Sean Baker Biography

Sean Baker was born in Summit, New Jersey, where he grew up with an interest in movies after his mother took him to the local library, which was screening the Universal Monster films.

After graduating high school, Sean earned his degree in film studies from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He was scheduled to graduate in 1992, but dropped out to get filmmaking experience making industrial films and TV commercials. He would return in 1998 to receive his degree.

Sean’s first feature film was Four Letter Words (2000), which he wrote and edited. In the eight feature films he has directed he has served as writer and editor on all of them. He considers editing to be just as important as writing and directing and has made it a concrete part of his process.

Sean would follow his debut film with Takeout (2004), The Prince of Broadway (2008) and Starlet (2012). In that time, he also directed television episodes of Greg the Bunny in 2005 and Warren the Ape in 2010.

His big breakout came with his film Tangerine (2015), a film about a transgender sex worker who discovers her boyfriend and pimp has been cheating on her. He made the film for $100,000 and shot it all on three iPhones. The decision came from budget constrictions. Sean decided that instead of using lower-end cameras or DSLRs, he would make the film look totally original and do something different that nobody else had done. Tangerine was a hit with critics when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film received a nomination for Best Feature at the Film Independent Spirit Award.

His next film, The Florida Project (2017), continued Sean’s upward trajectory. He earned a Best Feature and Best Director nomination from the Film Independent Spirit Awards and actor Willem Dafoe received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

In 2021 Sean debuted his seventh film, Red Rocket (2021), at the Cannes Film Festival. While in attendance he noticed Russian actor Yura Borisov, and would eventually get in contact with him for his eighth film, Anora (2024).

Anora stars Mikey Madison, whom Sean also noticed through Cannes. Sean wrote the characters of Anora and Igor for Mikey and Yura respectively. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024 and won the Palme d’Or.

The film went on to become a major contender during awards season. Sean received numerous accolades, including four Oscar nominations. He was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. Sean joined Warren Beatty, Alan Menken, Chole Zhao and Alfonso Cuarón as the only people to receive four Oscar nominations for the same film.

Sean is married to Samantha Quan, who is a producer on many of his films.

Filmography:

Anora (2024)
Red Rocket (2021)
The Florida Project (2017)
Tangerine (2015)
Prince of Broadway (2008)
Take Out (2004)
Four Letter Words (2000)