“There’s something sweetly tragic about all of Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ work. Characters look like fools, take themselves way too seriously, and generally wallow in humiliation. Thus the comedy, even in a few short minutes, is heartbreaking and gut-busting, nuanced and uproarious.” – The Onion

Hailing from the ruins of Detroit, Jordan Vogt-Roberts started doing two things at a young age to prepare himself as a director:

1) Dealing with the hassle of a hyphenated last name.

2) Making stop-motion movies in his basement with Lego and Batman toys.

Flash forward a quarter of a century when he and a group of stand up comedians created the website Blerds.com to showcase videos he produced and directed.  These videos, which the Chicago Tribune dubbed an “inspired mix of stand-up and visual storytelling,” quickly generated millions of views.  Subsequent screenings at various festivals, including HBO’s Comedy Festival in Las Vegas, led to a deal with Tribal DDB, which Adweek had just named “Interactive Agency of the Year.”

Since moving to Los Angeles, Jordan has directed  web content for FOX, Sony, Warner Bros. and Babelgum.  He branched into television with an hour-long special he conceived directed for Comedy Central called “Mash Up”.  He also directed several episodes of Funny or Die Presents on HBO.

His 25-minute short film ‘Successful Alcoholics’ premiered at Sundance 2010.  The New York Times called it “Hilarious” and The Onion said it’s ” heartbreaking and gut-busting, nuanced and uproarious”. It has since played at over 25 festivals including SXSW and AFI.

>>RANDOM FACT: The first festival at which Jordan took home the grand jury prize was judged by Brett Ratner, director of Rush Hour, which makes his career an indirect byproduct of the fast-talking-fist-flying antics of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan… a point he has yet to reconcile…