James Bobin

An English television writer, director, and producer, James Bobin built his considerable reputation on the inventive comedies "Da Ali G Show" and "The Flight of the Conchords." Bobin started out contributing to "The 11 O' Clock Show," a British sketch-comedy program that featured future stars Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen. In 2000, Bobin collaborated with Cohen as a writer and director on "Da Ali G Show," an irreverent comedy series that became a huge hit in the U.K. and featured the characters Ali G, Borat, and Bruno, which would all eventually receive their own feature films. After the original British series, the show was revived in an American-set sequel, and Bobin was once again on board as a director and writer. Bobin next worked with Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, a New Zealand comedy/pop duo, to co-create the quirky HBO series "Flight of the Conchords," which became a modest success and won a cult following. Bobin served as a director, writer, and executive producer on the "Conchords" show for its two-season run, making him a well-respected figure within the Hollywood comedy realm. Based on these previous successes, Bobin was handpicked to direct the hit 2011 reboot of the Muppets feature film franchise, "The Muppets," starring Jim Henson's loveable creations as well as Jason Segel (also the film's co-writer) and Amy Adams.