Bob Byington

Bob Byington is an American director, screenwriter and actor. He grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and attended the University of California, Santa Cruz before earning a master's in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. He directed his first film, Shameless, in 1996, then Olympia in 1998, which opened the South by Southwest Film Festival. After a decade-long break, he made RSO (Registered Sex Offender) in 2008, Harmony and Me in 2009, and Somebody Up There Likes Me in 2012, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival. His other films include 7 Chinese Brothers (2015), Infinity Baby (2017), Frances Ferguson (2019), and Lousy Carter (2023). His work has been described as literate, bawdy, sardonic and quirky, and Roger Ebert praised his comic timing. In 2009 Michael Moore presented him with the Stanley Kubrick Award for his bold and innovative filmmaking.