Chris Moukarbel

Moukarbel in 2025

Chris Moukarbel is an American film director, writer, producer, and contemporary artist,[1] who runs the production company Permanent Wave Productions.[2] His first feature documentary Me at the Zoo premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival in 2012[3] and was acquired by HBO Documentaries.[4] The film charts the rise of YouTube and tells the story of an early viral Internet celebrity, Chris Crocker of “Leave Britney Alone!” fame. Moukarbel was approached by Sheila Nevins to direct[5] the documentary Banksy Does New York for HBO.

He is also the creator and director of the HBO series Sex On // which takes a look at sex and relationships in the Information age. It was conceived as a reboot of the classic show Real Sex.[6][7][8] His work often explores technology and identity.[9]

Moukarbel directed and produced the film Gaga: Five Foot Two.[10][11] It premiered at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival and was acquired by Netflix. His documentary Wig explores the New York City drag queen scene and the drag festival Wigstock. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 4, 2019, and premiered on June 18 on HBO.[12] His first narrative feature film Cypher premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival where it won the award for best U.S. Narrative Feature. The screenplay for Cypher was later collected by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Library.

Moukarbel produced the HBO film Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play. through his company Permanent Wave Productions.[13] Moukarbel premiered his film The Honey Trap on Dec 6, 2024 on Paramount+. In August 2025 Moukarbel signed a first look deal between his company and Madrid-based Secuoya Studios.[14]

Art

Moukarbel made art videos and contemporary art while living in New York.[1] His best known video art project World Trade Center was made as part of his graduate school thesis at Yale School of Art. Moukarbel acquired a bootleg script for a then upcoming Oliver Stone film World Trade Center and he shot his own version using student actors. The short film was released freely on the internet as a way to pre-empt the Stone film and caused a highly publicized lawsuit by Paramount Pictures.[15]

In a New York Times article about the art project, Moukarbel said in the interview "My film was offered free on the Internet… It cost $1,000 to produce. We're at a place now where technology allows the democratization of storytelling. Through their access and budget they're able to affect a lot of people's ideas about an event and also affect policy. I was deliberately using their script and pre-empting their release to make a statement about power."[16] After Paramount blocked the distribution of the video it continued to be shown at Witte de With Institute of Contemporary art who refused to comply with the court order.

His artwork has shown at Marianne Boesky Gallery,[17] Air de Paris, Witte de with[18] and Wallspace gallery among others.

Music videos

Moukarbel co-directed the REM music video Everyday is Yours to Win,[19] The Drums, I Felt Stupid[20] and Joan as Police Woman's Start of my Heart.[21]

Accolades

Award Year Category Nominee(s) Result
2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards[22] 2018 Best Music Documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two Won
2015 News & Documentary Emmy Awards[23] 2015 Outstanding Arts and Cultural Programming Banksy Does New York Nominated
2023 Tribeca Film Festival[24] 2023 Best U.S. Narrative Feature Cypher Won

Personal life

Moukarbel was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Lebanese parents and lives between Los Angeles and New York.[25] He attended Corcoran School of Art and Yale School of Art.[26] Chris Moukarbel was in a relationship with Jake Shears, the frontman of the band Scissor Sisters from 2004 to 2015.

References

  1. 1 2 ""Introducing Chris Moukarbel" Interview Magazine, September 29, 2010". Archived from the original on August 25, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 19, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ ""Meet the filmmaker: Me at the Zoo's Chris Moukarbel" Sundance.tv". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  4. ↑ Peter Knegt, "HBO Buys Sundance Doc 'Me @the Zoo'" Indiewire, January 17, 2012 Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "Interview: "Banksy Does New York" Director Chris Moukarbel Talks Creating a Crowd-Sourced Film and the Allure of the Infamous Street Artist" Complex.com Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine}
  6. ↑ ""HBO Sex Now Gets inside the World of Cam Girls" Vice Magazine". Archived from the original on August 9, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  7. ↑ ""The Scintillating Details Behind HBO's New Docuseries 'SEX // NOW,' Debuting January 2014" Indiewire". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  8. ↑ ""Interactive Gets a New Meaning"". Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  9. ↑ "About: Chris Moukarbel" Archived August 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "Toronto Film Review in "Variety"". Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Film Review in "Vanity Fair"". Archived from the original on March 17, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Wig | Documentaries". Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 16, 2024. Retrieved June 30, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 25, 2025. Retrieved October 27, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ↑ ""Paramount sues over 9/11 Internet film" USA Today". Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  16. ↑ ""An Artist Releases a New Film After Paramount Blocks His First" New York Times". Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  17. ↑ Marianne Boesky Gallery, October 26 – November 25, 2006.
  18. ↑ ""Witte de With : Event : Don Quixote"". Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  19. ↑ ""R.E.M. Recruits James Franco, Albert Maysles to Helm 'Collapse Into Now' Videos" Billboard.com". Archived from the original on December 17, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  20. ↑ "The Drums on Athletics, Their New Video" Interview Magazine
  21. ↑ ""Interrogation: Joan as Police Woman" Interview Magazine". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  22. ↑ Atkinson, Katie (June 18, 2018). "MTV Movie & TV Awards 2018: Complete Winners List". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  23. ↑ "36th News & Documentary Emmy Nominees" Archived July 28, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Emmyonline.com
  24. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (June 15, 2023). "Tribeca Festival: 'Cypher,' 'A Strange Path,' 'Between the Rains' Top Competition Award Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  25. ↑ Harris, Jeremy (2017). "How Lady Gaga Captured America's Queer Imagination". Vice. Archived from the original on May 16, 2025.
  26. ↑ ""Introducing Chris Moukarbel" Interview Magazine". Archived from the original on August 25, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
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