David Dobkin (born 23 June 1969) is an American director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the films Clay Pigeons, Shanghai Knights, Wedding Crashers, The Judge, and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.
Early life Dobkin was born on 23 June 1969 in Washington, D.C., where he attended Lafayette Elementary School, and later was raised in the suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, where he attended Walt Whitman High School.
Career Dobkin made his music-video debut with video clips for rapper Tupac Shakur. Fifteen more videos followed for such music groups as Extreme, Robin Zander, Sonic Youth, dada, Blues Traveler, and others. Dobkin's music-video credits include George Thorogood's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," Elton John's "You Can Make History", and Coolio's "1, 2, 3, 4". Dobkin also collaborated with band Maroon 5 in their music videos "Sugar", "Girls Like You", "Memories" and "Middle Ground" and an untitled documentary film. As of March 2026, no further announcement about the documentary film has been made.
After shooting television commercials, Dobkin broke into feature films with Clay Pigeons, for Scott Free, the first film produced at Ridley and Tony Scott's production company that they did not direct. The black comedy about a series of small-town murders starred Vince Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix and Janeane Garofalo, and was distributed by Gramercy Pictures. Dobkin next directed the comedies Shanghai Knights (2003), starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, and Wedding Crashers (2005), with Wilson and Vaughn.
Through his production company Big Kid Pictures, Dobkin both produced and directed Fred Claus (2007), starring Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, and The Change-Up (2011), starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman. He co-wrote and was an executive producer of the film adaptation of Dark Horse Comics' R.I.P.D. (2013), Dobkin directed 2014's The Judge, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall.
Filmography Film Short film Year TitleDirectorExecutiveProducer 1992 52nd St. Serenade 2005 The Ropes
Feature film Year TitleDirectorProducerWriter 1995 Ice Cream Man 1998 Clay Pigeons 2003 Shanghai Knights 2005 Wedding Crashers 2007 Mr. Woodcock Fred Claus 2011 The Change-Up 2012 Last Call 2013 Jack the Giant Slayer R.I.P.D. 2014 The Judge 2015 Vacation The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 2017 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword 2020 Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga 2023 Under the Boardwalk
Documentary appearances Lennon or McCartney (2014) Here's to Life: The Story of the Refreshments (2017)
Television Year(s) Title Director ExecutiveProducer Notes 1995Love Street Episode: "Freudian Slip" 20052005 MTV Movie Awards Segment: "Crashers" 2011Friends with Benefits Director (episode "Pilot") / Producer (13 episodes) 2013The Gabriels TV movie 2015–2019Into the Badlands Director (3 episodes) / Executive Producer (32 episodes) 2018Iron Fist Episode: "The Fury of Iron Fist" Sugar Director (2 episodes) / Executive Producer (8 episodes) 2019–2022 Green Eggs and Ham 23 episodes (also directing consultant) 2021–2025 Resident Alien Director (episode: "Pilot") / Executive Producer 2025 Stick Director (2 episodes)
Music videos
Title Year Artist(s) Notes 1993 "Angry Youth" Asphalt Ballet "Keep Ya Head Up" Tupac featuring Dave Hollister "I Get Around" Tupac featuring Shock G and Money-B "Defense & Desire" Blues Traveler 1994 "All I Am" Dada "I Don't Know Where It Came From" Ride "Street Life" Intelligent Hoodlum 1995 "Hip Today" Extreme "Bus Stops" The Nonce "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" John Lee Hooker 1996 "You Can Make History (Young Again)" Elton John "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" Coolio "Just the Two of Us" Toshinobu Kubota featuring Caron Wheeler "Like Marvin Gaye Said (What's Going On)" Speech "Banditos" The Refreshments 1998 "Boogie King" The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies "I Got You Babe" Merril Bainbridge featuring Shaggy 2015 "Sugar" Maroon 5 2016 "Don't Wanna Know" 2018 "Girls Like You" Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B Original, Volume 2 and Vertical Video versions 2019 "Memories" Maroon 5 2020 "Nobody's Love" 2023 "Middle Ground"
Commercials Dobkin has directed commercials for clients such as ESPN, Heineken (which earned him honors from SHOOT magazine), Carl's Jr., Coke, Honda, Coors Light and Sony PlayStation (which won a Bronze Lion at Cannes). His spots for the Utah Symphony were named "Spot of the Month" by Adweek Magazine and featured as the year's best in Communication Arts Magazine.David Dobkin bio – Tribute.ca
References
External links
David Dobkin at RSA Films.