Sean Baker (born February 26, 1971 in Summit, New Jersey) is an American indie filmmaker who eased into the public eye around The New '10s.
Making his debut with Four Letter Words (2000), Baker started out the door with a grounded, naturalist style that he's stuck with ever since. Thematically, his films usually deal with sex work and deconstructing the stigma that comes with it, often focusing on the blue-collar working class and spotlighting poverty in overlooked sections of America. Fittingly, much of Baker's work has been produced on micro-budgets, with his breakout hit Tangerine (2015) being famously shot entirely on an iPhone. Baker himself served as cinematographer and usually fills more than one role on set, having edited several of his own movies. He also
Starting with The Florida Project, Baker has found a distribution ally in A24. You can find his Twitter here
and his Letterboxd here.
Baker also helped to create the puppet character of Greg the Bunny, which was subsequently featured in the TV sitcom of the same name.
Films by Sean Baker:
- Four Letter Words (2000)
- Take Out (2004)
- Prince Of Broadway (2008)
- Starlet (2012)
- Tangerine (2015)
- The Florida Project (2017)
- Red Rocket (2021)
Tropes present throughout Baker's work:
- Amateur Cast: Baker has a habit of casting unknowns in big roles and getting astounding performances out of them.
- Ambiguous Ending: Both The Florida Project and Red Rocket end with what are more than likely Fantasy Sequences, and Starlet ends without addressing the inevitable confrontation between its two leads.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Eliminate the sex, and Baker's films are still hard R for a reason.
- Downer Ending: While a lot of his flicks can be darkly funny, don't expect to walk away feeling all too great.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold/Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Baker's stories don't condemn their deeply flawed protagonists. With characters typically acting as their own worst enemies, it's up for the audience to decide whether or not a person is worth rooting for.
- The Oldest Profession: Sex is a prominent theme throughout Baker's work:
- Tangerine is about a transgender Streetwalker.
- Starlet is about a pornographic actress.
- Red Rocket is about a former porn star.
- The Florida Project features a mother who prostitutes herself to make ends meet.
- No Antagonist: His films being humanist to the core, there are bullies throughout some stories, but an overtly malicious villain is typically out of the question.
- Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic: Baker works against this, favoring improvised dialogue and natural stutters and repetitions.
