Zach Braff

Zach Braff has distinguished himself from his peers—not only as an actor, but as a writer and director. With his feature writing and directorial debut, Garden State, Zach Braff reveals himself in all three capacities—acting, writing and directing. Braff plays the lead role of Andrew Largeman among a cast which includes Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Ian Holm and Method Man. With a budget of only $2.5 million, the film premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where it sold for $5 million in an unprecedented sale to two studios, Fox Searchlight and Miramax. The film garnered numerous awards.

On the writing side, Braff received a coveted WGA nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The film earned him an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature as well as a nomination for Best First Screenplay. In addition, Braff was awarded Best Directorial Debut by the National Board of Review, Breakthrough Director by the Hollywood Film Festival and Most Promising Filmmaker by the Chicago Film Critics Association. With his hand-picked soundtrack including songs by Simon and Garfunkel, Coldplay and Frou Frou, Braff has also won a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, TV or Other Visual Media. The album has sold over a million copies.

Braff returns to the stage in the Second City Theaters' original comedy Trust written by Paul Weitz and directed by Peter DuBois. The dark comedy also stars Bobby Cannavale and Sutton Foster. As an actor, Braff was nominated for a 2005 Primetime Emmy Award and a 2005, 2006 and 2007 Golden Globe award for his portrayal of Dr. John J.D. Dorian in NBC's comedy Scrubs. His filmography includes roles in The Broken Hearts Club, Getting to Know You and MAanhattan Murder Mystery in which he plays Woody Allen and Diane Keaton's son. Braff's stage experience includes New York City's Public Theater productions of Twelfth Night and Macbeth with Alec Baldwin and Angela Bassett.

Braff was co-writing with his brother Adam an adaptation of the children's book, Andrew Henry's Meadow, which he also executive produced. He can be heard as the voice of the title character in Disney's much-anticipated 3-D animated film Chicken Little. He also starred in Dreamworks' The Last Kiss and The Weinstein Company's The Ex. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Northwestern University's film program, Braff studied theater acting while writing and directing his own short films.

Tribeca Film