Phil Joanou Biography: Net Worth, Parents, Wife, Movies, Age, Height, Ethnicity
Phil Joanou is an American film director, writer, photographer and commercial filmmaker whose career began in his teens and expanded into feature films, documentaries, music videos and television.
He directed Three O’Clock High, U2: Rattle and Hum, State of Grace, Final Analysis, Gridiron Gang and The Veil, while also creating acclaimed music videos for U2, Tom Petty, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Bon Jovi.
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| Phil Joanou | |
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| Wiki Facts & About Data | |
| Name: | Phil Joanou |
| Born: | November 20, 1961 (age 64 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States |
| Nationality: | American |
| Ethnicity: | White American |
| Religion: | Christianity |
| Parents: | Mr. and Mrs. Joanou |
| Siblings: | Janet Weiner, Jennifer Frank, and Cathy Clifford |
| Spouse: | Breann Nelson. |
| Relationship: | Married |
| Children: | 3 |
| Occupation: | Film Director, Writer, Photographer, Commercial Director |
| Net Worth: | $5 million |
Early Life and Education
Phil Joanou was born on November 20, 1961, in La Cañada Flintridge, California. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joanou.
He developed an interest in filmmaking during his teenage years and began making short films on Super 8 film when he was 14.
His early experimentation with cameras and filmmaking eventually developed into a professional career behind the camera. Joanou‘s religion is listed as Christianity.
While still in high school, Joanou received his first film-industry credit. He worked as a special visual consultant on Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), operating under the supervision of visual-effects innovator John Dykstra.
The experience gave him an early introduction to large-scale Hollywood filmmaking while he was still a student.
Joanou studied in the theatre department at the University of California, Los Angeles, before moving into the cinema program at the University of Southern California.
His USC training became particularly important to his development as a filmmaker, and his student film Last Chance Dance won recognition at USC.
His student work attracted the attention of Steven Spielberg. When Joanou was 23, Spielberg hired him to direct episodes of the anthology television series Amazing Stories.
Joanou directed “Santa ’85” and “The Doll,” giving him the opportunity to work professionally at a very young age.
“The Doll” starred John Lithgow and became an especially significant early project in Joanou‘s career.
Lithgow subsequently won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for the episode, bringing additional attention to the young director.
Career
Joanou‘s professional directing career accelerated after his work on Amazing Stories.
Steven Spielberg subsequently gave him the screenplay for Three O’Clock High, a high-school black comedy that became Joanou‘s first feature film.
The movie was released in 1987 and was filmed in Ogden, Utah, on a reported $5 million budget.
Although Three O’Clock High was not a major box-office success when originally released, it developed a strong cult following over the years.
The film’s distinctive visual style and unusual approach to the teenage-comedy genre helped establish Joanou as a director with a particular interest in stylized storytelling.
The collaboration between Joanou and U2 continued for more than two decades. He directed numerous music videos for the group, including “One,” “One Tree Hill,” “When Love Comes to Town,” “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” “If God Will Send His Angels,” “All Because of You” and “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own.”
He also directed music videos for major artists outside U2. His work included Tom Petty‘s “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” which won an MTV Video Music Award, as well as “Walls.”
He directed the video for Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey‘s “When You Believe” and Bon Jovi‘s “Keep the Faith.”
In 1990, Joanou directed State of Grace, an Irish-American crime drama starring Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, Ed Harris and Robin Wright.
The film received positive critical attention but was released during the same period as Martin Scorsese‘s Goodfellas, which dominated the gangster-film conversation of the time. State of Grace later developed a strong reputation among crime-film enthusiasts.
His feature-film work continued during the 1990s. He directed Final Analysis in 1992, a psychological thriller starring Richard Gere, Kim Basinger and Uma Thurman.
He subsequently directed Heaven’s Prisoners in 1996, an adaptation of James Lee Burke‘s crime novel starring Alec Baldwin.
Joanou later directed Chris Tucker‘s stand-up special Chris Tucker Live. The special was filmed for Netflix and released in 2015, marking another departure from his traditional feature-film work.
His next feature was The Veil, a supernatural horror film released in 2016. Produced in association with Blumhouse, Universal Pictures and Netflix, the film starred Jessica Alba, Lily Rabe and Thomas Jane.
It allowed Joanou to return to the darker genre-oriented storytelling that had appeared in some of his earlier projects.
Joanou has maintained an active interest in photography and visual storytelling. His official professional portfolio divides his work into feature films, commercials and music videos, reflecting the breadth of his career.
In 2023, Joanou published his first novel, It Just Happened. The book is a comedic coming-of-age story set in 1973 and represents an expansion of his storytelling career from film and television into fiction writing.
His career has therefore covered feature filmmaking, music documentaries, television, advertising, music videos, photography and fiction writing. His decades-long association with U2 remains one of the most distinctive aspects of his professional legacy.
Awards and Nominations
- 1984 — USC student-film recognition for Last Chance Dance.
- 1989 — MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film, shared for U2 and B.B. King‘s “When Love Comes to Town.” Joanou directed the music video.
- 1992 — Peabody Award recognition associated with Age 7 in America.
- 1994 — MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video for Tom Petty‘s “You Don’t Know How It Feels.” Joanou directed the video.
- 1994 — Clio Award for Best Rock Video for Tom Petty‘s “You Don’t Know How It Feels.”
Social Media
- Instagram: @philjoanou), where
- Official website: Phil Joanou Director Portfolio Website.
Personal Life
Phil Joanou, 64 years old, He is married to Ford fashion model Breann Nelson. They share 3 children together whose names has not been revealed.
His 1999 film Entropy drew heavily from autobiographical experiences, including a lengthy relationship with a fashion model and a short-lived marriage following a relationship that began around a U2 concert.
Joanou has maintained a strong personal and professional connection to music. His long collaboration with U2 extended far beyond directing Rattle and Hum, and he continued making music videos for the band for many years.
His work also brought him into creative relationships with Tom Petty, Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.
Filmmaking remains central to his interests. His professional portfolio demonstrates a particular attraction to music, drama, crime stories, youth-oriented narratives and visually distinctive projects. He has also explored horror, comedy and autobiographical storytelling.
Joanou has continued expanding his creative interests beyond directing.
His 2023 novel It Just Happened allowed him to explore a coming-of-age story in written form rather than film, demonstrating that his interest in storytelling has continued beyond traditional Hollywood production.
He was previously married to record executive Kate Hyman in 1992. His semi-autobiographical 1999 film Entropy was loosely based on his past relationships, featuring a short-lived marriage and a long-term relationship with a model.
Joanou is an avid photographer. He shoots extensive street and portrait photography, capturing portfolios from across the globe in cities like Shanghai and Washington D.C.
Net Worth
Phil Joanou‘s net worth is $5 million. His income has come from feature-film directing, television directing, documentary filmmaking, music-video production, commercial directing, photography, writing and other film-industry work.
His extensive advertising portfolio and long association with major music artists have also formed important parts of his professional career.
Filmography
- Three O’Clock High (1987) — Director
- U2: Rattle and Hum (1988) — Director
- State of Grace (1990) — Director
- Final Analysis (1992) — Director
- Heaven’s Prisoners (1996) — Director
- Entropy (1999) — Director and writer
- Gridiron Gang (2006) — Director
- Chris Tucker Live (2015) — Director
- The Veil (2016) — Director
- Age 7 in America (1991) — Director
What People Ask
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