Bob Giraldi has produced and directed over 4,000 unique visual marketing and advertising pieces for some of the world’s leading brands including Toyota and McDonald’s. He directed one of the longest advertising campaigns in history (“Tastes Great, Less Filling”) for Miller Lite. In 2014, he was the first commercial director to be elected to the Advertising Hall of Fame. He has also directed classic music videos and acclaimed films.

Bob’s work resides in the permanent collection of Museum of Modern Art and he earned the distinction of being named as one of “101 Stars Behind 100 Years of Advertising.” He has been inducted into the NY Art Director’s Hall of Fame, one of the few film directors to be honored. He runs his own production company, Giraldi Media, out of New York and Los Angeles, with a network of other renowned commercial directors connected through it.

A pioneer in music videos, his narrative and musical storytelling abilities were first seen in Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, as the video swept the country and won numerous awards including that year’s coveted American Music Award, the Billboard Music Award and the People’s Choice Award. Working with other music luminaries such as Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Ricky Martin, Pat Benatar, Diana Ross, Hall & Oates and Will Smith, he continued to win acclaim and define the future of the medium.

His feature film “Dinner Rush” appeared on a number of 2001’s Top 10 lists and was selected for the prestigious New Directors/New Films Series at MoMA.  Among its many awards, “Dinner Rush” was also listed by Roger Ebert as “One of the Best 100 Films in the Last 10 Years”. The film has earned its reputation as the original inspiration for the galaxy of food shows that crowd the media landscape of today.

He has also nurtured a passion for making short films and he’s proved both prolific and acclaimed with the array of short stories he’s brought to the screen over the past two decades. His short film, “The Routine”, premiered at Sundance and won Best Drama at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. Another short, “Second-Guessing Grandma,” won the Jury Award for Short Narrative at the 27th Chicago International Film Festival.

If his multifaceted media career hasn’t kept him busy enough, he has also helped to develop some of New York’s most popular and celebrated restaurants including JoJo, Jean-Georges, and Vong.  In 1995, Giraldi and his executive producer, Patti Greaney, created StarChefs.com, featuring celebrity chefs and cookbook authors. It continues to be the foremost website used by professionals and food aficionados.

Mr. Giraldi has been on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts for over thirty years. He is currently Chair of SVA’s Masters in Directing program.

bob-giraldi.com

Headshot image credit:  Patti Greaney