Chris Applebaum

Most people know Chris Applebaum as the director of MTV Video of the Year for Rihanna's "Umbrella" or the infamous Carl's Jr campaign, which started with Paris Hilton washing a car. Chris Applebaum was born in Los Angeles and studied Film at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts where he started directing music videos for bands in the burgeoning Indie Alternative Rock scene in the 90's. After seeing one of Applebaum's early videos, MTV offered the 19 year old college student the opportunity to join their On Air Promos department in NYC. Right before his 22nd birthday, Applebaum became the youngest director to sign with Satellite Films, a division of the legendary Propaganda, where he went on to direct over 250 music videos and garnered multiple MTV Video Music Awards. In 1998 Applebaum's Semisonic video for "Closing Time" was the first video to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and was heralded by MTV as a "Breakthrough" video. His video for Fountains of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom" was also inducted into the Hall of Fame. Applebaum has had over 30 Number 1 videos on MTV (Rihanna, Hilary Duff, Britney Spears, Usher, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, etc). Applebaum's commercial for Carl's Jr starring Paris Hilton was rated by BDS Neilsen as the #1 most aired commercial in television history. His 2013 spot, starring model Nina Agdal, garnered over 1 Billion Media Impressions within 3 weeks of its first airing, as did his spot with Kate Upton. Applebaum's self-funded Instagram video series, EATS, launched in late 2016 with a swarm of media attention, garnering hundreds of thousands of views in its first month. Applebaum currently lives in Los Angeles, just a stone's throw away from where his grandparents immigrated from Russia in 1921.