Jody Hill

Jody Hill (born October 15, 1976) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2006, he directed, co-wrote, co-produced and co-starred in his first film The Foot Fist Way, which he based on his experience as a Taekwondo black belt and instructor. His follow-up film, Observe and Report, stars Seth Rogen and was released on April 10, 2009.[1] Hill is also co-creator, director and executive producer of the HBO series Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals, and The Righteous Gemstones.[2]

Jody Hill
Born	(1976-10-15) October 15, 1976 Concord, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation	Film director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	2006–present
Spouse(s)	Collette Wolfe (m. 2012; div. 201?)

Career

Hill's first film, The Foot Fist Way, was seen by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay who bought the distributing rights to the film. Subsequently, Hill was invited to the set of Knocked Up where he met future collaborator, Seth Rogen. Hill was asked to do a cameo appearance with writing partner Ben Best in Rogen's next film, Superbad, as Tut Long John Silver. Hill later cast Rogen as the leading man in his film, Observe and Report, which opened at number 4 at the box office. The role of Ronnie was written specifically for Rogen.

In 2009, Hill directed The Avett Brothers music video "Slight Figure of Speech," which featured Wolfe and Andy Daly. The following year he directed the parody music video Swagger Wagon as part of ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi's campaign for the Sienna SE minivan from Toyota.[3][4]

In 2009, Hill co-created the HBO show Eastbound & Down, on which he acted as Executive Producer and directed a total of 16 episodes. The show finished its fourth and last season in 2013.[2]

Hill's next film, L.A.P.I.,[5] was announced as an action comedy about a hardboiled private investigator, played by friend and frequent collaborator Danny McBride. It is the first film Hill would direct but not write. It is also the first film produced by Hill's, McBride's and David Gordon Green's production company, Rough House Pictures. In 2014, Hill and McBride created and began preparing the comedy series Vice Principals for HBO.

In 2019 (presently), Hill has directed 3 episodes of The Righteous Gemstones. He has also acted in 6 episodes as Levi. In this comedy, he acts with McBride.

Personal life

Hill is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.[6] As of 2009, Hill was in a long term relationship, from at least 2008, with actress Collette Wolfe, who appeared in his movies Observe and Report and The Foot Fist Way.[7] The couple eventually married in 2012 in Cabo San Lucas,[8] but have since divorced.

Filmography

Year	Film	Credited as
		Director	Writer	Producer	Actor	Notes
2018	The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter	Yes	Yes	Yes		Executive producer
2009	Observe and Report	Yes	Yes
2007	Superbad				Yes	Tut Long John Silver
2006	The Foot Fist Way	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Mike McAlister

Television

Year	Program	Credited as
		Director	Writer	Producer	Actor	Notes
2009	Eastbound and Down	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Also Creator Executive Producer
	Real Comedy: Observe and Report				Yes	Himself
2016	Vice Principals	Yes	Yes	Yes		Also Creator Executive Producer
2019	The Righteous Gemstones	Yes		Yes	Yes	Executive Producer

References

1. Seth Rogen's New Movie "Observe and Report"
2. Eastbound & Down’s Most Cringeworthy Moments - Vulture
3. Fwdlabs.com
4. Toyota: Swagger Wagon - Video - Creativity Online]
5. Danny McBride to Star in Jody Hill's L.A.P.I. - /Film
6. Dave Itzkoff, "Jody Hill, Director of 'Observe and Report' - Auteur of Awkward," The New York Times, April 2, 2009.
7. Tully, Michael (September 23, 2009). "A Conversation With Jody Hill ('Observe and Report')". HammerToNail.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
8. Stephenson, Hunter (September 29, 2013). "Bring It on Home". Vice Media. Retrieved November 3, 2018.

External links

• Jody Hill on IMDb
• Vice on Jody Hill, Danny McBride and Eastbound and Down