Along with David Fincher, Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry, Pellington and Romaneck were the kings of the music video. Among his work, Pellington directed U2's "One" and the classic Pearl Jam video for "Jeremy". Romaneck's mini-masterpieces include "99 Problems" (Jay-Z), "Hurt" (Johnny Cash), "Criminal" (Fiona Apple), "Devil's Haircut" (Beck), "Are You Gonna Go My Way" (Lenny Kravitz) and "Closer" (Nine Inch Nails).
Pellington jumped into features first with the impressive Arlington Road, following it with The Mothman Prophecies, which garnered mixed reviews but I think it's cleverly directed and highly underrated. He's floundered since then, directing television, the concert film U2-3D and the recent indie, Henry Poole is Here. His output in the last 6 years has been kind of sad, actually.
The same fate has fallen on Romaneck, who has yet to follow up his 2002 debut, One Hour Photo. Word is he's a tightly-wound perfectionist and many projects have slipped through his finger because he felt they weren't ready.
So do we just write them off and move on to the next director? Pellington's video resume isn't as strong, but he's done more with his first two films. Romaneck is arguably the best music video director of his generation, but can he bring that skill and artistry to the big screen? I hope that both of them make films that equal their great video work, but I had more hope for them a few years ago.