--- name: "Joe Chappelle" canonical: "https://film.one/person/joe-chappelle" fi1m_id: "joe-chappelle" imdb_id: "nm0152640" tmdb_id: 55116 wikidata_id: "Q1381885" roles: ["Director","Producer"] born: "1 January 2000" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 79 average_as: "director" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-09-24T21:53:12.966221+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Joe Chappelle ## Identity Joe Chappelle - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joe-chappelle - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** joe-chappelle - **IMDb ID:** nm0152640 - **TMDB ID:** 55116 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1381885 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Chappelle, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1381885, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0152640/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/55116 Director and producer. Born 1 January 2000 in New Jersey, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Producer - **Born:** 1 January 2000, New Jersey, USA - **Active:** 2002–present - **Also known as:** 조 채플 - **Frequently works with:** [Jim McKay](https://film.one/person/jim-mckay.md), [Dennis Lehane](https://film.one/person/dennis-lehane.md), [Anthony Hemingway](https://film.one/person/anthony-hemingway.md), [Brad Anderson](https://film.one/person/brad-anderson.md), [Greg Kinnear](https://film.one/person/greg-kinnear.md), [Guy Ferland](https://film.one/person/guy-ferland.md), [John Polson](https://film.one/person/john-polson.md), [Jon Cassar](https://film.one/person/jon-cassar.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 79, as director, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 85 (2), 2020s 73 (2) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 79 to 72 across 4 titles - **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Genres:** Drama 4, Crime 3, Mystery 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1 - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Chappelle, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1381885, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0152640/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/55116 ## Streaming the US now - **Apple TV:** [*Black Bird*](https://film.one/tv/black-bird.md) (78), [*Smoke*](https://film.one/tv/smoke.md) (68) - **HBO Max:** [*The Wire*](https://film.one/tv/the-wire.md) (90) - **Disney+:** [*Fringe*](https://film.one/tv/fringe.md) (80) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Joe Chappelle > Joe Chappelle is a capable television director whose images can hold our attention after a story has begun to drag. We value his visual assurance in *Smoke*, with reservations about the drama it serves. The fires in *Smoke* (2025) are disturbingly attractive. We felt uneasy about wanting to keep watching them, because the cinematography makes burning so compelling in a story about arson. François Dagenais and Sam McCurdy deserve their share of the credit, as do Chappelle’s fellow directors Jim McKay and Kari Skogland. Chappelle directed five of the nine episodes, a substantial contribution to a series whose images remain forceful even when the investigation loses momentum. We would give him credit for that confidence without pretending it belongs to him alone. His route to this work began with *Thieves Quartet* (1994), an independent feature he wrote and directed, followed by studio horror including *Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers* (1995). Television became his principal work in the early 2000s. On David Simon’s *The Wire* (2002), he directed six episodes and was co-executive producer on seasons three to five. Producing and directing roles on *CSI: Miami* (2002) and *Fringe* (2008) continued that commitment to working within an established programme. That work asks for the kind of visual and tonal consistency we recognise in *Smoke*. He returned to writing and directing features with *An Acceptable Loss* (2019), but his career has largely remained in television. *Smoke* is a fair warning about the limits of that steady craftsmanship. Jeremy Stanbridge’s production design gives the series carefully finished surroundings without telling us much about the people occupying them. The images hold their force, yet the arson investigation becomes repetitive over nine episodes. Taron Egerton and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine make the stronger case for staying with *Smoke*. Their performances are the main reason we would suggest it to someone interested in the subject, though they cannot cure its repetitions. The direction alone would not persuade us to commit to all nine episodes. We would follow Chappelle into another crime drama, preferably one with fewer hours to fill. ## Biography Joe Chappelle is an American director, producer and screenwriter of film and television. Born in 1961 in New Jersey, he began working in the industry in the early 1990s. He is known for directing episodes of the HBO series *The Wire* (2002–2008), on which he also served as co-executive producer for several seasons. His other directing credits include episodes of *Fringe* (2008–2012), *CSI: Miami* (2002–2009), *Chicago Fire* (2012–), *Godfather of Harlem* (2019–2023), *Black Bird* (2022) and *Tulsa King* (2022–). He directed the feature film *An Acceptable Loss* (2018). Chappelle directed five episodes and was an executive producer on the 2025 series *Smoke*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *Smoke* (2025), Fi1m 68, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/smoke.md) - *Black Bird* (2022), Fi1m 78, Director, Consulting Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/black-bird.md) - *Fringe* (2008), Fi1m 80, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/fringe.md) - *The Wire* (2002), Fi1m 90, Director, Producer, Co-Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-wire.md) ## Complete filmography (26) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Smoke* (2025), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/smoke.md) - *Tulsa King* (2022), series, Director - *Black Bird* (2022), series, Director, Consulting Producer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/black-bird.md) - *Godfather of Harlem* (2019), series, Director - *An Acceptable Loss* (2019), Director, Writer - *Manifest* (2018), series, Director - *Princess Cyd* (2017), Associate Producer - *Chicago Med* (2015), series, Executive Producer - *HALLOWEEN 6: PRODUCER'S CUT* (2014), Director - *Chicago P.D.* (2014), series, Director - *Chicago Fire* (2012), series, Director - *Fringe* (2008), series, Director, Producer — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/fringe.md) - *Already Dead* (2007), Screenplay - *CSI: NY* (2004), series, Director - *CSI: Miami* (2002), series, Director - *The Twilight Zone* (2002), series, Director - *The Wire* (2002), series, Director, Producer, Co-Executive Producer — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-wire.md) - *The Skulls II* (2002), Director - *The Agency* (2001), series, Director - *Wolf Lake* (2001), series, Director - *Witchblade* (2001), series, Director - *Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula* (2000), Director - *Takedown* (2000), Director - *Phantoms* (1998), Director - *Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers* (1995), Director - *Thieves Quartet* (1993), Director, Writer --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/joe-chappelle