Chris Moukarbel is an American director and producer."Introducing Chris Moukarbel" Interview Magazine, September 29, 2010
/ref> He is best known for his 2017 film '' Gaga: Five Foot Two'', a critically acclaimed documentary about American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga. His first feature documentary '' Me at the Zoo'' premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and was acquired by HBO Documentaries as part of their summer series. The film charts the rise of YouTube and tells the story of an early viral Internet celebrity,

Chris Crocker Cara Cunningham (formerly Chris Crocker; born December 7, 1987), is an American transgender Internet personality, songwriter, recording artist, YouTuber, and former pornographic film actor. , Cunningham's videos had received a combined 50 m ...

of “Leave Britney Alone!” fame. Moukarbel was approached by Sheila Nevins to direct the Emmy nominated documentary '' Banksy Does New York''. He is also the creator and director of the HBO series Sex On // which takes a look at sex and relationships in the Information age. It was conceived as a reboot of the classic show Real Sex. His work often explores technology and identity. Moukarbel directed and produced the film '' Gaga: Five Foot Two''. It premiered at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival and was acquired by Netflix. His documentary '' Wig'' explores the New York City drag queen scene and the drag festival Wigstock. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 4, 2019, and premiered on June 18 on HBO.

Art

Moukarbel made videos and contemporary art while living in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. His best known video art project World Trade Center was made as part of his graduate school thesis at Yale School of Art. Moukarbel acquired a bootleg script for a then upcoming

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

film World Trade Center and he shot his own version using student actors. The short film was released freely on the internet as a way to pre-empt the Stone film and caused a highly publicized lawsuit by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. In a New York Times article about the art project Moukarbel said in the interview "My film was offered free on the Internet… It cost $1,000 to produce. We're at a place now where technology allows the democratization of storytelling." After paramount blocked the distribution of the video it continued to be shown at Witte de With institute of Contemporary art who refused to comply with the court order. His artwork has shown at Marianne Boesky Gallery, Air de Paris, Witte de with and Wallspace gallery among others.

Music videos

Moukarbel co-directed the REM music video Everyday is Yours to Win, The Drums, I Felt Stupid and Joan as Police Woman's Start of my Heart.

Accolades

Personal life

Moukarbel was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Lebanese parents and lives between Los Angeles and

. He was in a relationship with Jake Shears, singer of the band Scissor Sisters, from 2004 until 2015. He attended Corcoran School of Art and Yale School of Art."Introducing Chris Moukarbel" Interview Magazine
/ref>

References

External links

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Banksy Does New York

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moukarbel, Chris Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American documentary film directors American people of Lebanese descent Gay men LGBT film directors LGBT television directors LGBT producers 21st-century LGBT people