David Dobkin

DAVID DOBKIN revived the hard-R-rated comedy genre when he directed the 2005 summer blockbuster Wedding Crashers, starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. The romantic comedy about two buddies who sneak into weddings to pick up women grossed more than $285 million worldwide at the box office.

Dobkin made his directing debut with the 1998 dark comedy Clay Pigeons, which marked his first collaboration with Vaughn. The film also starred Joaquin Phoenix and Janeane Garofalo. Dobkin then proved his ability to combine action and comedy in the hit film Shanghai Knights, the sequel to Shanghai Noon, which reunited Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan. In 2008, Dobkin reteamed with Vaughn for the Christmas comedy Fred Claus.

Dobkin also served as producer on the tent-pole feature Jack the Giant Killer, directed by Bryan Singer; R.I.P.D., starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges; and a reboot of the classic comedy Vacation, via his Big Kid Pictures production company.

In addition to his feature film success, Dobkin is an award-winning commercial and music video director. He was awarded a Bronze Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for directing a Sony PlayStation spot, and his commercial for the Utah Symphony was named “Spot of the Month” by Adweek magazine and was featured in Communication Arts as one of the year's best. His other commercial directing work includes ads for such clients as Heineken, which earned him honors from SHOOT magazine, ESPN, Carl's Jr., Coca-Cola, Honda and Coors Light.

Dobkin has directed music videos for such recording artists as Tupac Shakur, Elton John, Extreme, Robin Zander, John Lee Hooker, Sonic Youth, dada and Blues Traveler, to name a few. Dobkin won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance Video for Coolio's “1, 2, 3, 4.”

A native of Washington, D.C., Dobkin graduated with honors from New York University's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts in 1991, with a BFA in film and television. He began his career six years earlier as an assistant to the production manager on John Schlesinger's The Believers. While pursuing his film studies at NYU, he worked in development for Warner Bros. His NYU thesis film, 52 nd St. Serenade, won several national and international awards including a 1992 CINE Golden Eagle Award and a Gold Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career as a director.

©2011 Universal Pictures