The World Is Waiting For Feature Film Debut From Greatest TV Director

For those who are unaware, Hiro Murai is a Japanese-American director best known for his collaborations with Donald Glover. Though he directed a number of music videos over the course of the late 2000s and early 2010s for acts such as B.O.B., Usher, Enrique Iglesias, and more, Murai didn’t gain mainstream appeal until taking on such projects as Glover’s Clapping For The Wrong Reasons short, as well as video installments for “3005” and “Sweatpants” under Glover’s Childish Gambino moniker.

To date, Hiro Murai’s magnum opus in the field of music videos is surely Childish Gambino’s 2018 smash-hit “This Is America,” which garnered massive critical acclaim for its groundbreaking visuals.

While his accolades in the field of music videos are impressive enough on their own, Hiro Murai’s artistry truly shines on television productions, most notably those that include his trademark blend of absurd surrealism. Murai has directed episodes of shows such as Legion, Snowfall, and HBO’s Barry, with his biggest TV accomplishment being Donald Glover’s FX original series Atlanta. Hiro Murai served as a producer for the entirety of Atlanta‘s 4 season run, and directed 26 episodes in total, including the pilot and finale.

Once Atlanta concluded in 2022, Hiro Murai continued working with Donald Glover on projects such as Amazon Prime’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and his latest music video “Little Foot Big Foot,” all while serving as an executive producer for another spectacular FX series, The Bear. At this time, Hiro Murai has not directed any episodes of The Bear, though fans of the filmmaker can certainly see Murai’s fingerprints all over the show in its tone, visual language, and artsy exploration of chaos and trauma.

According to Hiro Murai’s IMDb, he currently has no upcoming projects slated to release this year as a director. While he’s surely got something cooking up behind the scenes, it seems as though Murai has become comfortable in his role as a producer, as his name is attached to two upcoming feature films in a behind-the-scenes capacity. One film, titled Strobe, appears to be a feature-length adaptation of Taylor Cohen’s 2019 short of the same name, though very little is known about the project at this time.

Hiro Murai’s other upcoming endeavor as a producer is Nick Rowland-directed feature titled She Rides Shotgun. The film, which is currently in post-production, is set to star Kingsman‘s Taron Egerton, alongside such performers as John Carroll Lynch, David Lyons, Jamie Bernadette, Rob Yang, and Odessa A’zion.

While I’m definitely curious to see how each of these new projects come out, I hope Murai isn’t content to remain in the producer role permanently, as no other director working today seems to have his eye for intense surrealism, eye-popping camera work, and visual flair.