Craig Zobel

Roger Craig Zobel is an American filmmaker and actor whose work includes music videos, film, and television. He has directed the films Compliance, Z for Zachariah (2015), and The Hunt (2020). On TV he has directed episodes of The Leftovers, American Gods, and Westworld. In 2021, he directed the miniseries Mare of Easttown on HBO. He also helped to co-create the online animated series Homestar Runner with Mike and Matt Chapman, known collectively as The Brothers Chaps.

Early life Zobel was born in New York and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, later studying film at the North Carolina School of the Arts alongside David Gordon Green and other future collaborators.

Career After graduation, Zobel worked on David Gordon Green's first three films — George Washington (2000), All the Real Girls, (2003) and Undertow (2003), as either co-producer, production manager or second unit director. He also directed The Hunt (2020).

In 2021 he reupped his deal with HBO for an additional three years.

Homestar Runner

Homestar Runner is an animated internet cartoon. The series originated with The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest, a small self-published book co-created by Zobel and Mike Chapman. On a day off while Zobel and Chapman were working summer jobs surrounding the 1996 Summer Olympics, a visit to a bookstore prompted them to parody the state of children's books. A few years later, Mike and his brother Matt adapted the setting and characters into an animated Flash web series, which Zobel has occasionally contributed to.

Film career Zobel has directed, written, and produced several films, including Great World of Sound and Compliance. In August 2019, the release of Zobel's horror thriller film The Hunt was postponed by distributor Universal in response to the 2019 El Paso shooting, with the studio cancelling the film's original September 27, 2019, date, and moving it to March 13, 2020.

Filmography Film

Television YearTitleDirectorExecutive producerNotes 2015–2017 The Leftovers Episodes: "Lens", "International Assassin", "The Most Powerful Man in the World (and His Identical Twin Brother)" 2016 Outcast Episodes: "The Road Before Us" 2017American GodsEpisodes: "Git Gone"2018 Westworld Episodes: "Akane no Mai" One Dollar 10 episodes 2021 Mare of Easttown 7 episodes 2024 The Penguin 3 episodes