Favorite Directors

1. Christopher Nolan

Best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear, storytelling, acclaimed writer-director Christopher Nolan was born on July 30, 1970, in London, England. Over the course of 15 years of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from low-budget independent films to working on some of the biggest blockbusters ever made.

...

Best Movies: The Dark Knight, Inception, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises and The Prestige

2. Zack Snyder

Producer | Wonder Woman

Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter, best known for action and science fiction films. Snyder made his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead and has gone on to be known for his comic book movies and ...

Best Movies: Watchmen, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel, 300

3. Atom Egoyan

Director | The Sweet Hereafter

Born in Egypt to Armenian parents, he was raised in Western Canada. Both his parents were painters, and he planned to be a playwright, but after making a short film, he became hooked on telling stories visually. Returned to ethnic "homeland" when he filmed Calendar (1993) in Armenia. Won attention ...

Best Movies: The Sweet Hereafter, Remember, The Captive, Devil's Knot

4. Roland Emmerich

Writer | Independence Day

Roland Emmerich is a German film director and producer of blockbuster films like The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Godzilla (1998), Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000). Before fame, he originally wanted to be a production designer, but decided to be a director, after watching the original ...

Best Movies: Independence Day, Universal Soldier, The Patriot

5. Joe Carnahan

Director | Narc

Joe Carnahan is an American film director and screenwriter. He was born in Michigan in 1969, and was raised in California. He attended Fairfield High School in Fairfield, California. He graduated in 1987, at the age of 18. He first attended the San Francisco State University, and later transferred ...

Best Movies: Smokin' Aces, The A-Team, The Grey

6. John McTiernan

Director | Die Hard

John McTiernan was born on January 8, 1951 in Albany, New York, USA as John Campbell McTiernan Jr. He is a director and producer, known for Die Hard (1988), Rollerball (2002) and Predator (1987). He has been married to Gail Sistrunk since 2012. He was previously married to Kate Harrington, Donna ...

Best Movies: Die Hard, Predator, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Hunt for Red October, Thomas Crown Affair

7. Tony Scott

Producer | Domino

Tony Scott was a British-born film director and producer. He was the youngest of three brothers, one of whom is fellow film director Ridley Scott. He was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England to parents Jean and Colonel Francis Percy Scott. As a result of his father's career in the British...

Best Movies: Beverly Hills Cop II, Top Gun, Enemy of the State, Deja Vu, Crimson Tide, Domino, Man on Fire, Taking of Pelham 123

8. Clint Eastwood

Actor | Million Dollar Baby

Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, the son of Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood, a housewife turned IBM operator. He had a comfortable, middle-class upbringing in nearby Piedmont. At school ...

Best Movies: Gran Torino, Invictus, Mystic River, Heartbreak Ridge, Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven, Letters from Iwo Jima

9. Steven Spielberg

Producer | Schindler's List

One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...

Best Movies: Jaws, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan

10. Chuck Russell

Director | The Mask

Chuck Russell was born on May 9, 1958 in Park Ridge, Illinois, USA. He is a director and producer, known for The Mask (1994), The Blob (1988) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). He has been married to Ania Zeyne since November 29, 2007.

Best Movies: Eraser, The Blob, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 Dream Warriors, The Scorpion King

11. Shawn Levy

Producer | Stranger Things

Shawn Levy was born on July 23, 1968 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is a producer and director, known for Stranger Things (2016), Real Steel (2011), and the Night at the Museum franchise. He is the founder and principal of 21 Laps Entertainment. He is married to Serena Levy and they have four ...

Best Movies: Night at the Museum, Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian, Cheaper by the Dozen

12. James Mangold

Producer | Logan

James Mangold is an American film and television director, screenwriter and producer. Films he has directed include Girl, Interrupted (1999), Walk the Line (2005), which he also co-wrote, the 2007 remake 3:10 to Yuma (2007), The Wolverine (2013), and Logan (2017).

Mangold also wrote and directed Cop...

Best Movies: Logan, Cop Land, The Wolverine, Ford v Ferrari

13. David F. Sandberg

Director | Lights Out

David F. Sandberg was born on January 21, 1981 in Sweden. He is a director and writer, known for Lights Out (2016), Shazam! (2019) and Annabelle: Creation (2017). He is married to Lotta Losten.

Best Movies: Shazam!, Lights Out

14. Joel Schumacher

Director | The Phantom of the Opera

Joel Schumacher was born on August 29, 1939 in New York City, New York, USA as Joel T. Schumacher. He was a director and writer, known for The Phantom of the Opera (2004), Batman & Robin (1997) and 8MM (1999). He died on June 22, 2020 in New York City.

Best Movies: 8MM, Phone Booth, The Lost Boys

15. Renny Harlin

Producer | Driven

Born in 15 March 1959 as Renny Lauri Mauritz Harjola, he is the most successful Finnish film director in the history of Hollywood.

Harlin started his career in film business in the beginning of 1980s when he was directing commercials and company films for companies like Shell. Later he worked as a ...

Best Movies: Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, Nightmare on Elm Street 4 Dream Master

16. John Woo

Director | Ying hung boon sik

Born in southern China, John Woo grew up in Hong Kong, where he began his film career as an assistant director in 1969, working for Shaw Brothers Studios. He directed his first feature in 1973 and has been a prolific director ever since, working in a wide variety of genres before A Better Tomorrow ...

Best Movies: Hard Target, Broken Arrow, Face/Off

17. Gore Verbinski

Director | Rango

Gore Verbinski, one of American cinema's most inventive directors who was a punk-rock guitarist as a teenager and had to sell his guitar to buy his first camera, is now the director of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) which made the industry record for highest opening weekend of ...

Best Movies: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Lone Ranger, Pirated of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest

18. Peter Berg

Actor | Chicago Hope

Peter Berg is an American actor, director, writer, and producer. His first role was in the Adam Rifkin road movie Never on Tuesday (1989). He went on to star in the World War 2 film A Midnight Clear (1992). Roles in Fire in the Sky (1993) and Cop Land (1997) followed, and the Tom Cruise films ...

Best Movies: The Rundown, Lone Survivor, Friday Night Lights, Deepwater Horizon

19. Antoine Fuqua

Producer | The Magnificent Seven

Antoine Fuqua is an American film director, known for his work in the film Training Day as well as The Replacement Killers, Tears of the Sun, King Arthur, Shooter, Brooklyn's Finest, Olympus Has Fallen and The Equalizer.

He has directed music videos for such artists as Arrested Development, Prince, ...

Best Movies: Training Day, Shooter, The Equalizer, Olympus has Fallen, Tears of the Sun

20. Brad Bird

Writer | The Incredibles

Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in...

Best Movies: The Incredibles, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Ratatouille

21. John G. Avildsen

Director | Rocky

John G. Avildsen was born on December 21, 1935 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA as John Guilbert Avildsen. He was a director and editor, known for Rocky (1976), The Karate Kid Part III (1989) and Rocky V (1990). He was married to Tracy Brooks Swope and Marie Olga Maturevich. He died on June 16, 2017 in ...

Best Movies: Rocky, The Karate Kid, The Karate Kid Part II, Lean on Me

22. Robert Zemeckis

Writer | Back to the Future

A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect ...

Best Movies: Back to the Future trilogy, Forrest Gump, Polar Express, Flight

23. Richard Donner

Director | Superman

Richard Donner was born on April 24, 1930 in New York City, New York, USA as Richard D. Schwartzberg. He is a director and producer, known for Superman (1978), Ladyhawke (1985) and Lethal Weapon (1987). He has been married to Lauren Shuler Donner since November 27, 1986.

Best Movies: all four Lethal Weapons, Superman, Conspiracy Theory, The Omen

24. Stephen Hopkins

Producer | Lost in Space

Stephen Hopkins was born in 1958 in Jamaica. He is a producer and director, known for Lost in Space (1998), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) and Predator 2 (1990).

Best Movies: Predator 2, The Ghost and the Darkness, Race

25. George P. Cosmatos

Director | Rambo: First Blood Part II

George P. Cosmatos was born on January 4, 1941 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy as Yorgo Pan Cosmatos. He was a director and writer, known for Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Cobra (1986) and Tombstone (1993). He was married to Birgitta Ljungberg. He died on April 19, 2005 in Victoria, British ...

Best Movies: First Blood Part II, Cobra, Tombstone

26. Guy Ritchie

Director | Sherlock Holmes

Guy Ritchie was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK on September 10, 1968. After watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) as a child, Guy realized that what he wanted to do was make films. He never attended film school, saying that the work of film school graduates was boring and ...

Best Movies: Man from UNCLE, Sherlock Holmes, Snatch, The Gentlemen

27. Doug Liman

Producer | Edge of Tomorrow

Doug Liman was born on July 24, 1965 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Swingers (1996) and Fair Game (2010).

Best Movies: The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow, Mr and Mrs Smith, Jumper

28. Quentin Tarantino

Writer | Reservoir Dogs

Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father, Tony Tarantino, is an Italian-American actor and musician from New York, and his mother, Connie (McHugh), is a nurse from Tennessee. Quentin moved with his mother to Torrance, California, when he was four years old.

In January of...

Best Movies: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, Kill Bill

29. Jason Trost

Actor | FP2: Beats of Rage

Jason Trost is an actor and writer, known for FP2: Beats of Rage (2018), The FP (2011) and How to Save Us (2014).

Best Movies: All Superheroes Must Die, The FP

30. Len Wiseman

Writer | Underworld

Filmmaker Len Wiseman's career began through his work in the art department on the blockbuster hits like Godzilla (1998), Men in Black (1997), and Independence Day (1996). His design talents soon got him behind the camera directing commercials for PlayStation, Time Warner, Oracle, Intel, and ...

Best Movies: Live Free or Die Hard, Underworld, Underworld Evolution

31. Steven Soderbergh

Director | Sex, Lies, and Videotape

Steven Andrew Soderbergh was born on January 14, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the second of six children of Mary Ann (Bernard) and Peter Soderbergh. His father was of Swedish and Irish descent, and his mother was of Italian ancestry. While he was still at a very young age, his family moved to ...

Best Movies: Ocean's Trilogy, Haywire, Solaris

32. Jon Turteltaub

Director | Cool Runnings

Jon Turteltaub was born on August 8, 1963 in New York City, New York, USA as Jonathan Charles Turteltaub. He is a producer and director, known for Cool Runnings (1993), While You Were Sleeping (1995) and Phenomenon (1996). He has been married to Amy Eldon since July 6, 2006. They have three ...

Best Movies: National Treasure 1 and 2, Disney's The Kid, Last Vegas, The Meg

33. Dwight H. Little

Director | Tekken

Director Dwight H. Little was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Always interested in film while growing up, he came out west to attend the Film School at the University of Southern California. His senior thesis project, "Americano," brought him much acclaim, winning the Focus Film Festival's top ...

Best Movies: Rapid Fire, Halloween 4, Marked for Death, Free Willy 2 The Adventure Home

34. Mel Gibson

Actor | Braveheart

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, as the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is ...

Best Movies: The Passion of the Christ, Hacksaw Ridge, Braveheart

35. John Lasseter

Writer | Toy Story 2

Although born in Hollywood John and his twin sister, Johanna were raised in Wittier near Los Angeles. His parents were Jewell Mae (Risley), an art teacher, and Paul Eual Lasseter, a parts manager at a Chevrolet dealership. His mother's profession contributed to his interest in animation and ...

Best Movies: Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Cars

36. Ben Affleck

Producer | Argo

American actor and filmmaker Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt was born on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California, and was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His mother, Chris Anne (née Boldt), is a school teacher, and his father, Timothy Byers Affleck, is a social worker; the two are divorced. Ben has...

Best Movies: The Town, Argo, Gone Baby Gone

37. Andrew Stanton

Writer | WALL·E

Andrew Stanton has been a major creative force at Pixar Animation Studios since 1990, when he became the second animator and ninth employee to join the company's elite group of computer animation pioneers. As Vice President, Creative he currently oversees all shorts and feature projects at the ...

Best Movies: Finding Nemo, Wall-E, John Carter

38. Sylvester Stallone

Actor | Rocky

This athletically built, dark-haired American actor/screenwriter/director may never be mentioned by old-school film critics in the same breath as, say, Richard Burton or Alec Guinness; however, movie fans worldwide have been flocking to see Stallone's films for over 30 years, making "Sly" one of ...

Best Movies: Rocky IV, Rocky III, Rambo, Rocky II

39. Gareth Evans

Writer | Serbuan maut

Welsh born writer/director, in 2003 directed a short film "Samurai Monogatari" telling the tale of a Samurai waiting to be executed. The short was in Japanese language and starred students from Tokyo who were studying at Cardiff University at the time.

In 2003 he also graduated with an MA in ...

Best Movies: The Raid and The Raid 2

40. Matthew Vaughn

Producer | Kick-Ass

Matthew Vaughn is an English film producer and director. He is known for producing such films as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000) and for directing the crime thriller, Layer Cake (2004), the fantasy epic, Stardust (2007), the superhero comedy, Kick-Ass (2010), and the ...

Best Movies: Kingsman The Secret Service, X-Men First Class, Kick-Ass

41. Scott Cooper

Director | Crazy Heart

Scott Cooper was born in 1970 in Abingdon, Virginia, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Crazy Heart (2009), Out of the Furnace (2013) and Hostiles (2017).

Best Movies: Hostiles, Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace

42. James Cameron

Writer | Avatar

James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. He moved to the United States in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University before switching to English, and eventually dropping out. He then drove a truck to support his ...

Best Movies: The Terminator, Terminator 2 Judgment Day, True Lies

43. Todd Phillips

Producer | Joker

Todd Phillips was born on December 20, 1970 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA as Todd Bunzl. He is a producer and director, known for Joker (2019), Old School (2003) and Due Date (2010).

Best Movies: Joker, the Hangover, War Dogs

44. Jon Favreau

Producer | Chef

Initially an indie film favorite, actor Jon Favreau has progressed to strong mainstream visibility into the millennium and, after nearly two decades in the business, is still enjoying character stardom as well as earning notice as a writer/producer/director.

The amiable, husky-framed actor with the ...

Best Movies: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Jungle Book

45. Louis Leterrier

Director | The Incredible Hulk

Louis Leterrier was born on June 17, 1973 in Paris, France. He is a director and producer, known for The Incredible Hulk (2008), Unleashed (2005) and The Transporter (2002).

Best Movies: Transporter 2, The Incredible Hulk, Now You See Me, Unleashed

46. Martin Scorsese

Director | Taxi Driver

Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...

Best Movies: Raging Bull, Hugo, The Departed, The Aviator, Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street

47. Peter Weir

Director | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Peter Weir was born on August 21, 1944 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia as Peter Lindsay Weir. He is a director and writer, known for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), The Way Back (2010) and The Truman Show (1998). He has been married to Wendy Stites since 1966. They ...

Best Movies: Witness, Dead Poets Society, Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously

48. George Lucas

Writer | Star Wars

George Walton Lucas, Jr. was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto, California. His father was a stationery store owner and he had three siblings. During his late teen years, he went to Thomas Downey High School and was very much interested in drag racing. He planned to become a professional racecar ...

Best Movies: Star Wars, Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Red Tails

49. Irvin Kershner

Director | Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Irvin Kershner was born on April 29, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A graduate of the University of Southern California film school, Kershner began his career in 1950, producing documentaries for the United States Information Service in the Middle East. He later turned to television, directing...

Best Movies: The Empire Strikes Back, RoboCop 2, Never Say Never Again, Eyes of Laura Mars

50. Ang Lee

Director | Wo hu cang long

Born in 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee has become one of today's greatest contemporary filmmakers. Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to receive a B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ...

Best Movies: Brokeback Mountain, Hulk, Life of Pi

51. Simon West

Director | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Simon West is a British born and Hollywood based film director and producer. His films include CON AIR starring Nicholas Cage, "THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER" starring John Travolta and "LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER" starring Angelina Jolie. West is the only live action director ever whose first three 3 films ...

Best Movies: Con Air, Lara Croft Tomb Raider, The Expendables 2, The Mechanic, The General's Daughter