Juan José Campanella

Juan José Campanella
Campanella in 2019
Born (1959-07-19) 19 July 1959 (age 65)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Citizenship
  • Argentina
  • Spain
Alma materNew York University
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active1979–present

Juan José Campanella (born 19 July 1959) is an Argentine television and film director, writer and producer. He achieved worldwide attention with the release of The Secret in Their Eyes (2009), for which he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Early life

Campanella was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He started studying engineering, but dropped out in 1980 after four years at university. He would later remark that the decisive factor for this decision was watching All That Jazz on the very day he was going to apply for a fifth year. His debut as director was in 1979, with the short Prioridad nacional. Campanella traveled to the United States and entered the Tisch School of the Arts. Four years later, in 1984, his second film, Victoria 392, which marked the first of five collaborations with actor friend Eduardo Blanco, as well as his first collaboration with screenwriter Fernando Castets, with whom he co-directed and co-wrote the film.

Career

After graduating from NYU film school, Campanella went on to direct two American films: The Boy Who Cried Bitch in 1991 and Love Walked In in 1997.

In 1999, Campanella reunited once more with Castets to write El Mismo Amor, la Misma Lluvia, which starred actor friend Ricardo Darín (who had met Campanella 15 years before, abroad) and Eduardo Blanco. The formula would be repeated with two other films, in El Hijo de la Novia, 2001 (nominated for Oscar for best foreign language film in 2002) and in Luna de Avellaneda, 2004, all of which teamed Campanella and Castests as screenwriters, and Darín and Blanco as leading and supporting actor, respectively. Darín reprised the role of Campanella's leading man in the mystery film The Secret in Their Eyes (2009), Campanella's fourth feature-length film. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2010.

Campanella has directed episodes of American TV series such as House, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, 30 Rock, Halt and Catch Fire and Colony.

Campanella has worked 5 times with Blanco, 4 times with Ricardo Darín and 2 times with Héctor Alterio. Campanella has also directed a number of Argentine actors, including Norma Aleandro, Alfredo Alcón, Ulises Dumont, Natalia Verbeke, Adrián Suar, Mercedes Morán, Valeria Bertuccelli and Rodrigo de la Serna, as well as English-speaking actors Chris Meloni, Denis Leary, Adrien Brody, Moira Kelly, Justin Long, Vincent D'Onofrio, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Rachel Dratch, Hope Davis, Jay Hernandez, Bridget Moynahan, Stephen Colbert, and Hugh Laurie.

Personal life

Campanella holds a Master in Fine Arts from New York University and is studying towards a Masters in Political Science from Universidad Torcuato di Tella.[1] He has held Spanish citizenship since 2006.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Director Writer Producer Editor Notes
1979 Prioridad nacional Yes Yes Yes Yes Short film; Also actor
1984 Victoria 392 Yes Yes Yes Yes Amateur film, Co-directed with Fernando Casttetes
Also actor
1986 Commercial for Murder No No No Yes Short film
1991 The Boy Who Cried Bitch Yes No No No
1997 Love Walked In Yes Yes No No
1999 El mismo amor, la misma lluvia Yes Yes No No
2001 El Hijo de la Novia Yes Yes No No Also cameo role as "Doctor"
2004 Luna de Avellaneda Yes Yes No No
2009 El Secreto de sus Ojos Yes Yes Yes Yes
2013 Metegol Yes Yes Yes Yes Also voice role as: "Armando", "Eusebio", "Lechuga" and "Clark"
2019 El Cuento de las Comadrejas Yes Yes Yes Yes

Producer only

Year Title Notes
2007 Aminga, de un pueblo a una ciudad Executive producer
Short film
2008 Los celulares
2010 Plumíferos-Aventuras Voladoras Associate producer
Belgrano Producer
2015 Secret in Their Eyes Executive producer
American remake of his film The Secret in Their Eyes
2018 Ián, una historia que nos movilizara Executive producer
Short film
2020 El límite infinito Producer
Documentary film

Television

Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
1993 Lifestories: Families in Crisis Yes No No 6 episodes
1996-1998 Remember WENN Yes No No 16 episodes
1998 Upright Citizens Brigade Yes No No
2000 Strangers with Candy Yes No No 8 episodes
2000–present Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Yes No No 23 episodes
2001 Culpables Yes Yes No 34 episodes
2002 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Yes No No 2 episodes
Ed Yes No No Episode "Youth Bandits"
2003 Dragnet Yes No No Episode "The Brass Ring"
2006 Six Degrees Yes No No Episode "The Puncher"
30 Rock Yes No No Episode "Jack Meets Dennis"
Vientos de agua Yes Yes No Miniseries
Wrote the 13 episodes and directed 5
Also creator and edited 1 episode
2007-2010 House Yes No No 5 episodes
2010 Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List Yes No No 1 episode
2011 Capitales del Fútbol No No Executive 8 episodes
Recordando el Show de Alejandro Molina Yes No Executive Documentary miniseries
7 episodes
Fronteras No No Yes Miniseries
8 episodes
2011-2012 El hombre de tu vida Yes Yes Associate Also creator
24 episodes
2014 30 for 30: Soccer Stories No No Yes Episode "White, Blue and White"
Halt and Catch Fire Yes No No 5 episodes
2015 Entre Caníbales No Yes Yes 65 episodes
2016-2017 Colony Yes No Executive Executive produced 14 episodes and directed 9
2017 Mini-Beat Power Rockers No No Executive
2022 Night Sky Yes No Executive

Plays

  • Parque Lezama (2014) [2]
  • ¿Que hacemos con Walter? (2018) [3]

Awards and nominations

Wins

Nominations

References

  1. ^ El estreno de metegol/Campanella y la actualidad: "Éste es un momento difícil" Archived 15 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine 7-14-2013, La Nación (in Spanish)
  2. ^ Reestreno en el Teatro Liceo Parque Lezama, el “debut teatral” de Campanella 1-3-2014, Clarín (in Spanish)
  3. ^ Teatro Crítica: "¿Qué hacemos con Walter?" 1-27-2018, Clarín (in Spanish)
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