American filmmaker Mark Romanek directed his first music video in 1986, for The The's "Sweet Bird of Truth". He earned his first MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction nomination for "Free Your Mind", performed by En Vogue, in 1993. Romanek later directed "Closer" for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, which contains imagery involving terror, sexuality, and animal cruelty. In 1995, he directed the video for "Scream", set in space and performed by Michael and Janet Jackson, as well as the New Age surrealistic "Bedtime Story", performed by Madonna. They are two of the most expensive music videos ever made, costing $7 million and $5 million, respectively. "Scream" gained 11 nominations at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, including Romanek's second Best Direction nomination, and his first Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form.
In 1996, Romanek directed the Mary Poppins-inspired "Novocaine for the Soul" for the rock band Eels. The following year, he directed Fiona Apple's "Criminal", which explores themes of voyeurism and adolescence; and won his second Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Got 'til It's Gone", performed by Janet Jackson, Q-Tip and Joni Mitchell. For his work in "Hurt" (2003), performed by Johnny Cash, Romanek earned another MTV nomination, and won his third Grammy. In 2004, he directed the auto-biographical music video for Jay-Z's "99 Problems", for which he won his first MTV award. Their subsequent collaborations—the installation-style 10-minute short film for "Picasso Baby" (2013), and the animation video for "The Story of O.J." (2017)—were nominated for Grammy Award for Best Music Video.
Romanek made his feature-film directorial debut with the 1986 comedy-drama feature Static, which was nominated for Grand Jury Prize at the 1986 Sundance Film Festival. He received a Saturn Award for Best Writing nomination for his work in the psychological thriller One Hour Photo (2002), which starred Robin Williams. In 2010, he directed the romantic drama film Never Let Me Go, starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield, for which he was nominated for British Independent Film Award for Best Director. Romanek also directed several commercials for iPod, Nike, and ESPN.
Music videos Title Year Artist(s) Notes "Sweet Bird of Truth" 1986 The The Also editor "Madonna of the Wasps"1989Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians "One Long Pair of Eyes" "Love Under New Management" "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)"1990 "You Don't Have to Worry" En Vogue "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)"1991 De La Soul "Love Conquers All" ABC "Wicked as It Seems"1992 "Moira Jane's Café" Definition of Sound "What You Do to Me" Teenage Fanclub "Constant Craving" "Free Your Mind" En Vogue "Are You Gonna Go My Way"1993 "Rain" Madonna "Jump They Say" "Black Tie White Noise" "Is There Any Love in Your Heart" "Beside You"1994 Iggy Pop "Closer" Nine Inch Nails "Cold Beverage" G. Love & Special Sauce "Bedtime Story"1995 Madonna "Strange Currencies" R.E.M. "Scream" featuring Janet Jackson Also writer"Little Trouble Girl"1996 Sonic Youth "Novocaine for the Soul" Eels "El Scorcho" Weezer "Devils Haircut" Beck "" 1997 Nine Inch Nails "Criminal" "Got 'til It's Gone" featuring Q-Tip & Joni Mitchell "If You Can't Say No" 1998 "Do Something"1999 "I Try" "Sleepwalker" 2000 "God Gave Me Everything" 2001 "Hella Good"2002 No Doubt "Cochise" Audioslave "Hurt"2003 "Can't Stop" Red Hot Chili Peppers "Faint" Linkin Park "99 Problems" 2004 Jay-Z "Speed of Sound" 2005 Coldplay "Picasso Baby" 2013 Jay-Z Short film"Invisible"2014U2 "Shake It Off" "Sandcastles" 2016 Beyoncé Additional director"Can't Stop the Feeling!" "" 2017 Jay-Z Co-directed with Jay-Z"Adnis" "Filthy" 2018 "Rescue Me" Thirty Seconds to Mars
Film
Title Year Credit Notes Stony Island 1978 Second assistant cameraman Home Movies 1979 Second assistant director Static 1985 Director and co-writer Feature directorial debut Inside Out IV 1992 Writer Segment: "My Cyberian Rhapsody" One Hour Photo 2002 Director and writer Bee Season 2006 Executive producer Never Let Me Go 2010 Director The Vampire Attack Still photographer Short film Object Permanence 2024 Director and writer Short film
Documentary appearances The Work of Director Mark Romanek (2005) Out of Print (2014) Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018) Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018) Arianne Phillips: Dressing the Part (2019) The Last Days of Edward Gorey (TBA)
Television
Title Year Credit Episode Locke & Key2011 Director Unaired television pilot2015 Co-director and executive producer "X Marks the Spot"Vinyl2016 Director "Whispered Secrets"Tales from the Loop2020 Director and executive producer "Loop"
Commercials Company / Brand Year Title Cirque du Soleil 1992 "Portraits" Nike 1997 "9000" CKOne 1998 "Danny" CKOne "Anna"Elizabeth Arden2003"ardenbeauty"Acura2004"Dance"American Express"Beautiful Things" ESPN"Makeshift" ESPN"Kissing" ESPN"Taking the Field" iPod"Vertigo"Nike"Tell Me"Saturn"Door Music" ESPN2005"Nothing to Say" ESPN"Without Sports"Grey Goose"VIP" iPod"Detroit"UPS"Oracle"UPS"You/They"Acura2006"TechnoTraction"Acura"TurboTravel"Acura"TechnoWorship" iPod"iPod Shuffle" iPod"The Audience Is Listening" iPod"Quartet" iPod"Love Train"Nikon"Kate"Cadillac"Sun"Motorola"Rick Rubin"Motorola"Chester Bennington"Motorola"Kanye West" iPod2007"Island" iPod"Mary J. Blige"Honda"Hondamentalism" iPod2008"Gamma" iPod"Gamma (Online case)"Jeep"Grand Ol' Opera"Nike"Simple Math"Nike"Take Over"iTunes"Coldplay Sonic"Nike2009"" iPod2010"New Way To Nano"Dodge"Man's Last Stand"Heineken"Boss' Daughter"Delta Air Lines"Keep Climbing"Delta Air Lines"Human Factor"H&R Block"Never Settle for Less"Kia"Michelle Wie"iPhone2011"Snow Today" iPod"Share the Fun"Kia"Share Some Soul"H&R Block"Greenback"H&R Block"Nickel Dinner"H&R Block"Quit Lady"Chevrolet"Like Father, Like Son"Hyundai"Sonata Turbo Face"iPhone"Assistant"Nike2012"Fast is Faster"Nike"Voices"Motorola"Projections"iPhone"Rock God"iPhone"Road Trip"Samsung"LeBron's Day"Samsung & Jay-Z2013"Inside Magna Carta Holy Grail"Gillette"Clay Matthews Conditions"NASCAR"Twist"Call of Duty"Ghosts Masked Warrior"Budweiser"Rihanna"Budweiser"Jay Z"Sonos2014"Faces Off"Miller"Central Park"Apple Music"Echoes"Yoplait2015""Yoplait""Yoplait""Nike2016""Nike"Come Out of Nowhere"Nike"Make Space"Bud Light"Your Can's Year"Budweiser2017"Dream. On." Tiffany & Co. 2018 "Believe in Dreams" H&M 2021 "ONE/SECOND/SUIT" Apple Music "Happier Than Ever" Tiffany & Co. 2022 "Lose Yourself in Love" Fox Sports & NFL 2024 "Back to Work" Chipotle "I Got Real"
Notes
References
Sources
External links
Mark Romanek videography on the official website (archived from 2008) Mark Romanek commercials on the official website (archived from 2005) Mark Romanek commercials on Advertising Age