Joseph Chappelle (born 1961) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director of film and television. He is perhaps best known for his work on the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire, where he directed six episodes and served as co-executive producer for three seasons. In 2018, his episode "Middle Ground" was named the 6th Best TV Episode of the Century by pop culture website The Ringer. He has also produced and directed several other popular cable television programs, including CSI: Miami, Fringe and Chicago Fire.
Chappelle wrote and directed the political thriller An Acceptable Loss, starring Tika Sumpter and Jamie Lee Curtis, which was released by IFC Films in January 2019.
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Career
Chappelle was born in New Jersey. He graduated from Northwestern University with a Master of Fine Arts in Film and worked in Chicago's advertising community before working in film and television.
1990s
Chappelle began his career with the independently produced film Thieves Quartet in 1994. He wrote and directed the feature. He went on to direct the horror sequel Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) and shot additional scenes for Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996), replacing Kevin Yagher due to his fallout with the studio over creative differences. He directed the thriller Phantoms in 1998, based on the Dean Koontz novel of the same name.
2000s
Chappelle directed the film Takedown in 2000. Also in 2000 Chappelle made his television debut with the feature Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula.
In 2001, Chappelle became a director for the first season of espionage drama The Agency. Chappelle directed the episodes ""Viva Fidel", "God's Work" and "The Year of Living Dangerously". Chappelle did not return to work on the series' second season.
Later, in 2001, he became a director for the short-lived werewolf drama Wolf Lake. He directed the first season episodes "Soup to Nuts" and "Legend of Lost Lenore".
In 2002, Chappelle directed the second season premiere "Emergence" for the series Witchblade. He also directed the direct-to-video thriller sequel The Skulls II in 2002.
In 2002, Chappelle became a director for three new series; the 2002 reimagining of The Twilight Zone, HBO crime drama The Wire and the procedural spin-off CSI: Miami. He helmed The Twilight Zone episodes "Upgrade" and "To Protect and Serve". Chappelle remained involved with The Wire as a co-executive producer and with CSI: Miami as a producer throughout the 2000s.
In 2005, Chappelle served as a consultant and director for new CBS drama CSI: NY. The series was the second spin-off from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Chappelle directed the first season episode "Supply and Demand".
Chappelle joined the crew of the HBO crime drama The Wire as a director for the first season in 2002. The Wire was created by David Simon and examines the city of Baltimore one faltering institution at a time. Chappelle directed the first season episode "One Arrest".
Chappelle returned to The Wire as co-executive producer, episodic director and second unit director for the third season in 2004. Chappelle directed the season's penultimate episode "Middle Ground". "Middle Ground" received the show's only Emmy Award nomination, for writers Simon and George Pelecanos in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Simon credits Chappelle with choosing the music for the season three closing montage; Solomon Burke's cover of Van Morrison's "Fast Train" which appeared in the season finale "Mission Accomplished".
Personal life
Chappelle grew up in northern New Jersey.
Filmography
Film
Thieves Quartet (1994)
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996) (Additional photography, uncredited)
Phantoms (1998)
Track Down (2000)
The Skulls II (2002)
An Acceptable Loss (2019)
