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Paul Feig (born September 17, 1962, Mount Clemens, Michigan) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. He directed and co-wrote Ghostbusters (2016) alongside Katie Dippold, and also served as executive producer on the film. He appears twice in the film as a voice actor and contributed to several related publishing projects tied to that production.
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Before Ghostbusters, Feig built a career as a comedy filmmaker with a string of studio films. He directed Unaccompanied Minors (2006), then broke through widely with Bridesmaids (2011), which he directed and executive produced. He followed it with The Heat (2013, director, actor, executive producer) and Spy (2015, director, actor, producer). All four films fall within the broad comedy genre, and the run of Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Spy in particular established him as a consistent commercial draw for R-rated comedies, which contributed to Sony's interest in pairing him with the Ghostbusters franchise.
Feig first met screenwriter Katie Dippold at San Diego Comic-Con 2014, near the Guardians of the Galaxy space-pod in the Marvel section, to discuss developing a new Ghostbusters film. The two began writing the script in October 2014. To set the mood for writing a horror-comedy, they disconnected from the internet and kept Halloween decorations up after the holiday season.
On the finished film, Feig is credited as director, executive producer, and co-writer (with Dippold). He has two voice-over cameos in the theatrical cut. He provided the voice of the host of the in-universe television program Ghost Jumpers, performing that role as a tribute to Ernie Anderson, who was the announcer voice for ABC in the 1980s. He also voiced the man who radios Rowan North about a clogged toilet. Feig had filmed an on-camera cameo as well, but cut it during post-production. In the alternate extended scene "The Singer Gets High," he portrayed The Head of Thunder Gun Records.
Several production and story details in the film trace directly to Feig's choices. He sketched the design for Kevin's ghost-with-boobs that appears during the climactic ghost parade. The character Vanessa the Desk Clerk was named after Annie Potts' character Vanessa in the 1978 film Corvette Summer, which is a favorite of Feig's. The choice to have the Baba Booey Shouter shout "Baba Booey" reflects Feig's fandom of Howard Stern. During the filming of the alley scene where the team tests the proton packs, rats ran under Feig's chair.
Feig is the first director to have a Funko Pop figure made in his likeness. His only design input for the figure was requesting that it feature a purple tie.
Feig served as a consultant on Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal (Three Rivers Press), the in-universe companion book tied to the 2016 film. He is thanked in the acknowledgments section on page 215 of that book.
He wrote the introduction for the Ghostbusters 101: Everyone Answers the Call TPB. In Ghostbusters 101 #1, a post-it note on the bottom of a stack reads "Check with Paul," a nod to Feig's role as director and consultant. In Ghostbusters 101 #5, page 1, panel 1, Feig appears as a background figure on the far right.
In the first level of the Lego Dimensions Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Story Pack, Feig appears as a character locked in a cupboard. Once freed, his character says: "I wonder if they'd be mad if I remade 'Back to the Future.'" This is a callback to a joke Feig made during press for the film in July 2016.
The Funko Pop figure of Feig is of recurring collector interest on GBFans.com as a piece of Ghostbusters (2016) memorabilia. The figure's distinctive purple tie, his only design request, makes it identifiable in collection photos. His stated attention to production detail, including the named character nods and his on-set involvement documented in production materials, has provided context for discussions of the 2016 film's props and design decisions.
