Bryan Buckley

Bryan Buckley was born on September 3rd, 1963 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Buckley spent his first years in Sudbury, a suburb of Boston, before moving to Swampscott, Masschusetts. His father, a onetime Army reservist, worked as an art director in a small regional ad agency.

He enrolled in Phillips Andover preparatory school. He was admitted to Syracuse University's design program. He never enrolled in a film class during his time in college. [2]

In 2017, Buckley married Actress Kiana Madani. He has three children.

After graduating Syracuse, Buckley began as an entry-level art director at Doyle Dane Bernbach. [4]

In 1988, he co-founded his own agency, Buckley / DeCerchio, with his Chiat/Day co- worker Tom DeCerchio. Their first client was the 4 million dollar Godfather's Pizza account. Buckley and De Cerchio then hired friends and filmmakers who would work cheaply. Within a few months, Buckley and De Cerchio were on the cover of Adweek. In their first year open, their work for Godfather's Pizza was awarded with a Gold Pencil at the One Show, a advertising awards show. [2]

The agency would go on to sign clients such as National Lampoon and Snapple, for whom they created the famous “Made From the Best Stuff on Earth National” tag. In December 1993, Buckley and DeCerchio made the cover of the New York Times Business Section.[5] The next day they announced that a new chapter had begun, and closed the agency.

In 1994, Buckley was offered the chance to direct a few unscripted, ultra low-budget promos for ESPN's hockey telecasts. Buckley had never been behind the camera before, and the job was not paid. [4]

Over its 25-year run, the campaign has featured appearances from several sports stars, including Kobe Bryant, Wayne Gretzky, David Ortiz, Lebron James, Mike Tyson, and Michael Phelps. ’’SportsCenter’’ was named the best commercial campaign of the 90's by The One Club, a advertising organization.[2]

In 1997, Buckley co-founded Hungry Man Productions along with "This is SportsCenter" creator, Hank Perlman and long time producer Steve Orent. The company quickly added several directors to its roster, such as Jim Jenkins, David Shane, Bennett Miller and Stacy Wall.

By 2004, the company won the Cannes Festival's Palme d'Or as the top commercial production company in the world and has finished in the top ten for more than ten consecutive years, the first production company to do so. Hungry Man has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Rio and São Paulo, and has a slate of directors including Taika Waititi, Wayne McClammy, and Nanette Burstein.

Buckley's first major work came with his first Super Bowl spot, a commercial for Monster.com called “When I Grow Up.” In the 30-second spot, kids answered the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” with responses such as “I want to be a ‘yes’ man’ and “I want to be forced into early retirement.”

Viewers gave the commercial low marks in the USA Today Ad Meter, a consumer poll of the best and worst Super Bowl ads that has become an industry standard for measuring public reaction (and therefore success) of a multi-million dollar project. Initially, the ad was considered a flop.

However,the Monster.com ad continued to get airplay over the next few days while conversation around other commercials died down, and the job site ended up crashing due to increased user activity. Monster.com reported an increase of 1 million site visits per month for the rest of 1999. [6]

Over the course of his career, Buckley has worked on several campaigns and commercial spots, including “What Happens in Vegas,” Verizon's first ever Spanish language campaign for the Oscars, and FedEx's “Castaway.”

As his work has grown in scale, Buckley has collaborated with celebrities such as Larry David, Jennifer Anniston, Conan O’Brien, Ellen DeGeneres, Leslie Mann, Taylor Swift, and The Rock, who starred in Apple's “The Rock x Siri Dominate the Day” commercial, which racked up over 80 million views.

His work has often garnered publicity, and has at times been described as anticommercials. His commercial for E*Trade in 2000 featured a mock-amateur commercial. The setting: a disheveled two-car garage. A chimpanzee, wearing an oversize E*Trade T-shirt, is flanked by a pair of men. All face the camera. They clap, out of sync, to a tinny recording of ''La Cucaracha.'' At the end, the chimpanzee folds his hands over his crotch. A tag line appears: ''Well, we just wasted $2 million. What are you doing with your money?’’ In 2018, Adweek would declare it “The Most Subversive Super Bowl Ad Ever.” [7]

In 2011, Buckley directed a series of commercials for New Era apparel. The campaign, titled “Rivalry,” saw actors John Krasinski and Alec Baldwin engaged in ongoing trash talk as fans of their respective teams, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The spots were inducted into the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Modern Art. [8]

In 1999, Buckley won the Best Directing award from the DGA, a cumulative award for several commercials he directed that year, including his Super Bowl monster.com “When I Grow Up” spot, and work for E*trade. [9]

He has been nominated for Emmy Awards, and has won over 50 Cannes Lions, most recently the top honors at Cannes in 2019, a Grand Prix for his work on March for Our Lives “Generation Lockdown” campaign to raise awareness about gun violence prevention. [10] Buckley also took the Titanium Lion and the top honors, a Grand Clio for his Microsoft “Changing the Game” work showcasing Xbox's new adaptive controller, the first ever system designed to be inclusive of handicapped gamers.  The same year, he won 15 gold pencils at the One Show for his work with both the Microsoft and March for our Lives campaigns. [11]

Buckley's two Academy Award nominations for Short Film within the same decade is the first time a director has managed to return to the category in over 30 years. [3]

In September 2011, Buckley shot the short film ASAD in South Africa in September 2011 with an all Somali refugee cast. The story, which Buckley also wrote, follows a young Somali boy's tale of how he deals with the decision to fall into a pirate life, or become an fisherman. The film screened at over 50 film festivals worldwide and took top honors at the Tribeca Film Festival, ultimately receiving a nomination for Best Live Action Short Film at the 85th Academy Awards. [1]

Buckley's first feature film, The Bronze, was selected to open the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and made a splash in Park City as the breakout comedy of the festival. [12]

In 2017, Buckley wrote and directed the American drama film The Pirates of Somalia. The film stars Evan Peters, Oscar Winner Al Pacino, Melanie Griffith, and Barkhad Abdi. The film, set in 2008, is about rookie Canadian journalist Jay Bahadur's plan to embed himself among the pirates of Somalia to provide the first close-up look at who these men are, how they live, and the forces that drive them. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2017. The film was released on December 8, 2017, by Echo Bridge. The Hollywood Reporter called the film “A lively tale bent on deepening our understanding of its sensationalism-ready subject.” [13]

In 2019, Buckley wrote and directed the short film SARIA. The film explores the life of young female orphans at the Virgen de La Asuncion Safe Home in Guatemala, leading up to the fire which claimed 41 of their lives in 2017.

Rather than using traditional child actors to play the roles of the orphans, Buckley opted to reach out to orphanages throughout Mexico to participate in the film. Ultimately, he established a partnership with Ministerios De Amor Orphanage in Mexico City. None of the girls had ever acted before they participated in the film. They received extensive training from an acting coach who would come to the orphanage daily.

The production team bypassed the traditional festival circuit and four-walled the film for Academy Consideration just two days after completion, an unproven process that did nott allow the traditional press cycle to build buzz around the film. However, the plan succeeded and the film received a nomination for Best Live Action Short Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.

His early work has been characterized as anarchic and populist. Defined by a “run and gun” style that often challenged the importance of advertising to begin with. "It ain't feel-good advertising," Buckley acknowledges.

Buckley's work has been primarily comedic. New York Times Magazine wrote “Bryan is an interpreter of American fears. He doesn't make commercials; he writes haiku.” He has been celebrated for his casting ability, and in his skill for directing unprofessional actors, whom he often casts for a more raw performance. Bryan's later work has typically involved more prominent celebrity roles, driven by character-driven comedy.

Though his body of work is primarily comedic, Buckley has shifted to a more socially-conscious approach in recent years.His narrative work has been defined by a focus on the oppressed and oppressors, and the need to illuminate otherwise unknown or under-reported injustices.

Buckley has been a long-time supporter of activism and philanthropy. In the past, he was worked with organizations like Women's March to create advocacy campaigns at no cost.  

Activist Estephany Raquel Arreaga Jimenez (from left) Congressmen Vicente Gonzalez and Adriano Espaillat with Bryan Buckley after their 2020 meeting.

In 2019, Buckley directed work for the “Generation Lockdown” campaign on behalf of March for our Lives, an organization dedicated to preventing gun violence in the USA. The commercial was created in support of the S.42 Background Check Expansion Act, and was cited by several members of Congress to advocate for stricter gun control.

After the release of his 2019 short, SARIA, the film was cited by members of Congress in a 2020 letter to the Secretary of State. Congressmen Adriano Espaillat and Vicente Gonzalez stated the film "amplifies global awareness" of the issue, and demanded justice for the victims and an investigation into the whereabouts of the remaining survivors. Buckley has stayed involved with the pursuit of justice within Guatemala, attending a meeting on Capitol Hill between Stef Arreaga, a prominent activist and Congressmen Adriano Espaillat and Vicente Gonzalez Jr. [14]

Buckley's work has consistently aired during the Super Bowl, leading to the New York Times deeming him the “King of the Super Bowl” in, Buckley has directed over 60 commercials. His work is often rated at the top of every year's Super Bowl Commercial rankings.

• Bryan Buckley on IMDb