Bob Byington

{{Infobox person | name = Bob Byington | image = Bob Byington, March 2014.jpeg | image_size = 220 | caption = Bob Byington, March 2014. Photographed by Matthew Mahon | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|04|29}} | birth_name = Robert Byington | occupation = Film director<br>Screenwriter<br>Actor | years_active = 1996 – present }} '''Robert Byington''' (born April 29, 1971) is an American film director, screenwriter and actor living in Austin, Texas. He is most noted for his films ''RSO (Registered Sex Offender)'' (2008), ''Harmony and Me'' (2009), ''Somebody Up There Likes Me'' (2012), winner of The Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Locarno Film Festival, ''7 Chinese Brothers'' (2015) starring Jason Schwartzman, Olympia Dukakis and Tunde Adebimpe, ''Infinity Baby'' (2017) starring Kieran Culkin, Nick Offerman, and Martin Starr, and ''Lousy Carter'' (2023) starring David Krumholtz, Olivia Thirlby, and Starr.

==Career== Robert "Bob" Byington grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He studied at the University of California, Santa Cruz and received a masters in American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.<ref name="Filmmaker Magazine">{{cite web | url=http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/news/2009/09/bob-byington-harmony-and-me/ | title=Interview with Byington in Filmmaker Magazine}}</ref> Byington directed his first film ''Shameless'' in 1996, and followed up with ''Olympia'' in 1998, which played on opening night of the South by Southwest Film Festival. He then entered a decade long "God-imposed" hiatus<ref name="Filmmaker Magazine"/> before directing his next three films ''RSO (Registered Sex Offender)'' (2008), ''Harmony and Me'' (2009) (the only USA-made film selected for Museum of Modern Art's 2009 New Directors/New Films Festival) and ''Somebody Up There Likes Me'' (2012).

His film, ''Frances Ferguson'', premiered at South by Southwest in March 2019.<ref name="SXSW 2019 Schedule">{{cite web | url= https://schedule.sxsw.com/2019/films/2008765 | title=South by Southwest 2019 Schedule}}</ref> His most recent film, ''Lousy Carter'', premiered at the 76th Locarno Film Festival and was released in the United States on March 29, 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Badgley |first1=Shawn |title= At Wit’s End: Bob Byington on His Dry New Comedy, Lousy Carter |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2024-03-27/at-wits-end-bob-byington-on-his-dry-new-comedy-lousy-carter/ |publisher=The Austin Chronicle|date=March 27, 2024}}</ref>

==Style and content== left|thumb|Byington with Nick Offerman at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival|alt=|141x141px Byington's work has been called literate, bawdy, sardonic and quirky. The Los Angeles Times described his film ''Harmony and Me'' as a "collision of joyous whimsy and bittersweet melancholy."<ref name="LA Times Review">{{cite news | url=https://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/26/entertainment/la-et-capsules26-2010mar26/2 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331173030/http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/26/entertainment/la-et-capsules26-2010mar26/2 | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 31, 2010 | title=''Harmony and Me'' review in LA Times | work=Los Angeles Times | date=March 26, 2010}}</ref> His work is occasionally lumped in with the larger mumblecore movement in part because of his appearance in Andrew Bujalski's film Beeswax and his use of actors, such as Bujalski, Justin Rice, and Alex Karpovsky, who appeared in movies carrying the mumblecore label.

Byington considers his films thematically different from mumblecore and has resisted the label.<ref name="New York Magazine">{{cite web | url=https://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/09/harmony_and_me_director_bob_by.html | title=Interview with Byington in New York Magazine}}</ref> ''Variety'' agreed in its review of ''Harmony and Me'' describing Byington's work as "mumblecore without the mumble."<ref name="Variety Review">{{cite news | url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939975?refcatid=31 | title=''Harmony and Me'' review in Variety Magazine | first=Ronnie | last=Scheib | date=March 30, 2009}}</ref> Unlike the extreme naturalistic dialogue of many mumblecore films, Byington's work leans towards exact dialogue and, according to Roger Ebert, "perfect timing" which is "unreasonably funny".<ref name="Ebert Review">{{cite news | url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091027/REVIEWS/910309999 | title=''Harmony and Me'' review by Roger Ebert | work=Chicago Sun-Times}}</ref> Filmmaker Magazine likened his rich humor to the New Hollywood comedies of the 1970s.<ref name="Filmmaker Magazine" /> Concerning the process for his body of difficult-to-characterize films that nevertheless get made and seen, Byington says, "I tend to write screenplays I can imagine directing, which may explain why my films are so unambitious" (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0125887/quotes/?ref_=nm_dyk_qu).

Notable actors Byington has cast in two or more of his films include Nick Offerman, Stephen Root, Kristen Tucker, Martin Starr, Megan Mullally, Keith Poulson, Kevin Corrigan, David Krumholtz and Suzy Nakamura. Offerman starred in Byington's film, ''Somebody Up There Likes Me'', which premiered at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Offerman is also the narrator of Byington's ''Frances Ferguson'', a film with a discomforting subject matter, which star Kaley Wheless calls an "offbeat comedy, not for everybody" [https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/movies/revelation-perth-international-film-festival-kaley-wheless-is-one-of-cinemas-more-endearing-sex-predators-in-frances-ferguson-ng-b881604528z (https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/movies/revelation-perth-international-film-festival-kaley-wheless-is-one-of-cinemas-more-endearing-sex-predators-in-frances-ferguson-ng-b881604528z]).

==Awards== * ''Harmony and Me'' **People's Choice Award for Best Narrative, Denver Film Festival<ref name="Denver Film Festival">{{cite web | url=http://www.denverfilm.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=22814&fid=49 | title=''Harmony and Me'' at Denver Film Festival }}</ref> *''Somebody Up There Likes Me'' **Special Jury Prize, Locarno International Film Festival<ref name="Locarno International Film Festival">{{cite news | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/somebody-up-likes-me-locarno-361278 | title="Hollywood Reporter review of "Somebody Up There Likes Me" from Locarno | work=The Hollywood Reporter | first=Stephen | last=Dalton | date=August 13, 2012}}</ref> *''7 Chinese Brothers'' **Founders Prize Special Award, Traverse City Film Festival<ref name="Traverse City Film Festival">{{cite news | url=https://www.traversecityfilmfest.org/2015-award-winners/ | title="Traverse City 2015 Award Winners"}}</ref> *''Infinity Baby'' **Best Narrative Feature, Woodstock Film Festival<ref name="Woodstock Film Festival">{{cite news | url=https://www.vimooz.com/2017/10/15/2017-woodstock-film-festival-awards/ | title="Infinity Baby and Shingal, Where Are You? Win Top Awards at Woodstock Film Festival"}}</ref> *''Frances Ferguson'' **Best Narrative Feature, Sidewalk Film Festival<ref name="Sidewalk Film Festival">{{cite web | url= https://www.sidewalkfest.com/award-winners-from-sidewalk-2019/ | title=Award Winners from Sidewalk 2019 }}</ref> **Jury Award Winner, Indianapolis International Film Festival<ref name="Indy Film Festival">{{cite web | url= https://indyfilmfest.org/festival/16-2019/ | title=2019 Indy Film Fest Winners }}</ref>

Michael Moore awarded Byington the Stanley Kubrick Award for "bold and innovative filmmaking"<ref name="Jones Article">{{cite web | url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2009-10-23/898186/ | title="Things Are What You Make of Them: The Deliciously Cracked Comedies of Bob Byington" by K. Jones. Austin Chronicle, October 3, 2009.}}</ref> in 2009.

==Filmography (as writer and director)== *''Shameless'' (1996) *''Olympia'' (1998) *''RSO [Registered Sex Offender]'' (2008) *''Harmony and Me'' (2009) *''Slacker 2011'' (2011) (segment) *''Somebody Up There Likes Me'' (2012) *''7 Chinese Brothers'' (2015) *''Infinity Baby'' (2017) *''Frances Ferguson'' (2020) *''Lousy Carter'' (2023)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|125887|name=Bob Byington}} * [https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-mar-14-la-et-mn-somebody-up-there-review-20130315-story.html LA Times Review for "Somebody Up There Likes Me"] * [http://www.austinchronicle.com/calendar/film/2013-04-05/somebody-up-there-likes-me// Austin Chronicle Review for "Somebody Up There Likes Me"] * [http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/sxsw/2015-03-17/sxsw-film-review-7-chinese-brothers/ Austin Chronicle Review for "7 Chinese Brothers"] * [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/7-chinese-brothers-sxsw-review-782897 Hollywood Reporter Review for "7 Chinese Brothers"] * [http://blog.afi.com/the-afi-interview-bob-byington/ The AFI Interview: Bob Byington] * [http://bedfordandbowery.com/2017/05/bob-byington-and-onur-tukel-team-up-for-infinity-baby-and-the-best-qa-ever/ Bedford + Bowery Review for "Infinity Baby"] * [https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2020-03-20/now-streaming-in-austin-frances-ferguson/ Now Streaming in Austin: "Frances Ferguson"] * [https://812filmreviews.com/2019/03/16/sxsw-review-frances-ferguson/ SXSW Review for "Frances Ferguson"] * [https://www.locarnofestival.ch/pardo/pardo-live/today-at-festival/2012/day9/A-Conversation-with-Bob-Byington.html A Conversation with Bob Byington at Locarno] * [https://filmmakermagazine.com/67845-director-bob-byington-on-somebody-up-there-likes-me/#.X3SfpS9h1Bw Filmmaker Magazine for "Somebody Up There Likes Me"] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu3qDp71GR0 AFS Presents: 7 CHINESE BROTHERS Q&A with Bob Byington and Jason Schwartzman] * https://www.moma.org/artists/46858

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byington, Bob}} Category:Film directors from Texas Category:Living people Category:1971 births