John Hamburg
Upbeat, positive and fun, and John Hamburg, talks philosophy (“I see my world through humor,”) how he writes his box offices smashes and his family life. This writer/director, who has created such comedic hits as “Meet the Parents,” “Meet the Fockers,” “Little Fockers,” “Zoolander,” “Night School,” and “I Love You Man”; the latter, starring Jason Segel and Paul Rudd, and, “Along Came Polly,” (Jennifer Aniston), “Why Him?” with Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg, is also the comedic genius behind upcoming projects soon to debut, one of which has a divorce theme to it. Host Glass offers to help him on the technical side! Married to actress, Kristina Birk for 20 years, he tells the viewers that it is like values, strong communication, and making one another laugh (always at the same things), are the keys to his thriving marriage. John Hamburg shares his outlook on making films—not born out of just an idea—it’s the exploration of the character and that person’s story that drives him to follow the path to offering up audience-pleasing films, and what to do when going through a breakout to keep your perspective by indulging in humor. Comments from those who have watched this interview describe Hamburg as “authentic, down-to-earth, and downright joyful.”
John Hamburg
BIOGRAPHY
John Hamburg was born and raised in New York City. He began making short films while in high school, and later at Brown University, then at New York University’s Graduate Film Program.
After writing and directing his debut feature, the cult comedy “Safe Men” which starred Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn, Paul Giamatti and Mark Ruffalo, Hamburg went on to write and direct the romantic comedy “Along Came Polly” starring Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston and Philip Seymour Hoffman. He wrote, directed and produced “I Love You, Man” starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel and Rashida Jones, as well as “Why Him?” starring Bryan Cranston, James Franco and Zoey Deutch. In 2022, Hamburg wrote, directed and produced the original Netflix movie “Me Time” with Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg and Regina Hall.
Hamburg’s screenwriting credits include the comedies “Meet The Parents,” “Meet The Fockers,” “Zoolander” and “Night School.”
Hamburg has also worked extensively in television, directing multiple pilots and episodes of shows including “New Girl” and “The Unicorn,” starring Walton Goggins, on which he was also an Executive Producer. Most recently, he directed the last two episodes of Season 1 of the upcoming Apple TV show, “Stick,” starring Owen Wilson.
Through his company, Particular Pictures, Hamburg is developing various film and television projects across multiple studios.
