Spotlight Reviewer: Jon Favreau
Jon Favreau is a true multi-hyphenate. After establishing himself as an actor and writer of considerable talent with the acclaimed hipster comedy,
Swingers, he has continued to challenge himself with a variety of eclectic projects. Most recently, Favreau directed the action/adventure
Iron Man for Marvel Studios. The film stars Robert Downey Jr. as the title character and is set for release on May 8, 2008.
Prior to the film, Favreau directed
Zathura, a children’s adventure film starring Tim Robbins for Radar Pictures and Sony Entertainment. In 2003, Favreau directed the acclaimed holiday smash hit
Elf, starring Will Ferrell, for New Line Cinema. Favreau made his feature film directorial debut with
Made, a script he wrote and starred in opposite Vince Vaughn and Sean “Puffy" Combs for Artisan Entertainment. In front of the camera, Favreau was most recently seen opposite Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston in Universal Pictures’
The Break-Up.
Favreau was also seen alongside Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany in Universal Pictures’
Wimbledon, in Sony Entertainment’s
Something’s Gotta Give for director Nancy Meyers, and in the Mark Steven Johnson film
Daredevil with Ben Affleck, an adaptation of the Marvel Comics franchise for 20th Century Fox-Regency Enterprises. Favreau’s career-defining turn was his portrayal of legendary heavyweight champion, Rocky Marciano, in the MGM biopic
Marciano.
Favreau's feature film credits include
Love and Sex opposite Famke Janssen,
The Replacements with Keanu Reeves,
Very Bad Things opposite Christian Slater and Cameron Diaz, and
Deep Impact with Robert Duvall, Morgan Freeman, and Vanessa Redgrave.
Favreau's television credits include a recurring role on
Friends, and a special appearance on HBO's critically acclaimed
The Sopranos playing himself. Favreau also adds the title of “showrunner" to his multi-hyphenate list of credits, as the creator, producer and host of the critically acclaimed and Emmy nominated IFC series
Dinner for Five, which completed its fourth season in 2005.
Spotlight Director: Joel Coen. Joel's take on filmmaking: "I can almost set my watch by how I'm going to feel at different stages of the process. It's always identical, whether the movie ends up working or not. I think when you watch the dailies, the film that you shoot every day, you're very excited by it and very optimistic about how it's going to work. And when you see it the first time you put the film together, the roughest cut, is when you want to go home and open up your veins and get in a warm tub and just go away. And then it gradually, maybe, works its way back, somewhere toward that spot you were at before."
