Jesse W. Peretz ( born May 19 , 1968 ) is an American film and television director , TV producer and former musician . He first rose to prominence as a bass guitarist and founding member of The Lemonheads , a Cambridge , Massachusetts-based band which formed in 1986 . Peretz left the band as a musician shortly before their breakout album , '' It 's a Shame About Ray '' , was released , but stayed on as the band photographer . After leaving The Lemonheads , he began to work extensively as a director , first in short form works such as television commercials and music videos , later transitioning to feature films and television series . His directorial work includes the films '' Our Idiot Brother '' and '' Juliet , Naked '' , and the TV series '' Girls '' . Peretz is a founding member of the Cambridge , Massachusetts-based rock band The Lemonheads , which he formed in high school with classmates Evan Dando and Ben Deily . He left the band as a musician prior to the band 's breakthrough album , '' It 's a Shame About Ray '' ; however , he continued to work with them as a photographer and music video director . His first videos for The Lemonheads were for the songs " Mrs. Robinson " , " Confetti " and " It 's a Shame about Ray " . He went on to direct videos for the Foo Fighters ( he won a Grammy for Best Music Video for " Learn to Fly " ) , Jack Black , Nada Surf and The Breeders , as well as creating and co-directing the " Jimmy the Cab-Driver " comedy vignettes for MTV with his friends from Harvard Donal Logue and Clay Tarver . Peretz also directed several commercials including spots for Nike , IKEA , Barq 's Root Beer , and the Sony PlayStation . In 1998 , he directed a feature film called '' First Love , Last Rites '' based on the Ian McEwan short story of the same name . In 2001 he directed '' The Chateau '' ( starring Paul Rudd ) , in 2006 '' The Ex '' , and in 2011 '' Our Idiot Brother '' . He has worked as a producer/director on the HBO show '' Girls '' and Showtime 's '' Nurse Jackie '' . It was announced in 2014 that Peretz would direct an adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel '' Juliet , Naked '' , produced by Judd Apatow . Peretz 's film version premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival
2018 Sundance Film Festival
2018 Sundance Film Festival
Jesse Peretz