Adam Christian Clark

Adam Christian Clark was raised in Seattle, Washington.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Clark attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.{{Cite web |first=Busra |last=Erkara |title=Tribeca: Director Adam C. Clark on 'Caroline and Jackie' |publisher=Bullett |work=Bullett Magazine |date=April 28, 2012 |url=http://bullettmedia.com/article/tribeca-director-adam-c-clark-on-caroline-and-jackie/ |access-date=October 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012211914/http://bullettmedia.com/article/tribeca-director-adam-c-clark-on-caroline-and-jackie/ |archive-date=October 12, 2012 |url-status=dead }} While still a student, he worked as a director on the CBS network television series Big Brother.{{Cite web |author=Wes |title =Director Talks: Adam Christian Clark of "Caroline and Jackie"

|work =IndiPix |date =August 29, 2012 |url =http://blog.indiepixfilms.com/uncategorized/director-talks-adam-christian-clark-of-caroline-and-jackie/}} He then worked as a roster director at Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender's production company A Band Apart,{{Cite web|first =Staff|last =Tribeca|title =Caroline and Jackie|publisher =Tribeca Film|work =Tribeca Film Guide|date =April 1, 2012|url =http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/archive/512cf68a1c7d76e046001bd8-caroline-and-jackie|access-date =July 24, 2014|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170921095720/https://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/archive/512cf68a1c7d76e046001bd8-caroline-and-jackie|archive-date =September 21, 2017|url-status =dead}} where he wrote and directed television, music videos, and commercials. Clark has worked with such artists as Kanye West, Jackie Chan, Gnarls Barkley, Lupe Fiasco, and Girl Talk.

Clark spent 2006 in Shanghai, writing and directing Mainland China's first reality television series.{{Cite web |first=Maria |last=Popova |title =PICKED: Goodbye Shanghai| publisher=Brain Pickings| work =Brainpickings.com |date =November 22, 2010 |url =http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2010/11/22/goodbye-shanghai/}} In 2008, Clark collaborated on two projects with author Charlie LeDuff: The Editor, a short film starring Richard Riehle based on LeDuff's career at The New York Times, and Bag Men, a feature screenplay written for Plan B Entertainment.{{Cite web |last=Ago |first=Alessandro |date=September 2013 |title=Caroline and Jackie |url=http://cinema.usc.edu/events/event.cfm?id=13721 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826024915/http://cinema.usc.edu/events/event.cfm?id=13721 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 26, 2013 |work=Q&A with Adam Christian Clark |publisher=University of Southern California}} In 2009, Clark returned to China to shoot Goodbye Shanghai, a short film he also wrote about Western spies working as international bankers in Shanghai. The film received several national and international festival awards.{{Cite web |last =Official Site |title =Goodbyeshanghai.com |url =http://goodbyeshanghai.com/Goodbye_Shanghai/Goodbye_Shanghai_a_short_film_by_adam_christian_clark.html |access-date =2012-10-05 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120925085151/http://goodbyeshanghai.com/Goodbye_Shanghai/Goodbye_Shanghai_a_short_film_by_adam_christian_clark.html |archive-date =2012-09-25 |url-status =dead }}{{Self-published source|date=April 2024}}

Clark's first feature film Caroline and Jackie premiered at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival, and was met with positive reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/caroline_and_jackie_2012/|title=Caroline and Jackie|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=2012-10-05}} John Anderson of Variety said, "Displaying nerves of steel and a generous heart, helmer Adam Christian Clark takes a lot of chances with Caroline and Jackie, a tale of troubled sisters that keeps the viewer off balance throughout before delivering a payoff that serves as both catharsis and absolution. While it does make demands of its audience, the cumulative emotional impact is startling".{{Cite web |last =Anderson|first =John |title = Caroline and Jackie | work=Variety|date = April 23, 2012|url = https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117947424/}} The film was theatrically released by Phase 4 Films in 2013.{{cite news |title= Phase 4 Dates 'Caroline And Jackie' |last =Yamato |first =Jen |url=https://deadline.com/2013/04/caroline-and-jackie-phase-4-release-date-467120/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=April 3, 2013}}

Clark's second feature film Newly Single, premiered in the main competition of the 2017 edition of PÖFF, and was Clark's first time acting in a feature film.{{cite web |last1=Saito |first1=Stephen |title=Interview: Adam Christian Clark on Breaking Away from Running Around in Circles with "Newly Single" |url=http://moveablefest.com/adam-christian-clark-newly-single/ |website=The Moveable Fest |access-date=15 February 2019 |date=13 December 2018}} The New York Times described the film as a dark comedy “probing the sexual and professional misadventures of a struggling filmmaker.”{{cite news |last1=Tsai |first1=Martin |title='Newly Single' Review: A Breakup Leaves a Director Directionless |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/movies/newly-single-review.html |access-date=15 February 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=4 January 2019}} The film was released in 2018 by Gravitas Ventures and, as of 2024, holds an 88% "Fresh" rating from the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.{{cite web |title=Gravitas Ventures to Release Adam Christian Clark's Relationship Drama NEWLY SINGLE |url=https://www.vimooz.com/2018/10/16/gravitas-ventures-to-release-adam-christian-clarks-relationship-drama-newly-single-32185/ |website=Vimooz |access-date=15 February 2019 |date=16 October 2018}}{{cite web |title=NEWLY SINGLE (2018) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/newly_single |website=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Fandango |access-date=15 February 2019}}

Clark's third feature film Diary of a Spy was released by XYZ Films in mid 2022. Diary of a Spy marks Clark's first foray into a genre space with mixed reviews. As of 2024, the film has a 57% "Rotten" rating from Rotten Tomatoes.{{cite web |title=DIARY OF A SPY (2022) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/diary_of_a_spy |website=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Fandango |access-date=14 February 2024}} Josh Bell from Crooked Marquee commented, "Clark seems determined to drain all possible suspense and excitement from the spy genre," while Shelagh Rowan-Legg wrote for Screen Anarchy, "Diary of a Spy takes us into this dark, dangerous world via an often neglected side door, probing this story with observations on human vulnerability and the price of exploiting it."{{Cite web |last=Bell |first=Josh |date=2022-07-12 |title=VODepths: What to See (and Avoid) On Demand This Week |url=https://crookedmarquee.com/vodepths-what-to-see-and-avoid-on-demand-this-week-45/ |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=Crooked Marquee |language=en-US}}{{cite news |last1=Rowan-Legg |first1=Shelagh |title=Review: DIARY OF A SPY, An Intimate & Provocative Thriller |url=https://screenanarchy.com/2022/07/review-diary-of-a-spy.html |access-date=15 February 2023 |work=Screen Anarchy |date=12 July 2022}}

While an undergraduate film student at USC, Clark became close friends with his professor, cinematographer William A. Fraker. Clark accredits Fraker as an influence for hard lighting and formalistic production design.{{Cite web |first=Kristin |last=McCracken |title =Camelot? It's Not| publisher=Tribeca Film|work =TribecaFilm.com |date =April 6, 2012 |url =http://tribecafilm.com/stories/512c16481c7d76d9a900094e-camelot-it-s-not|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140730045904/http://tribecafilm.com/stories/512c16481c7d76d9a900094e-camelot-it-s-not|url-status =dead|archive-date =July 30, 2014}}

Clark has attributed strong influence to the American New Wave{{Cite web |first=Karen |last=Benardello |title =Interview With The Cast And Crew Of Caroline and Jackie [Tribeca Film Festival]| publisher=WGTC|work =WeGotThisCovered.com|date =May 8, 2012 |url =https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/interview-cast-crew-caroline-jackie-tribeca-film-festival/}} film movement, and directors John Cassavetes, and Robert Altman.{{Cite web |first=Christopher |last=Lloyd |title =Caroline and Jackie|work =The Film Yap |date =July 18, 2012 |url = https://filmyap.substack.com/p/caroline-and-jackie}}

Clark's films are very character driven, and often explore themes centered around family, isolation, and modern dating.{{cite news |last1=Saito |first1=Stephen |title=Tribeca '12 Interview: Adam Christian Clark on the Savage Sisterhood of "Caroline and Jackie" |url=https://moveablefest.com/caroline-and-jackie-interview-adam-christian-clark/ |access-date=25 April 2024 |work=The Moveable Fest |date=24 April 2012}}{{cite news |last1=Tsai |first1=Martin |title='Newly Single' Review: A Breakup Leaves a Director Directionless |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/movies/newly-single-review.html |access-date=25 April 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=4 January 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Gates |first1=Anita |title=An Intervention That Goes Awry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/movies/caroline-and-jackie-directed-by-adam-christian-clark.html |access-date=25 April 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=2 May 2013}}

When asked to describe his style in a 2012 interview with IndieWire, Clark stated, "Stylistically my number one goal at all stages of production is for the narrative to always maintain the highest level of reality possible. My hope would be that the camera, the lighting, the sound, the performances, and my own ego will go as unnoticed as possible, and that you may feel, if just for a moment, that you are watching your own family interact."{{Cite web |first=Staff |last=IndieWire |title =Meet the 2012 Tribeca Filmmakers #24: 'Caroline and Jackie' Director Adam Christian Clark| website=IndieWire |date =April 13, 2012 |url = https://www.indiewire.com/article/meet-the-2012-tribeca-filmmakers-24-caroline-and-jackie-director-adam-christian-clark#}}

• Caroline and Jackie (2013)
• Newly Single (2018)
• Diary of a Spy (2022)

• The Editor: a man i despise. (2008)
• Goodbye Shanghai (2010)

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Category:Living people

Category:Film directors from Washington (state)

Category:Film directors from Los Angeles

Category:American male screenwriters

Category:USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni

Category:1980 births

Category:People from Seattle