---
name: "Josh Greenbaum"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/josh-greenbaum"
fi1m_id: "josh-greenbaum"
imdb_id: "nm2307949"
tmdb_id: 1152054
wikidata_id: "Q23984517"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "15 February 1979"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 69
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-03T03:40:41.271829+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."
---

# Josh Greenbaum

## Identity

Josh Greenbaum

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/josh-greenbaum
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** josh-greenbaum
- **IMDb ID:** nm2307949
- **TMDB ID:** 1152054
- **Wikidata ID:** Q23984517
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Greenbaum, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23984517, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2307949/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1152054

Director and producer. Born 15 February 1979 in Saratoga Springs, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 15 February 1979, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA
- **Active:** 2011–present
- **Also known as:** Джош Гринбаум
- **Frequently works with:** [Jake Johnson](https://film.one/person/jake-johnson.md), [Will Ferrell](https://film.one/person/will-ferrell.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 69, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 80 (1), 2020s 66 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 69 to 69 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 4, Adventure 1, Documentary 1, Sport 1
- **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $32m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Greenbaum, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23984517, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2307949/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1152054

## Coming up

- *Spaceballs: The New One* (2027-04-22), Director

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*New Girl*](https://film.one/tv/new-girl.md) (80)
- **Netflix:** [*Will & Harper*](https://film.one/film/will-and-harper.md) (78)
- **Peacock:** [*Strays*](https://film.one/film/strays.md) (60)
- **Apple TV:** [*The Dink*](https://film.one/film/the-dink.md) (59)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Josh Greenbaum

> Josh Greenbaum takes foolish characters seriously, which gives his broad comedies an unexpected sweetness. We like that generosity, but *Strays* exposes how little it can do when the same few jokes keep coming round.

A Great Dane wearing a plastic cone gazes into the lens in *Strays* (2023), and Josh Greenbaum holds the shot. We laughed because he gives us time to look at the animal before anyone starts talking. That patience is one of his useful comic instincts, although the rest of the film is rather less willing to leave a good thing alone.

His route into feature comedy ran through television and documentaries. His television credits include *New Girl* (2011), a programme we rate for its friendships rather than its overworked romantic plotting. His feature documentaries began with *The Short Game* (2013), followed by *Becoming Bond* (2017) and *Too Funny to Fail* (2017). The last of those, about *The Dana Carvey Show*, makes the move into narrative comedy seem less of a departure.

*Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar* (2021) was his first narrative feature, written by and starring Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo. Its silliness came with a sincerity that caught us off guard. Greenbaum’s willingness to let comedians play the drama straight and allow the circumstances to be funny helps explain why that combination works.

*Strays* keeps that affection but loses the invention. Tim Orr shoots the real dogs at their height in ordinary suburban daylight, borrowing the look of the wholesome dog films Greenbaum is mocking. Aaron Osborne’s production design makes the city scruffy enough for the dogs to belong there. Those choices work, but the same few jokes keep returning until the pleasure wears off. The friendship remains sweet, which makes the lack of fresh material more frustrating.

*Will & Harper* (2024), a road-trip documentary with Will Ferrell, took him back to non-fiction. His collaborative approach gives actors and documentary subjects room to improvise, a useful habit provided someone also knows when there is nothing more to gain from a joke. Start with *Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar*; approach *Strays* with a tolerance for repetition.

## Biography

Josh Greenbaum is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He was born on 15 February 1979 in Saratoga Springs, New York, and studied at Cornell University and the University of Oxford before dropping out of the MFA programme at the University of Southern California to pursue a career in film.

Greenbaum is known for his work in both documentary and narrative features. His documentary *The Short Game* (2013) won the SXSW Audience Award and was acquired by Netflix. He also directed *Becoming Bond* (2017), *Too Funny to Fail* and the Peabody Award-winning *Will & Harper* (2024). His narrative feature debut was *Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar* (2021), and he directed the comedy *Strays* (2023).

He has directed episodes of television series including *New Girl*, *Fresh Off the Boat* and *Single Parents*. Greenbaum has won an Emmy Award, an MTV Movie Award and a CINE Golden Eagle Award.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *The Dink* (2026), Fi1m 59, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-dink.md)
- *Will & Harper* (2024), Fi1m 78, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/will-and-harper.md)
- *Strays* (2023), Fi1m 60, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/strays.md)
- *New Girl* (2011), Fi1m 80, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/new-girl.md)

## Complete filmography (34)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Spaceballs: The New One* (2027), Director, Producer
- *The Dink* (2026), Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 59, [page](https://film.one/film/the-dink.md)
- *Playing POTUS* (2026), Director, Producer
- *Summer of '94* (2026), Executive Producer
- *Will & Harper* (2024), Director, Producer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/will-and-harper.md)
- *Strays* (2023), Director — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/strays.md)
- *Behind the Mac: Skywalker Sound* (2022), Director
- *Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar* (2021), Director
- *The Playbook* (2020), series, Director, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Bless This Mess* (2019), series, Director
- *Kristen Bell Sings Ultimate Back-to-School Anthem* (2018), Director
- *Single Parents* (2018), series, Director
- *Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show* (2017), Director, Producer, Writer
- *Becoming Bond* (2017), Director, Writer, Producer
- *RocketJump: The Show* (2015), series, Consulting Producer
- *Arnold Schwarzenegger's Guide to Blowing Sh*T Up* (2015), Director
- *Fresh Off the Boat* (2015), series, Director
- *Max & Shred* (2014), series, Writer, Creator
- *Deadbeat* (2014), series, Director
- *Behind the Mask* (2013), series, Director, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator
- *The Short Game* (2013), Director, Producer
- *The Neighbors* (2012), series, Director
- *Kristen Wiig's Global Warming Solution* (2011), Director
- *Ricky and Ravi (Are in Between Jobs)* (2011), Director, Executive Producer, Writer
- *New Girl* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/new-girl.md)
- *Svetlana* (2010), series, Director
- *Atom TV* (2008), series, Director, Writer, Producer
- *Sole Mates* (2007), Director, Writer
- *The Art of Cool* (2007), Director, Writer
- *Walking for the Stars: The Foley Artistry of Nancy Anne Cianci* (2007), Director, Writer
- *The Morning Routine* (2007), Director, Writer
- *Border Patrol* (2007), Director, Executive Producer, Writer
- *The Beginning and the End* (2007), Director, Writer
- *Care Bears*, Director

## Gallery

- ![Josh Greenbaum](https://film.one/media/person/16090/gallery-dbec8a0eb9d6.jpg) Josh Greenbaum — Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Josh_Greenbaum_at_San_Diego_Comic_Con_2026.jpg/1280px-Josh_Greenbaum_at_San_Diego_Comic_Con_2026.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Josh Greenbaum](https://film.one/media/person/16090/gallery-7fff03fb875f.jpg) Josh Greenbaum — Image via TMDB

---
© 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/josh-greenbaum