13 Facts About Phil Joanou

Phil Joanou was born on November 20,1961 and is an American director of film, music videos, and television programs.

Phil Joanou is known for his collaborations with the rock band U2, for whom he directed music videos and their 1988 documentary film Rattle and Hum.

Phil Joanou studied at UCLA's theater department and then moved on to USC's cinema program.

Phil Joanou's award winning student film Last Chance Dance caught the eye of Steven Spielberg who hired him to direct two Amazing Stories episodes, "Santa '85" and "The Doll", when he was 23 years old.

Phil Joanou operated the camera for the documentary portion of the shoot and edited over one million feet of film into the final movie.

Phil Joanou directed videos for Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey as well as Bon Jovi.

In 1990 Phil Joanou directed the American version of Michael Apted's British Up documentary series.

The production was beset by myriad of problems and Phil Joanou was said to be very frustrated by the experience with Savoy Pictures.

Phil Joanou went bankrupt before Joanou was able to complete the movie and the film was released in a compromised state.

The second installment of the American Up series, 14 Up in America, was completed in 1998 when Phil Joanou filmed the same children, now 14 years old.

In 2005, due to a conflict with a feature film Phil Joanou was directing, rather than wait until the Sony film was finished, Granda Television chose to move forward with a different director for Age 21 in America.

In 2005 Phil Joanou began production on Gridiron Gang, based on the award-winning documentary that followed the first season of the inaugural football program at Camp Kilpatrick, a juvenile detention center in Los Angeles.

Phil Joanou directed Chris Tucker's first stand-up comedy special for Netflix in 2013, which was released in 2015.