Dean Parisot

A prolific television director who won an Oscar for his short film work and made the move to features in the late 1990s, Dean Parisot had early credits as a fine arts documentarian before making his dramatic directorial debut with the black & white short "Tom Goes to the Bar," which subsequently earned him the Berlin Festival's Golden Bear (in the shorts category) in 1986. He followed up quite auspiciously with "The Appointments of Dennis Jennings," a featurette starring comedian Steven Wright that earned the pair the 1988 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Live Action). Parisot also took home a CableACE Award for Best Directing after it aired on HBO in 1989 under the title "Steven Wright in the Appointments of Dennis Jennings." The helmer later reteamed with Wright on the exceptionally dry comedian's "HBO Comedy Hour" special "Wicker Chairs & Gravity" (1990). Parisot's fine arts background served him well that year when he made his feature screenwriting debut with the art world mystery "Still Life" and as director of the similarly themed HBO original "Framed."