Ruben Fleischer

Ruben Fleischer
Fleischer at the Zombieland world premiere at Fantastic Fest, September 25, 2009
Born	Ruben Samuel Fleischer[1] (1974-10-31) October 31, 1974 Washington, D.C., United States
Occupation	Film director
Years active	2001–present
Spouse(s)	Holly Shakoor (m. 2012)[2]

Ruben Samuel Fleischer (born October 31, 1974) is an American film director, advertisement/copy writer, and music video director. He is currently based in Los Angeles. He is best known as the director of the critically acclaimed and financially successful Zombieland, his first feature film. He followed it by making the films 30 Minutes or Less and Gangster Squad, both of which opened to mixed reviews. Prior to directing feature films, Fleischer was a prolific director of television commercials and music videos, working for such brands as the Cisco, Eurostar, ESPN, and Burger King, as well as such artists as M.I.A., Electric Six, DJ Format, and Gold Chains.

Life and career

Ruben Fleischer was born and raised in Washington, D.C, the son of Karen Lee (née Samuel) and David Elliot Fleischer, who is a medical school professor at Georgetown, as well as a physician.^[1][3] His brother, Lucas, works in new media.^[4] His father was born to a Jewish family, while his mother converted to Judaism. Fleischer was raised in Reform Judaism.^[5]

After graduating with a major in history from Wesleyan University, Fleischer moved to San Francisco, unsure of what he wanted to do with his life.^[6] He found himself working as a freelance HTML programmer in San Francisco.^[7][8] Taking the advice of close friend Mike White (also a Wesleyan graduate), Fleischer worked as a PA in the writer's office of Dawson's Creek.^[3] He eventually turned to directing and worked his way through the industry, tackling music videos and television commercials before landing his first feature film, Zombieland, in 2009. His second feature film, 30 Minutes or Less, opened in theaters on August 12, 2011.^[9]

Fleischer directed Gangster Squad, a 2013 crime drama film, based on the special tactical group created by the LAPD to combat the Los Angeles crime family.^[10] Flming began in September, 2011, and the cast included Ryan Gosling,^[11] Sean Penn,^[10] Emma Stone,^[10] Josh Brolin,^[11] Giovanni Ribisi,^[12] Anthony Mackie,^[13] Michael Peña,^[11][13] and Holt McCallany.^[14]

Filmography

Feature films

• Zombieland (2009) (director)
• 30 Minutes or Less (2011) (director)
• Gangster Squad (2013) (director, executive producer)

Short films

• The Girls Guitar Club (2001) (director, producer)
• Gumball 3000: 6 Days in May (2005) (director, producer)

Music videos

• M.I.A. – "Galang"
• Kid Sister – "Pro Nails"
• Gold Chains – "I Came From SF", "Cali Nights", "The Game"
• Electric Six – "Dance Commander"
• DJ Format – "Vicious Battle Raps", "We Know Something You Don't"

Commercials

• Boost Mobile – "Ladies Man", "Geek"
• McDonald's – "Good Inside"
• Cisco – "Revision 43A", "Jack 245"
• Burger King – "Up Late with The King"
• Eurostar – "Circles"
• ESPN – "Quiet", "Mascots"
• Courir – "The Drop"

Television

• Fantasy Factory – (executive producer - 30 episodes)
• Rob & Big (producer - 16 episodes, 2006-2007) (executive producer - 15 episodes, 2008)

References

External links

• Ruben Fleischer at the Internet Movie Database