Massacre EP. The music video was shot entirely in POV, it also serves as inspiration and build-up for Bad Motherfucker, another music video for the hit single. It was released in 2013, quickly becoming a viral online hit, accumulating over 150 million views. The video caught the attention of Hollywood agents and talents, notably by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky.
In 2015 Naishuller directed the independent feature film Hardcore, later renamed Hardcore Henry. It stars Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett, and Tim Roth. It was produced by Timur Bekmambetov, Inga Vainshtein Smith, and Ekaterina Kononenko. It was filmed entirely in POV as well. Naishuller is credited as screenwriter, director, producer and acted as one of the people playing the titular character. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 and won the festival's People's Choice Award. It was released theatrically by STXfilms on April 8, 2016. It went on to gross $14.3 million USD, in the US. Simultaneously, a comic book was released titled "Hardcore Akan #1", written by Naishuller, Brian Phillipson, and Will Stewart. It is a prequel to the film and provides the backstory for Akan, a villain in the film.
In 2016, he directed the music video for False Alarm by The Weeknd, it stars Kristine Froseth and Damion Poitier, In 2017, he directed the music video for Kolshchik by Russian rock band Leningrad, it won the Berlin Music Video Awards in 2017, while taking the first place for the "Best Concept" category. He has also directed 3 other music videos for the band, that being Voyage, Ju-Ju, and Tsoi.
In 2021, Naishuller directed Nobody, an American action film written by Derek Kolstad. It stars Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Aleksei Serebryakov, RZA and Christopher Lloyd. It premiered as theaters in the United States were starting to reopen, following the initial COVID-19 outbreak. Nobody debuted at #1 at the US Box Office in its opening weekend.
He directed Heads of State, written by Josh Applebaum, André Nemec, and Harrison Query. It stars Idris Elba, John Cena, and Priyanka Chopra. Heads of State is currently in the post-production process, it is set to release on an unknown date.

## Filmography
### Film

Director
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2015 | Hardcore Henry | Also writer, producer, cinematographer and actor |
| 2021 | Nobody | Also actor |
| 2025 | Heads of State | Post-production |
Other credits
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2016 | The Medic | A piece from Saatchi & Saatchi's 25x25 - a collection of 1 minute shorts directed by the participants of the last 25 years of the New Director's Showcase |
| 2018 | I Am Losing Weight | Producer |
| 2020 | The Marathon of Desires | Producer and co-writer |
| 2022 | Young Man | Producer |
| 2023 | Centaur | Producer |

### Music video

| Year | Artist | Title | Director | Producer |
| 2010 | Biting Elbows | Dope Fiend Massacre | Yes | No |
| 2011 | Biting Elbows | The Stampede | Yes | No |
| 2012 | Biting Elbows | Toothpick | Yes | No |
| 2013 | Biting Elbows | Bad Motherfucker | Yes | No |
| 2016 | The Weeknd | False Alarm | Yes | No |
| 2017 | Leningrad | "Кольщик" (Kolshchik) | Yes | No |
| 2017 | Leningrad | "Вояж" (Voyage) | Yes | No |
| 2018 | Leningrad | "Жу-Жу" (Ju-Ju) | Yes | No |
| 2018 | Leningrad | "Цой" (Tsoi) | Yes | No |
| 2018 | Leningrad | "Золото" (Gold) | No | Yes |
| 2019 | Biting Elbows | Heartache | Yes | Yes |
| 2019 | Biting Elbows | Control | Yes | Yes |
| 2021 | Serj Tankian | Elasticity | No | Yes |
| 2021 | Biting Elbows | Boy is Dead | Yes | Yes |