Damien Chazelle

American film director and screenwriterTemplate:SHORTDESC:American film director and screenwriter

* producer

**Damien Sayre Chazelle** (born January 19, 1985) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for his films *Whiplash* (2014), *La La Land* (2016), and *First Man* (2018). Chazelle's breakout *Whiplash* began as a proof-of-concept short film, which debuted at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and eventually attracted attention from financiers who helped to finance the full-length version. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival as the opening film where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic and went on to receive five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, winning three with Chazelle himself nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Soon after, he was finally able to make his dream project, *La La Land*, which was nominated for fourteen Academy Awards, winning six including Best Director, making him the youngest person to win the award at age 32. His films have received critical and commercial success. Aside from filmmaking, Chazelle has ventured into television with *The Eddy*, an eight-episode Netflix miniseries set in Paris. Chazelle's next film, *Babylon*, is set in 1920s Hollywood and will be given a limited release by Paramount Pictures on December 25, 2022, followed by a wide release on January 6, 2023.

## Early life and education

Chazelle was born in Providence, Rhode Island to a Catholic family. His father who is French, Bernard Chazelle, is the Eugene Higgins Professor of computer science at Princeton University, and was born in Clamart, France. His mother, Celia, is from an English-Canadian family based in Calgary, Alberta, and teaches medieval history at The College of New Jersey.

Chazelle was raised in Princeton, New Jersey, where, although a Catholic, he attended a Hebrew school for four years due to his parents' dissatisfaction with other local schools. Chazelle has a sister, Anna, who is an actress. Their English-born maternal grandfather, John Martin, is the son of stage actress Eileen Earle.

Filmmaking was Chazelle's first love, but he subsequently wanted to be a musician and struggled to make it as a jazz drummer at Princeton High School. He has said that he had an intense music teacher in the Princeton High School Studio Band, who was the inspiration for the character of Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) in Chazelle's breakout film *Whiplash*. Unlike the film's protagonist Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), Chazelle stated that he knew instinctively that he never had the talent to be a great drummer and after high school, pursued filmmaking again. He studied filmmaking in the Visual and Environmental Studies department at Harvard University and graduated in 2007.

At Harvard, he lived in Currier House as roommates with composer and frequent collaborator Justin Hurwitz. The two were among the original members of the indie-pop group Chester French, formed during their freshman year.

## Career

### Early work and career beginnings

Chazelle wrote and directed his debut feature, *Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench*, as part of his senior thesis project with classmate Justin Hurwitz at Harvard. The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2009 and received various awards on the festival circuit, before being picked up by Variance Films for limited release and opening to critical acclaim.

After graduation, Chazelle moved to Los Angeles with the ultimate goal of attracting interest to produce his musical *La La Land*. Chazelle worked as a "writer-for-hire" in Hollywood; among his writing credits are *The Last Exorcism Part II* (2013) and *Grand Piano* (2013). He was also brought in by J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions to re-write a draft of *10 Cloverfield Lane* (2016) with the intention of also directing, but Chazelle ultimately chose to direct *Whiplash* instead.

### Breakthrough and success

 File:Damien Chazelle directing La La Land.jpg  Chazelle initially described *Whiplash* as a writing reaction to being stuck on another script: "I just thought, that's not working, let me put it away and write this thing about being a jazz drummer in high school." He stated he initially did not want to show the script around, as it felt too personal, and "I put it in a drawer". Although nobody was initially interested in producing the film, his script was featured on Black List in 2012 as one of the best unmade films of that year. The project was eventually picked up by Right of Way Films and Blumhouse Productions, who suggested that Chazelle turn a portion of his script into a short film as proof-of-concept. The 18-minute short was accepted at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it was well-received; financing was then raised for the feature film, and, in 2014, it was released to an overwhelmingly positive critical reaction. *Whiplash* received numerous awards on the festival circuit and earned five Oscar nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Chazelle, winning three.

Thanks to the success of *Whiplash*, Chazelle was able to attract financiers for his musical *La La Land*. The film opened the Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2016, and began a limited release in the United States on December 9, 2016, with a wider release on December 16, 2016. It has received rave reviews from critics and numerous awards. Chazelle was particularly praised for his work on the film and received several top honors, including a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Director, making Chazelle the youngest director to win each award, at age 32.

Chazelle next reunited with Gosling on the film *First Man* (2018), for Universal Pictures. With a screenplay by Josh Singer, the biopic is based on author James R. Hansen's *First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong*, written about the astronaut. The film received positive reviews, with Owen Gleiberman of *Variety* writing that "Chazelle orchestrates a dashingly original mood of adventure drenched in anxiety".

Chazelle directed the first two episodes of the May 2020-released Netflix musical drama television miniseries *The Eddy*. The series is written by Jack Thorne, with Grammy-winning songwriter Glen Ballard and Alan Poul attached as executive producers. The series is set in Paris and consists of eight episodes.

### Upcoming projects

On July 15, 2019, *Variety* reported that his next film, called *Babylon*, set in 1920s Hollywood, was scheduled to be released in 2021. Chazelle was eyeing Emma Stone to star; Brad Pitt has also been rumored to have a role. On November 11, 2019, *The Hollywood Reporter* reported that *Babylon* would have a limited release on December 25, 2022, before expanding into wide release on January 6, 2023. On December 3, 2020, it was reported that Li Jun Li was cast as Anna May Wong and that Margot Robbie was in talks to replace Stone. In 2018 it was reported that Apple TV+ had given the director a direct-to-series order for an untitled drama series to be made for the streaming service, but no other information has been released yet.

## Personal life

Chazelle married producer Jasmine McGlade in 2010; they divorced in 2014. In October 2017, Chazelle and actress Olivia Hamilton, a Princeton University graduate and former McKinsey & Company consultant, announced their engagement, and the couple married September 22, 2018. They have a son who was born in November 2019.

Due to his French heritage, Chazelle is fluent in French.

## Filmography

**Film**

**Short film**

 2020

**Television**

## Accolades

**Directed Academy Award performances**

Chazelle has directed multiple Oscar winning and nominated performances.

## See also

* List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees – Youngest winners for Best Director
* dearMoon project

## References

1. ↑ Damien Chazelle | Biography, Movies, & Facts.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Damien Chazelle: Screenwriter, Director (1985–). Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks).
3. ↑ Template:Citation
4. ↑ F. Brinley Bruton (February 27, 2017). Oscars 2017: Damien Chazelle Is Youngest to Win Best Director.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Roberts, Amy (January 4, 2017). "Who's The Youngest Best Director Winner In Golden Globes History? 'La La Land' Director Damien Chazelle Could Break The Record". *Bustle*. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
6. ↑ "La La Land's Jewish composer nominated for Oscar",  *Connecticut Jewish Ledger*, January 25, 2017.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Friedman, Gabe (February 23, 2017). Oscars 2017: 7 unexpected Jewish facts. Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
8. ↑ Bernard Chazelle – Curriculum Vitae.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Eric Volmers (February 3, 2017). "La La's local connection: Calgary grandparents proud of Oscar-nominated Damien Chazelle". *Calgary Herald*. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017. Their daughter, Damien's mother Celia, is the oldest of three children and married French-American Bernard Chazelle, a professor of computer science at Princeton
10. ↑ Can Damien Chazelle and 'La La Land' Make Americans Fall in Love with Musicals Again?. *W* (December 1, 2016).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Damien Chazelle interview. The Black List (October 12, 2014).
12. ↑ Sweeney, Sarah (May 14, 2015). A movie as a mirror. *Harvard Gazette*.
13. ↑ Rottenberg, Josh (February 13, 2015). Damien Chazelle's wild, crazy ride to the Oscars with 'Whiplash'. *Los Angeles Times*.
14. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"From Harvard to 'La La Land'". *Harvard Gazette*. January 20, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
15. ↑ Phares, Heather. [[[:Template:AllMusic]] Chester French – Biography]. *Allmusic*.
16. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Tribeca '09 Interview: "Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench" Director Damien Chazelle". IndieWire. April 17, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
17. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Knegt, Peter (March 11, 2010). "Fest Fave "Guy and Madeline" Lands at Variance". IndieWire. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Ford, Rebecca (November 3, 2016). "How 'La La Land' Went From First-Screening Stumbles to Hollywood Ending". *The Hollywood Reporter*. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
19. ↑ '10 Cloverfield Lane' director explains why they changed the movie's ending (March 15, 2016).
20. ↑ 'Whiplash' Is Sundance's Hottest Film, A Music-Themed Drama Starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons. *The Daily Beast* (January 24, 2014).
21. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
22. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"'Metacritic Reviews of "Whiplash"".
23. ↑ Zeitchik, Steven (January 25, 2014). Sundance 2014 winners: 'Whiplash' wins big. *Los Angeles Times*.
24. ↑ Richford, Rhonda (September 13, 2014). 'Whiplash' Takes Top Prize in Deauville. *The Hollywood Reporter*.
25. ↑ 2015 Oscar Nominations. Rotten Tomatoes.
26. ↑ Ford, Rebecca Ford (July 9, 2015). J.K. Simmons to Reunite With 'Whiplash' Director for 'La La Land' (Exclusive). *The Hollywood Reporter*.
27. ↑ Vivarelli, Nick (June 17, 2016). Damien Chazelle's 'La La Land' to Open Venice Film Festival in Competition (en-US).
28. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Ciras, Heather (August 31, 2016). "Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's 'La La Land' gets rave reviews in Venice". *Boston Globe*. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
29. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 24, 2015). Ryan Gosling Orbiting Damien Chazelle's Neil Armstrong Movie at Universal?.
30. ↑ Kroll, Justin (December 29, 2016). Ryan Gosling, Damien Chazelle to Reteam on Neil Armstrong Biopic.
31. ↑ First Man (2018). *Rotten Tomatoes*. Fandango Media.
32. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (August 29, 2018). Venice Film Review: Ryan Gosling in *First Man*. *Variety*.
33. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Damien Chazelle Plans TV Project 'The Eddy' (Exclusive)". *The Hollywood Reporter*. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
34. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Tartaglione, Nancy (September 1, 2017). "Damien Chazelle & Netflix Have 'The Eddy' Musical Drama Series On Dance Card". *Deadline Hollywood*. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
35. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Emma Stone Eyes Damien Chazelle's Next Film 'Babylon'". *Variety*. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
36. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Brad Pitt Also Circling Damien Chazelle's Period Hollywood 'Babylon' With Emma Stone". *Deadline Hollywood*. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
37. ↑ Damien Chazelle's 'Babylon' Lands at Paramount With Brad Pitt, Emma Stone Circling (en) (November 11, 2019).
38. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Exclusive: Damien Chazelle Casts Li Jun Li as Anna May Wong in 'Babylon'". *Collider*. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
39. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Damien Chazelle Drama Scores Straight-to-Series Order at Apple". *Variety*. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
40. ↑ Lang, Brent (December 7, 2016). 'La La Land' Director's Ex-Wife Gets Last-Minute Executive Producer Credit (EXCLUSIVE). *Variety*.
41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Rossi, Madison (October 9, 2017). "La La Land Director Damien Chazelle Is Engaged to 'Love of His Life' Olivia Hamilton". *People*. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
42. ↑ Olivia Hamilton: Photos of Damien Chazelle's Girlfriend. Heavy.com (January 8, 2017).Additional on October 9, 2017.
43. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Damien Chazelle Shoots the Moon: Oscar's Youngest Best Director Grows Up With 'First Man'". *The Hollywood Reporter*. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
44. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B5akpphA682/
45. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Damien Chazelle sous le charme de Jacques Demy et Romain Duris". *Europe 1* (in French). Retrieved October 31, 2019.
46. ↑ Template:Citation
47. ↑ The Vertical Cinematography of Damien Chazelle's 'The Stunt Double' (en-US) (August 13, 2020).

## External links

* Damien Chazelle at IMDb

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