Henry-Alex Rubin
{{Short description|American film director}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Henry-Alex Rubin
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| nationality = American
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1976|9|3}}
| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = Columbia University
| occupation = Film director, screenwriter
| years_active = 1996-present
| parents = James H. Rubin
| notable_works = Murderball
}}
Henry-Alex Rubin is an Academy Award-nominated American filmmaker and Emmy Award-winning commercial director.{{Cite web|title=Back-to-School Essentials – Sandy Hook Promise|url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/back-school-essentials-sandy-hook-promise|access-date=2021-03-02|website=Television Academy|language=en}}
Early life and education
Henry-Alex Rubin grew up in New York City as the son of a French mother and noted art historian James H. Rubin. After grade school in the city, he attended Phillips Academy in Andover for high school, and earned a double major degree in political science and film studies from Columbia University in 1995.{{cite web|url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/mar_apr06/features2.html|title=Young Lions of Cinema|publisher=Columbia College Today|accessdate=2019-02-05}}{{Cite web|date=June 2006|title=ENTERTAINMENT CENTER|url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/may_jun06/entertainment.html|access-date=July 12, 2021|website=Columbia College Today}}
Career
=Feature films=
Rubin won initial acclaim with his first feature, a documentary film titled Who is Henry Jaglom? featuring Candice Bergen and Dennis Hopper and released by PBS and First Run Features. The film won the Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Slamdance Film Festival, the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the New York Avignon Film Festival, and was a finalist at the Dallas Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://archive.pov.org/whoishenryjaglom/bio/|title=Filmmaker Bio|date=15 January 1997|publisher=PBS|accessdate=2019-02-04}}
Rubin, who was mentored by James Mangold while at Columbia University, was hired by Mangold to direct the second unit on several films including Cop Land and Girl, Interrupted.{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1286255/anti-social-networks|title=Anti-social networks|work=South China Morning Post|first=James|last=Mottram|date=July 21, 2013|accessdate=May 23, 2014}}
In 2000, Rubin returned to documentaries and produced Freestyle, which won Best Documentary at the Woodstock, LAIFF and Urbanworld Film Festivals. This was followed by him co-directing Murderball with Dana Adam Shapiro. Murderball won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for a Best Documentary Academy Award in 2005.{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/hunger-games-star-sam-claflin-to-play-soccer-legend-robin-friday-in-biopic/|title=Hunger Games' Star Sam Claflin to Play Soccer Legend Robin Friday in Biopic|date=7 May 2015|publisher=The Wrap|accessdate=2019-02-05}}
Rubin directed the 2012 feature film Disconnect, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Venice International Film Festival in 2012.{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rollo-ross/connecting-with-disconnect_b_1857816.html |title=Connecting with Disconnect | Rollo Ross |website=HuffPost |date= 6 September 2012|accessdate=2015-03-03}}
Rubin's feature, Semper Fi, starring Jai Courtney, Nat Wolff, Leighton Meister, and Finn Wittrock was released in 2019.{{cite web|author= Nancy Tartigalone|url=https://deadline.com/2018/01/semper-fi-jai-courtney-finn-wittrock-cast-nat-wolff-henry-alex-rubin-berlin-1202270253/|title=Semper Fi: Jai Courtney, Finn Wittrock, More Join Nat Wolff For Crime Thriller – Berlin|website=The Hollywood Reporter |date= January 26, 2018|accessdate=February 4, 2019}}
=Commercial work=
Since 2004, Rubin has been directing commercials for commercial production company SMUGGLER. This includes award-winning campaigns for brands such as Adidas, Gatorade, Volvo, Samsung, AT&T and Coca-Cola. Rubin directed several landmark campaigns including "Whopper Freakout" for Burger King and "Pizza Turnaround" for Domino's and was named one of the top 5 most award-winning commercial directors in the world with over 60 Cannes Lions and 5 Clio Awards over his career.{{cite web|url=http://www.moreaboutadvertising.com/2012/02/wiedenkennedy-amsterdam-and-the-bbdo-network-top-gunn-reports-2011-honours-list/ |title=Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam and the BBDO network top Gunn Report's 2011 honours list | MAA |publisher=Moreaboutadvertising.com |date= |accessdate=2015-03-03}}{{cite web |url=http://creativity-online.com/news/creativity-awards-report-2011/229657 |title=Creativity Awards Report 2011 | Awards 2011 - Advertising Age |publisher=Creativity-online.com |date=2011-10-30 |accessdate=2015-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209173615/http://creativity-online.com/news/creativity-awards-report-2011/229657 |archive-date=2014-02-09 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|title=Outstanding Commercial Nominees / Winners 2016|url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2016/outstanding-commercial|access-date=2021-03-02|website=Television Academy|language=en}}
In 2020, Rubin won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial for his work on Back-To-School Essentials, representing gun safety advocacy group Sandy Hook Promise. The spot, which debuted during the “Today” show, starts as a seemingly cheerful back-to-school commercial but then darkens with sounds of screams and gunshots. It was described as “harrowing” by the New York Times.{{Cite news|last=Hsu|first=Tiffany|date=2019-09-18|title=With Harrowing Ads, Gun Safety Groups Push a Scarier Reality (Published 2019)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/18/business/sandy-hook-promise-gun-ad.html|access-date=2021-03-02|issn=0362-4331}}
In 2022, Rubin was nominated by the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials for Sandy Hook Promise's "Teenage Dream".{{cite web |title=DGA Announces Nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television, Commercials and Documentary for 2021 |url=https://www.dga.org/News/PressReleases/2022/220126_74thAnnualDGAAwardsTelevisionNomineesAnnounced.aspx |publisher=Directors Guild of America |access-date=January 26, 2022 |date=January 26, 2022}}
Filmography
- Who Is Henry Jaglom? (1997)
- Murderball (2005)
- Disconnect (2012)
- Semper Fi (2019)
Awards
- 2015 Clio Grand Award for Burger King{{Cite web|title=Burger King – Proud Whopper|url=https://clios.com/awards/winner/545|access-date=2021-03-02|website=Clios|language=en}}
- 2017 Clio Award for Sandy Hook Promise{{Cite web|title=Sandy Hook Promise – Evan|url=https://clios.com/awards/winner/branded-entertainment/sandy-hook-promise/evan-28640|access-date=2021-03-02|website=Clios|language=en}}
- 2020 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial for Sandy Hook Promise
- 2020 Association of Independent Commercial Producers Top PSA for Sandy Hook Promise{{Cite web|title=AICP Awards – Public Service Announcement {{!}} From the Archives of the AICP Awards|url=http://www.aicpawards.com/show/cat/c/public-service-announcement/|access-date=2021-03-02|website=www.aicpawards.com}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0748066}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Henry Alex}}
Category:Film directors from New York City