Film & TV
Jordan Vogt-Roberts
born 1984 · film and television director
Director of The Kings of Summer and Kong: Skull Island, who grew up in metro Detroit and graduated from Royal Oak's Dondero High School in 2003.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 42- Birth name
- Jordan Charles Vogt-Roberts
- Detroit years
- 1984–1998, 2002–2003
- Field
- Film & TV
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Jordan Vogt-Roberts grew up in the Greater Detroit area. His family moved to Arizona when he was fourteen, but for his senior year he came back to Royal Oak so he could graduate with his hometown friends, finishing at Dondero High School in 2003. He then studied at Columbia College Chicago, graduating in 2006, and started out directing comedy shorts and television, including episodes of Mash Up and You're the Worst. His feature debut, the coming-of-age comedy The Kings of Summer, about three teenagers who build a house in the woods, premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won the audience award for narrative features at the Dallas International Film Festival. Four years later he directed the monster epic Kong: Skull Island, which grossed more than $565 million worldwide.
Highlights
- Directed Kong: Skull Island (2017), a worldwide gross of over $565 million
- Feature debut The Kings of Summer premiered at Sundance in 2013
- Directed episodes of You're the Worst and Mash Up
- Dondero High School (Royal Oak) class of 2003
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 2002–2003
Dondero High School (now Royal Oak Middle School)
Closed · 1927–2006
Royal Oak high school from which Vogt-Roberts graduated in 2003; it closed in 2006 and the building was rededicated as Royal Oak Middle School in 2007.