Jody Hill Biography

JODY HILL

Date of Birth: October 15, 1976

Jody Hill is a director and screenwriter born in Concord, North Carolina. He was enrolled in the film program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he was educated in the techniques of top Hollywood directors such as Martin Scorcese and Francis Ford Coppola.

In 1999, Hill moved to Los Angeles, determined to sell a screenplay that was charismatic and funny. He ended up writing a script called "Drip Dry Love," which didn't bring him much success, and the only jobs that became available to him were story editing jobs for reality television. He was often discouraged at his lack of success, saying "I would literally wake up in the middle of the night in these panics. [To] any of the girls I dated, I apologize."

His luck turned around when he took $30,000 he had made from television work and returned to North Carolina to make his first feature film, The Foot Fist Way (2006). He co-wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the movie, which he based on his own experience as a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The rest of the crew included 10 people from his university. The film premiered at Sundance before being picked up for distribution by Paramount Vantage.

Observe and Report(2009) was Hill's second directing and writing effort. He purposely chose Seth Rogen, with whom he'd worked in Superbad while playing a small role as Tut Long John Silver, for the role of rage-filled security guard Ronnie Barnhardt, wanting to veer away from Rogen's typical harmless and cheery roles. Hill enjoys the idea of throwing moviegoers for a loop and baffling audiences in comedy, saying it is his own personal joke to see how people freak out. He also co-created, directed, co-produced, and co-wrote the 2009 HBO television series Eastbound & Down (2009) starring Danny McBride.

Filmography: (director)

Observe and Report (2009)
The Foot Fist Way (2006)

Filmography: (actor)

Superbad (2007)
The Foot Fist Way (2006)