Bob Giraldi

Bob Giraldi is an American filmmaker and one of the most prolific commercial directors of the late twentieth and early twenty‑first centuries. Born Robert Nicholas Giraldi on January 17, 1939 in Paterson, New Jersey, he grew up in a working‑class Italian‑American family and graduated from the Pratt Institute with a BFA in 1960, where he studied under Herschel Levit. After a brief stint as a graphic designer for General Motors, he spent nine years as an art director at Young & Rubicam and Della Femmna & Partners, sharpening a visual language that would later define his advertising work. In 1965 he began teaching advertising at the School of Visual Arts, eventually becoming chairman of the Advertising Department and later the founding chair of the Masters in Film Directing program. 1970 marked the launch of Giraldi Productions, through which he has created and directed close to 5,000 commercials, music videos and short films, earning dozens of Clio, Cannes, London International and Addy awards and a historic induction into both the Art Directors Hall of Fame and the Advertising Hall of Fame. His breakthrough in music video direction came with Michael Jackson’s iconic “Beat It” (1983), a project that showcased his ability to blend narrative grit with pop culture choreography; he subsequently directed pioneering videos such as Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield,” Lionel Richie’s “Hello,” and the duet “Say Say Say” with Jackson and Paul McCartney. Giraldi’s film career includes the cult comedy National Lampoon’s Movie Madness (1983), Club Med (1985) and the critically acclaimed Dinner Rush (2000), the latter filmed in his own Tribeca restaurant Gigino and praised by Roger Ebert as one of the best films of the decade. Beyond the screen, he is a seasoned restaurateur, co‑owning venues such as Jo‑Jo, Gigino, BREAD Tribeca and Prime, and he co‑founded StarChefs.com in 1995. Married to Patti Greaney, he is the father of four children and continues to influence advertising, cinema and culinary culture through his production company Giraldi Media.