Damien Sayre Chazelle (/ʃəˈzɛl/; born January 19, 1985) is a French-American filmmaker. He directed the psychological drama Whiplash (2014), the musical romance La La Land (2016), the biographical drama First Man (2018), and the period black comedy Babylon (2022). For Whiplash, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. His biggest commercial success came with La La Land, nominated for 14 Academy Awards, winning six, including Best Director, making him the youngest person to win the award at age 32. He has also directed two episodes of the Netflix limited series The Eddy (2020). Description above from the Wikipedia article Damien Chazelle, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 19, 1985 (41)
- Providence, Rhode Island, USA
- Writer, director, producer and actor, also cinematographer and editor
- 16 on MovieCove · 23 credits in all
What are Damien Chazelle's films like?
Across their 13 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Society.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 11
A split, not a type: Light 3 · Serious 4 · Dark 5
A split, not a type: Grounded 8 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 2
A split, not a type: Gentle 3 · Charged 3 · Intense 6
A split, not a type: Steady 6 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 2
Straight-faced 9 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 0
A split, not a type: Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 5
Casual 3 · Engaged 7 · Full focus 2
Easy watch 3 · Affecting 5 · Heavy 4
Resolved 6 · Open-ended 4 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet9
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Damien Chazelle's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 9 of their 16 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Paramount+ (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Damien Chazelle's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
23 credits, 16 with a MovieCove page; 12 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Heart of the Beast(2026)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
DRUMMER (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Hollywood Babylon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Mr. Jimmy(2023)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Babylon(2022)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
The Eddy(2020)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all shows
First Man(2018)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Cam(2018)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
Dead Pigs(2018)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
La La Land(2016)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
10 Cloverfield Lane(2016)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
Whiplash(2014)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Grand Piano(2013)
Midcredits score: 40th percentile of all films
Cold Comes the Night(2013)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 3rd percentile of all films
Whiplash (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
Beeswax(2009)
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all filmsEvel Knievel on Tour (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Sacrifice (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The Claim (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Untitled Matthew Vaughn Musical (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 23 titles, 19 of them dated from 2009 to 2026.
Biggest box office
La La Land (2016)
Highest rated
Whiplash (2014)
Most popular right now
Heart of the Beast (2026)
By role
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
an Oscar, 2 Golden Globes, a BAFTA Award and 6 other major awards from 25 major nominations, 2013–2023.
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Director
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Director
- Venice award, nominated · Best Film
- Oscar, won · Best Achievement in Directing
- Oscar, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
- Golden Globe, won · Best Director - Motion Picture
- Golden Globe, won · Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
- BAFTA Award, won
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Screenplay (Original)
+2 other major bodies · 1 win and 1 nomination
- Directors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
- Venice award, nominated · Best Film
- Critics Choice Award, won · Best Director
- Critics Choice Award, won · Best Original Screenplay
- Oscar, nominated · Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
- BAFTA Award, nominated
+3 other major bodies · 3 nominations
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Original Screenplay
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Director
- Cannes award, nominated
- Sundance award, won ×2 · Dramatic
- Sundance award, won · Fiction
- Sundance award, nominated
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Damien Chazelle's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 74th percentile, the median of all 15; across their 12 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 85th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up7
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 16 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved2
- Universally Panned1
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Broadly Agreed4
- Mixed4
Reviewers score the dialogue 54/100 and the plot and story 42/100 in their films, across 10 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Damien Chazelle's work okay for kids?
Across up to 8 MovieCove titles with content scores, frightening / intense runs heavier than most films and sex & nudity lighter.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Damien Chazelle work with?
People who share at least 2 of Damien Chazelle's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Justin Hurwitz shares the most, 5.
Directors
- Francesco ZippelShared titles: Sergio Leone - L'italiano che inventò l'America (2022), Friedkin Uncut (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Francesco Zippel
Actors
- Brad PittShared titles: Heart of the Beast (2026), Babylon (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Brad Pitt
- Francis Ford CoppolaShared titles: Tribeca 25 (2026), Friedkin Uncut (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Francis Ford Coppola
- J.K. SimmonsShared titles: Heart of the Beast (2026), Whiplash (2014)See all 2 shared titles with J.K. Simmons
- Martin ScorseseShared titles: Tribeca 25 (2026), Sergio Leone - L'italiano che inventò l'America (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Martin Scorsese
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Justin HurwitzShared titles: Babylon (2022), First Man (2018), La La Land (2016), Whiplash (2014), Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009)See all 5 shared titles with Justin Hurwitz
- Tom CrossShared titles: Babylon (2022), First Man (2018), La La Land (2016), Whiplash (2014)See all 4 shared titles with Tom Cross
- Linus SandgrenShared titles: Babylon (2022), First Man (2018), La La Land (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Linus Sandgren
- Marco TomaselliShared titles: Sergio Leone - L'italiano che inventò l'America (2022), Friedkin Uncut (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Marco Tomaselli
Producers
- Olivia HamiltonShared titles: Heart of the Beast (2026), Babylon (2022), First Man (2018)See all 3 shared titles with Olivia Hamilton
- Marty BowenShared titles: Heart of the Beast (2026), First Man (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Marty Bowen
- Carlo Alberto OrecchiaShared titles: Sergio Leone - L'italiano che inventò l'America (2022), Friedkin Uncut (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Carlo Alberto Orecchia
- Federica PanicciaShared titles: Sergio Leone - L'italiano che inventò l'America (2022), Friedkin Uncut (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Federica Paniccia
