Syracuse International Film Festival

Sophia Award

Bryan Buckley

Bryan Buckley is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and two time Academy-Award nominated director. His successful career has led to him being dubbed the “King of the Super Bowl” Buckley’s directorial debut came with a series of commercials he created for NHL on ESPN, before creating the “This is SportsCenter” campaign for ESPN in 1999. The work became an part of the ESPN brand, and launched Buckley into the commercial world. Buckley would go on to direct 64 Super Bowl Commercials. He has directed two feature films and four short films. Of his four shorts, Krug (2004) played at Sundance, Wake Up Caller (2004) played at Tribeca, while ASAD (2013) and SARIA (2019) have been nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the Academy Awards. His two nominations in the same decade is the first time a director has managed to return to the category in over 30 years. His first feature film The Bronze (2015), opened the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, while his second, Pirates of Somalia (2017), premiered at the Tribeca film festival. A 2010 Adweek Readers Poll named Buckley the Commercial Director of the Decade – he was also named one of the 50 best Creative Minds in the last 25 years by Creativity Magazine.