Martin Desmond Roe

Born in Bristol, England,[15] Roe studied Latin and Ancient Greek at Somerville College, Oxford,[16] graduating in 2001 with a BA in Classics. He moved to Los Angeles and entered the USC School of Cinematic Arts, earning an MFA in Cinema and Television in 2008.[17][18]

Roe became interested in filmmaking and storytelling while staging plays during his time at Oxford. After finishing USC film school he founded Dirty Robber, a production company.[16] His first major success came in 2012 when Roe co-wrote the screenplay for Buzkashi Boys, a short film that was directed by Sam French.[5] Written in a week, on location in Kabul, Afghanistan, the film was inspired by the true life story of Fawad Mohammidi,[19] a homeless 14 year old street vendor and explored his friendship with another boy and their love for the traditional horse sport Buzkashi.[5] Buzkashi Boys gained critical acclaim[20][21] winning numerous film festival awards,[22][23][24] and was nominated for the 2013 Best Live Action Short Film at the Academy Awards.[4]

In 2017, after directing a number of commercials for Nike, Inc.,[25] Roe was invited as creative lead on Breaking2 sports documentary, a joint project of Nike and National Geographic in association with Dirty Robber.[26] The documentary short followed three world class athletes, Eliud Kipchoge, Lelisa Desisa, and Zersenay Tadese as they attempted to run a marathon in under two hours.[8][27] Breaking2 won several awards in advertising industry[28][29] including a Gold Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.[30] Roe also took part as an executive producer of 6 episodes for Tom vs Time, a collaborative web television series project directed by Gotham Chopra, which won Emmy Award for Outstanding Serialized Sports Documentary (NBC Sports).[9] In 2020, he co-directed the short film Two Distant Strangers, about police killings in the United States, which stars Joey Bada$$ and Andrew Howard, and which won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short in 2021.[31]

In 2023, Roe co-directed alongside Travon Free, BS High a documentary for HBO, revolving around the Bishop Sycamore High School scandal.[32][33]

Roe is an owner and creative director of Dirty Robber Productions, a Los Angeles-based company with the focus on documentaries, T.V series, shows and sports events. Among Dirty Robber's most notable productions are Religion of Sports,[34][35] Tom vs Time,[36] Kobe Bryant’s Muse (in collaboration with Kobe Inc.),[37][38] Why We Fight (ESPN+), Wiz Khalifa: Behind the Cam (DIRECTV),[39] and We are the Champions, a documentary series about various contests and sports traditions.[3][40]

• Martin Roe Filmography