---
name: "Valerie Faris"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/valerie-faris"
fi1m_id: "valerie-faris"
imdb_id: "nm0267512"
tmdb_id: 16960
wikidata_id: "Q13644887"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "20 October 1958"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "director"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-30T22:48:16.222557+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."
---

# Valerie Faris

## Identity

Valerie Faris

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/valerie-faris
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** valerie-faris
- **IMDb ID:** nm0267512
- **TMDB ID:** 16960
- **Wikidata ID:** Q13644887
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Faris, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13644887, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0267512/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/16960

Director and producer. Born 20 October 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 20 October 1958, Los Angeles, California, USA
- **Active:** 2006–present
- **Also known as:** Valerie Jean Faris
- **Frequently works with:** [Jonathan Dayton](https://film.one/person/jonathan-dayton.md)
- **BAFTA Film Awards:** 1 BAFTA nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as director, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 78 (1), 2020s 66 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 70 to 71 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Comedy 2, Sport 1
- **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $101m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Faris, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13644887, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0267512/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/16960

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Fleishman Is in Trouble*](https://film.one/tv/fleishman-is-in-trouble.md) (74)
- **Apple TV:** [*Stick*](https://film.one/tv/stick.md) (58)

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

## Fi1m on Valerie Faris

> Valerie Faris is good at giving awkward people room to be funny without dismissing them. Working with Jonathan Dayton, she gets persuasive performances from an ensemble, even when *Little Miss Sunshine* over-explains its lessons about success.

In *Little Miss Sunshine* (2006), Greg Kinnear makes Richard Hoover difficult company without making him unbearable. Toni Collette's Sheryl supplies the practical sense the family needs, while Paul Dano's Dwayne remains part of it even when he would rather not be. Faris and Jonathan Dayton give those differences time to cause friction. We laughed at the family arguments because so little provocation was needed to set them going. That patience with people is the strongest reason to seek out her work.

The route to that feature debut ran through music videos and commercials in the 1980s. *Ruby Sparks* (2012) followed, taking creativity and authorship into a romantic comedy-drama, then *Battle of the Sexes* (2017) turned to the tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Their later television work includes episodes of *Living with Yourself* (2019) and *Fleishman Is in Trouble* (2022). Across different subjects, they remain reluctant to turn difficult people into simple villains.

Faris and Dayton have no fixed division of labour, so assigning the kindness to one and the jokes to the other would be guesswork. Editor Pamela Martin has worked with them on three films. Their use of improvisation and actor input suits an ensemble such as that of *Little Miss Sunshine*, where Kinnear and Collette keep their characters from becoming collections of eccentricities. The family still has to travel together after each argument, which gives the actors something to play beyond the next joke.

The weakness is how explicitly *Little Miss Sunshine* explains itself. The script assigns its characters difficulties rather efficiently, and the journey sometimes becomes too convenient for them. Faris and Dayton's patience keeps much of this tolerable, but the insistence on telling us what to think about winning makes the comedy less convincing. There is enough to recognise in these relatives without having their significance pointed out. We would start with *Little Miss Sunshine* for the family arguments, accepting that it occasionally stops to explain a lesson we had already understood.

## Biography

Valerie Faris is an American film and television director who works in partnership with her husband Jonathan Dayton. They began their careers directing music videos for artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M. and the Smashing Pumpkins, as well as commercials and episodes of the HBO series Mr. Show with Bob and David. Faris, the daughter of film editor Jim Faris, met Dayton while studying at UCLA.

Their feature directorial debut was the comedy *Little Miss Sunshine* (2006). They later directed the romantic comedy-drama *Ruby Sparks* (2012) and the biographical sports film *Battle of the Sexes* (2017). Their television work includes the Netflix series *Living with Yourself* (2019) and episodes of the Hulu series *Fleishman Is in Trouble* (2022).

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

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Stick* (2025), Fi1m 58, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/stick.md)
- *Fleishman Is in Trouble* (2022), Fi1m 74, Executive Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/fleishman-is-in-trouble.md)
- *Little Miss Sunshine* (2006), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/little-miss-sunshine.md)

## Complete filmography (21)

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

- *Stick* (2025), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/tv/stick.md)
- *Fleishman Is in Trouble* (2022), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/fleishman-is-in-trouble.md)
- *Living with Yourself* (2019), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Battle of the Sexes* (2017), Director
- *Highston* (2015), series, Creator
- *Ruby Sparks* (2012), Director
- *Little Miss Sunshine* (2006), Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/little-miss-sunshine.md)
- *The Offspring - Complete Music Video Collection* (2005), Director
- *The Check Up* (2005), Director
- *Janet Jackson: From Janet. To Damita Jo: The Videos* (2004), Director
- *Weezer: Video Capture Device - Treasures from the Vault 1991-2002* (2004), Director
- *R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.)* (2003), Director
- *The Smashing Pumpkins - Greatest Hits Video Collection* (2001), Director
- *Making the Video* (1999), series, Director
- *The Smashing Pumpkins: 1979* (1996), Director
- *Mr. Show with Bob and David* (1995), series, Director
- *R.E.M.: Rough Cut* (1995), Director, Producer
- *Janet Jackson: janet.* (1994), Actor
- *The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow* (1993), Director
- *Shadrach* (1989), Director
- *The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years* (1988), Producer

## Gallery

- ![Valerie Faris](https://film.one/media/person/99174/gallery-182c08c25142.jpg) Valerie Faris — Bex Walton from London, England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Simon_Beaufoy%2C_Valerie_Faris%2C_Jonathan_Dayton%2C_Elisabeth_Shue%2C_Andrea_Riseborough%2C_Emma_Stone_and_Billie_Jean_King_at_Battle_of_the_Sexes%2C_London_%2837526182652%29.jpg/1280px-thumbnail.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Valerie Faris](https://film.one/media/person/99174/gallery-734c0dfdaa66.jpg) Valerie Faris — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### BAFTA Film Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2007: Best Direction (nominated), for *Little Miss Sunshine*

### Other awards — 4 won, 2 nominated

- César Award for Best Foreign Film 2007: César Award for Best Foreign Film (won), for *Little Miss Sunshine*
- Independent Spirit Awards 2007: Best Director (won), for *Little Miss Sunshine*
- Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Comedy Film 2006: Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Comedy Film (nominated), for *Little Miss Sunshine*
- Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film 2006: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film (nominated), for *Little Miss Sunshine*
- Grammy Award for Best Music Video 1999: Grammy Award for Best Music Video (won)
- Grammy Award for Best New New Jack Swing Artist 1989: Grammy Award for Best New New Jack Swing Artist (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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/valerie-faris