Directors, Producers, & Writers
by shape5 | created - 25 Mar 2020 | updated - 1 month ago | Public
1. Stanley Kubrick
Director | 2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Sadie Gertrude (Perveler) and Jacob Leonard Kubrick, a physician. His family were Jewish immigrants (from Austria, Romania, and Russia). Stanley was considered intelligent, despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would ...
A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Paths of Glory, Lolita, Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Full Metal Jacket
2. 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 ...
Star Wars, Indiana Jones, THX 1138, American Graffiti, Willow, Labyrinth, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Body Heat, Powaqqatsi
3. Joel Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...
Raising Arizona, Burn After Reading, The Ladykillers, O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Big Lebowski, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Blood Simple, Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, Bridge of Spies
4. Ethan Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The younger brother of Joel, Ethan Coen is an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning writer, producer and director coming from small independent films to big profile Hollywood films. He was born on September 21, 1957 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In some films of the brothers- Ethan & Joel wrote, Joel...
Raising Arizona, Burn After Reading, The Ladykillers, O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Big Lebowski, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Blood Simple, Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, Bridge of Spies
5. Sam Raimi
Director | Spider-Man
Highly inventive U.S. film director/producer/writer/actor Sam Raimi first came to the attention of film fans with the savage, yet darkly humorous, low-budget horror film, The Evil Dead (1981). From his childhood, Raimi was a fan of the cinema and, before he was ten-years-old, he was out making ...
Evil Dead, Spider-Man, Darkman, Oz the Great and Powerful, The Grudge, Drag Me to Hell, Intruder, Poltergeist (2015), Ash vs Evil Dead (TV)
6. Christopher Nolan
Writer | Tenet
Best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear, storytelling, acclaimed Academy Award winner writer/director/producer Sir Christopher Nolan CBE was born in London, England. Over the course of more than 25 years of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from low-budget independent films to working on some of the ...
Inception, Interstellar, Memento, Oppenheimer, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Tenet, Insomnia, The Prestige, Transcendence, Dunkirk
7. David Fincher
Director | Se7en
David Fincher was born in 1962 in Denver, Colorado, and was raised in Marin County, California. When he was 18 years old he went to work for John Korty at Korty Films in Mill Valley. He subsequently worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) from 1981-1983. Fincher left ILM to direct TV commercials...
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Se7en, Fight Club, Gone Girl, The Game, Panic Room, Alien 3, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, Zodiac, Lords of Dogtown
8. Martin Scorsese
Producer | Killers of the Flower Moon
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 ...
The Last Temptation of Christ, The Aviator, Shutter Island, After Hours, Bringing Out the Dead, Cape Fear, Hugo, The Color of Money, Casino, Goodfellas, Mean Streets, Gangs of New York, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, New York Stories, Before the Flood, Amazing Stories (TV, 1986)
9. Ridley Scott
Producer | The Martian
Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom ...
Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator, Legend, Black Hawk Down, Someone to Watch Over Me, Black Rain, American Gangster, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Hannibal, The Martian, Prometheus, Robin Hood (2010), The Counselor, The Last Duel, Kingdom of Heaven, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The A-Team (2010), The Terror (TV), The Man in the High Castle (TV), Taboo (TV), Raised by Wolves (TV)
10. 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 ...
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, RocknRolla, Sherlock Holmes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Revolver
11. Peter Jackson
Producer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The ...
Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong, District 9, Mortal Engines, The Frighteners, Dead Alive
12. 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, ...
Indiana Jones, Catch Me If You Can, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, Poltergeist, Ready Player One, Saving Private Ryan, Duel, Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, Bridge of Spies, The Post, The BFG, Super 8, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Terminal, Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Goonies, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Back to the Future, Gremlins, Batteries Not Included, Innerspace, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, The Money Pit, Cape Fear, Transformers, Men in Black, Deep Impact, Real Steel, Road to Perdition, First Man, Monster House, The Prince of Egypt, Cats, The Haunting, Eagle Eye, Dreams, Amazing Stories (TV, 1985), Taken (TV), Under the Dome (TV)
13. Michelangelo Antonioni
Writer | Blow-Up
Together with Fellini, Bergman and Kurosawa, Michelangelo Antonioni is credited with defining the modern art film. And yet Antonioni's cinema is also recognized today for defying any easy categorization, with his films ultimately seeming to belong to their own distinctive genre. Indeed, the ...
La Notte, L'Avventura, L'Eclisse, Blow-Up, Identification of a Woman, The Vanquished, The Mystery of Oberwald, Beyond the Clouds, The Lady Without Camelias, The Passenger, Story of a Love Affair, Zabriskie Point
14. Terry Gilliam
Writer | Brazil
Terry Gilliam was born near Medicine Lake, Minnesota. When he was 12 his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of MAD magazine. In his early twenties he was often stopped by the police who suspected him of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in advertising. In ...
Monty Python, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Brazil, Time Bandits, 12 Monkeys, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Monty Python's Flying Circus (TV)
15. Tim Burton
Producer | Edward Scissorhands
Timothy Walter Burton was born in Burbank, California, to Jean Rae (Erickson), who owned a cat-themed gift shop, and William Reed Burton, who worked for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department. He spent most of his childhood as a recluse, drawing cartoons, and watching old movies (he was ...
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Beetlejuice, Batman (1989), Mars Attacks!, Big Fish, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Dark Shadows, James and the Giant Peach, 9, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
16. William Castle
Director | Homicidal
William Castle was born on April 24, 1914 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Homicidal (1961), House on Haunted Hill (1959) and The Lady from Shanghai (1947). He was married to Ellen. He died on May 31, 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
House on Haunted Hill (1959), Macabre, The Whistler, Serpent of the Nile, The Iron Glove, The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, 13 Frightened Girls, The Old Dark House (1963), Mr. Sardonicus, The Night Walker, Homicidal, Black Marketing, I Saw What You Did, Strait-Jacket, The Spirit Is Willing, How to Plan a Movie Murder, Project X, Bug, Rosemary's Baby, Circle of Fear (TV), Man with a Camera (TV), Target (TV)
17. Fritz Lang
Actor | Le mépris
Fritz Lang was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1890. His father managed a construction company. His mother, Pauline Schlesinger, was Jewish but converted to Catholicism when Lang was ten. After high school, he enrolled briefly at the Technische Hochschule Wien and then started to train as a painter. ...
Metropolis, Dr. Mabuse series, The Woman in the Window, Ministry of Fear, The Tiger of Eschnapur, Secret Beyond the Door, Human Desire, Cloak and Dagger, Scarlet Street, Man Hunt, You Only Live Once, Spies, The Blue Gardenia, Fury, M, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, While the City Sleeps, The Big Heat, Woman in the Moon
18. Alfred Hitchcock
Director | Psycho
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...
Psycho, The 39 Steps, Rope, Number 17, The Birds, The Lady Vanishes, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Lifeboat, Foreign Correspondent, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Vertigo, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV)
19. Sergio Leone
Writer | Once Upon a Time in America
Sergio Leone was virtually born into the cinema - he was the son of Roberto Roberti (A.K.A. Vincenzo Leone), one of Italy's cinema pioneers, and actress Bice Valerian. Leone entered films in his late teens, working as an assistant director to both Italian directors and U.S. directors working in ...
Man with No Name Trilogy (Dollars Trilogy), Once Upon a Time in the West, Once Upon a Time in America, My Name Is Nobody
20. John Huston
Director | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
An eccentric rebel of epic proportions, this Hollywood titan reigned supreme as director, screenwriter and character actor in a career that endured over five decades. The ten-time Oscar-nominated legend was born John Marcellus Huston in Nevada, Missouri, on August 5, 1906. His ancestry was English,...
Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Asphalt Jungle, The Other Side of the Wind, The Roots of Heaven, Casino Royale (1967), The Dead, The Night of the Iguana, Under the Volcano, The Mackintosh Man, Phobia, The Kremlin Letter, Sinful Davey, Wise Blood, In This Our Life, The Misfits, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Unforgiven, Fat City, A Walk with Love and Death
21. 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...
Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Four Rooms, From Dusk till Dawn, True Romance, Sin City, Natural Born Killers, The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Grindhouse
22. Roman Polanski
Director | Chinatown
Roman Polanski is a Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few truly international filmmakers. Roman Polanski was born in Paris in 1933.
His parents returned to Poland from France in 1936, three years ...
Frantic, Rosemary's Baby, The Tenant, Repulsion, The Ghost Writer
23. Sam Mendes
Producer | 1917
Samuel Alexander Mendes was born on August 1, 1965 in Reading, England, UK to parents James Peter Mendes, a retired university lecturer, and Valerie Helene Mendes, an author who writes children's books. Their marriage didn't last long, James divorced Sam's mother in 1970 when Sam was just 5-...
1917, Skyfall, Spectre, Road To Perdition, American Beauty
24. Stephen Chow
Actor | Kung fu
Stephen Chow was the only boy of his family, and has grown up as a Bruce Lee fan and a martial arts addict. His career started on TV, where he presented a children show ( "430 Space Shuttle" (1983)) and started becoming popular. He got some supporting roles, after that, and won the Taiwanese Golden...
Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer, Journey to the West, The God of Cookery
25. Terence Fisher
Director | Dracula
Terence Fisher was born in Maida Vale, England, in 1904. Raised by his grandmother in a strict Christian Scientist environment, Fisher left school while still in his teens to join the Merchant Marine. By his own account he soon discovered that a life at sea was not for him, so he left the service ...
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, The Phantom of the Opera (1962), The Man Who Could Cheat Death, The Curse of Frankenstein, The Curse of the Werewolf , Horror of Dracula, The Mummy, The Devil Rides Out, Island of Terror, Blood Orange
26. Wim Wenders
Director | Der Himmel über Berlin
Wim Wenders is an Oscar-nominated German filmmaker who was born Ernst Wilhelm Wenders on August 14, 1945 in Düsseldorf, which then was located in the British Occupation Zone of what became the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany, known colloquially as West Germany until ...
Wings of Desire, Faraway So Close!, Paris Texas, Wrong Move, 8, Lumière and Company, Pina, The Salt of the Earth, To Each His Own Cinema
27. Tarsem Singh
Director | The Fall
Indian director Tarsem Singh is the son of an aircraft engineer. He was educated at Bishop Cotton Boy's School in Shimla and relocated to the USA to study business at Harvard and, significantly, film studies at the Art Center College of Design in California. Upon graduating he embarked on a career ...
The Cell (2000), The Fall, The Curious Case of Benjamain Button, Immortals, Mirror Mirror, Self/less
28. Darren Aronofsky
Writer | Pi
Darren Aronofsky was born February 12, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, Darren was always artistic: he loved classic movies and, as a teenager, he even spent time doing graffiti art. After high school, Darren went to Harvard University to study film (both live-action and animation). He won ...
Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, Pi, Black Swan, Below
29. Charles Chaplin
Writer | The Great Dictator
Considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular character, the Little Tramp; the man with the ...
The Great Dictator, The Idle Class, Modern Times, A Woman of Paris, Limelight, Monsieur Verdoux, A Countess from Hong Kong, The Kid, The Gold Rush, The Circus
30. Wes Craven
Writer | A Nightmare on Elm Street
Wes Craven has become synonymous with genre bending and innovative horror, challenging audiences with his bold vision.
Wesley Earl Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Caroline (Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven. He had a midwestern suburban upbringing. His first feature film was The Last House on ...
A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wishmaster, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Red Eye, The People Under the Stairs, The Hills Have Eyes, Pulse, Shocker, The Twilight Zone (TV, 1985)
31. Guillermo del Toro
Writer | El laberinto del fauno
Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his ...
Pan's Labyrinth, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Mimic, The Shape of Water, Hellboy, The Hobbit, Puss in Boots, Pacific Rim
32. Francis Ford Coppola
Producer | Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in a New York suburb in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola (née Pennino), had been an actress. Francis Ford Coppola graduated ...
The Godfather, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, The Rainmaker, New York Stories, The Outsiders, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, Sleepy Hollow, THX 1138, The Terror
33. James Cameron
Writer | Avatar: The Way of Water
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 ...
The Terminator, Titanic, Aliens, Avatar, Point Break (1991), Alita: Battle Angel, Aliens of the Deep
34. Robert Wise
Director | West Side Story
Robert Earl Wise was born on September 10, 1914 in Winchester, Indiana, the youngest of three sons of Olive R. (Longenecker) and Earl Waldo Wise, a meat packer. His parents were both of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) descent. At age nineteen, the avid moviegoer came into the film business through an ...
The Haunting (1963), The Andromeda Strain, Run Silent Run Deep, Audrey Rose, The Hindenburg, Two for the Seesaw, I Want to Live!, The Body Snatcher, Blood on the Moon, A Game of Death, The Curse of the Cat People, Until They Sail, The Captive City
35. René Clair
Writer | Le silence est d'or
René Clair was born on November 11, 1898 in Paris, France. He was a writer and director, known for Man About Town (1947), Beauties of the Night (1952) and The Grand Maneuver (1955). He was married to Bronia Clair. He died on March 15, 1981 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.
And Then There Were None (1945), I Married a Witch, Beauties of the Night, Three Fables of Love, Le Million, The Italian Straw Hat, Gariban
36. Terrence Malick
Writer | Days of Heaven
Terrence Malick was born in Ottawa, Illinois. His family subsequently lived in Oklahoma and he went to school in Austin, Texas. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in philosophy in 1965.
A member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, he attended Magdalen ...
The Tree of Life, The Thin Red Line, The New World, Knight of Cups, Days of Heaven, Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience
37. Ang Lee
Director | Xi yan
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, ...
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Life of Pi, Taking Woodstock, Hulk
38. Oliver Stone
Director | JFK
Oliver Stone has become known as a master of controversial subjects and a legendary film maker. His films are filled with a variety of film angles and styles, he pushes his actors to give Oscar-worthy performances, and despite his failures, has always returned to success.
William Oliver Stone was ...
Platoon, The Doors, Wall Street, Midnight Express, Natural Born Killers, JFK, Savages, Malcolm X, Born on the Fourth of July, Talk Radio, Freeway, Nixon, Snowden, Wild Palms, Zebrahead, Blue Steel, Sugar Cookies, Salvador, Nuclear Now, The Untold History of the United States (TV)
39. Richard Donner
Director | Superman
Richard Donner was born on April 24, 1930 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Superman (1978), Ladyhawke (1985) and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980). He was married to Lauren Shuler Donner. He died on July 5, 2021 in Los Angeles, ...
The Omen, Superman, The Lost Boys, X-Men, Tales from the Crypt: Ritual, Ladyhawke, The Goonies, Lethal Weapon, The Twilight Zone (TV), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TV), Tales from the Crypt (TV)
40. 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...
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Tomorrowland, *batteries not included, The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Amazing Stories (1985, TV)
41. Spike Jonze
Producer | Her
Spike Jonze made up one-third (along with Andy Jenkins and Mark Lewman) of the triumvirate of genius minds behind Dirt Magazine, the brother publication of the much lamented ground-breaking Sassy Magazine. These three uncommon characters were all editors for Grand Royal Magazine as well, under the ...
Being John Malkovich, Her, I'm Here, To Die by Your Side, Jackass, Jackass (TV), The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (TV)
42. Grant Heslov
Producer | Argo
Grant Heslov was born on May 15, 1963 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Argo (2012), Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) and The Ides of March (2011). He is married to Lysa Heslov. They have two children.
The Men Who Stare at Goats, Argo, Good Night and Good Luck, The Ides of March, Catch-22 (TV)
43. John Hughes
Writer | Planes, Trains & Automobiles
John Hughes was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He was credited for creating some of the most memorable comedy films of the 1980s and the 1990s, when he was at the height of his career. He had a talent for writing coming-of-age stories, and for depicting fairly realistic...
Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes Trains and Automobiles, The Breakfast Club, Uncle Buck, Weird Science, National Lampoon's Vacation, Pretty in Pink, The Great Outdoors, 101 Dalmatians
44. Alan Parker
Director | Evita
The son of Elsie Ellen, a dressmaker, and William Leslie Parker, a house painter, Alan Parker was a London advertising copywriter in the 1960s and early 1970s with Collett Dickenson Pearce (CDP), an ad agency. He formed a partnership with David Puttnam as his producer (Puttnam had been a ...
Midnight Express, Pink Floyd – The Wall, Birdy, Mississippi Burning, Shoot the Moon, The Life of David Gale, The Road to Wellville, Come See the Paradise, Angela's Ashes, Melody, Angel Heart, The Evacuees, The Commitments, Evita, Dad's Army
45. Wes Anderson
Director | Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wesley Wales Anderson was born in Houston, Texas. His mother, Texas Ann (Burroughs), is an archaeologist turned real estate agent, and his father, Melver Leonard Anderson, worked in advertising and PR. He has two brothers, Eric and Mel. Anderson's parents divorced when he was a young child, an ...
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Rushmore, Bottle Rocket
46. Brian De Palma
Director | Body Double
Brian De Palma is one of the well-known directors who spear-headed the new movement in Hollywood during the 1970s. He is known for his many films that go from violent pictures, to Hitchcock-like thrillers. Born on September 11, 1940, De Palma was born in Newark, New Jersey in an Italian-American ...
Body Double, Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables, Scarface, Sisters, Dressed To Kill
47. Timur Bekmambetov
Director | Nochnoy dozor
Timur Bekmambetov is a Kazakh-Russian film director known for vampire franchise Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006).
He was born Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov on June 25, 1961, in Guryev, Soviet Union (now Atyrau, Kazakhstan). His father, Nuruakhit Bekmambetov, is a manager at Guryev Energy ...
Night Watch, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Wanted, 9, Profile, Hardcore Henry
48. Ron Howard
Producer | Arrested Development
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is one of this generation's most popular directors. From the critically acclaimed dramas A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Apollo 13 (1995) to the hit comedies Parenthood (1989) and Splash (1983), he has created some of Hollywood's most memorable films.
Howard ...
Apollo 13, Willow, In the Heart of the Sea, A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code, The Doors, The 'Burbs, The Dark Tower, Arrested Development (TV)
49. Danny Boyle
Director | 127 Hours
Daniel Francis Boyle is a British filmmaker, producer and writer from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. He is known for directing 28 Days Later, 127 Hours, Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Millions, Shallow Grave, The Beach, Yesterday, and Steve Jobs. He won many awards for ...
Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Trance, 127 Hours, Steve Jobs, Yesterday, Sunshine
50. Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer | The Neon Demon
Writer, director, and producer Nicolas Winding Refn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1970, to Anders Refn, a film director and editor, and Vibeke Winding (née Tuxen), a cinematographer. Just before he turned 11, in 1981, he moved to New York with his parents, where he lived out his teen years. ...
Drive, Fear X, The Neon Demon, Bronson, Valhalla Rising, Pusher, Only God Forgives, Bleeder, Touch of Crude, The Chosen 7 (TV), Copenhagen Cowboy (TV), Too Old to Die Young (TV)
51. 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 ...
Ocean's Trilogy, Traffic, Contagion, The Informant!, Logan Lucky, Haywire, Nightwatch, Side Effects, Pleasantville, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Insomnia, The Jacket, Naqoyqatsi
52. M. Night Shyamalan
Producer | Lady in the Water
Born in Puducherry, India, and raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots.
He is the son of Jayalakshmi, a Tamil ...
The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable Trilogy, The Village, The Happening, Devil, Servant (TV)
53. Robert Rodriguez
Producer | El mariachi
Robert Anthony Rodriguez was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, USA, to Rebecca (Villegas), a nurse, and Cecilio G. Rodríguez, a salesman. His family is of Mexican descent.
Of all the people to be amazed by the images of John Carpenter's 1981 sci-fi parable, Escape from New York (1981), none ...
From Dusk till Dawn, Alita: Battle Angel, Sin City, Mexico Trilogy, Grindhouse, Machete, Spy Kids, Four Rooms, Predators
54. Clive Barker
Writer | Nightbreed
Born in Liverpool, England, UK, Clive Barker is an English writer, director, and visual artist, best known for his works in the genres of horror and dark fantasy. His mother Joan Ruby (née Revill) was a painter and school welfare officer and his father Leonard Barker was a personnel director for an...
Hellraiser, Nightbreed, Lord of Illusions, Candyman
55. Rob Reiner
Actor | All in the Family
Robert Reiner was born in New York City, to Estelle Reiner (née Lebost) and Emmy-winning actor, comedian, writer, and producer Carl Reiner.
As a child, his father was his role model, as Carl Reiner created and starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show. Estelle was also an inspiration for him to become a ...
Stand By Me, Misery, The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men
56. Georges Méliès
Director | À la conquête du pôle
Georges Méliès was a French illusionist and film director famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema.
Méliès was an especially prolific innovator in the use of special effects, popularizing such techniques as substitution splices, multiple exposures, ...
Whimsical Illusions
57. Clint Eastwood
Actor | Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in ...
Sully, Tightrope, Unforgiven, American Sniper, The Mule, Pale Rider, Absolute Power, Amazing Stories (TV, 1985)
58. David Cronenberg
Actor | The Fly
David Cronenberg, also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of Blood, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1943. His father, Milton Cronenberg, was a journalist and editor, and his mother, Esther (Sumberg), was a piano player. After showing an inclination for literature at an early...
The Fly, Scanners, Existenz, Spider, Videodrome, Dead Ringers, A History of Violence, The Dead Zone, The Brood, Shivers
59. 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 ...
Hacksaw Ridge, Apocalypto
60. David Prior
Producer | AM1200
David Prior was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He is a producer and director, known for AM1200 (2008), The Empty Man (2020) and The Offing.
The Empty Man, AM1200, Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (TV)
61. Michael Mann
Producer | The Insider
As a director, screenwriter, and producer, four-time Academy Award nominee Michael Mann has established himself as one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema. After writing and directing the Primetime Emmy Award-winning television movie The Jericho Mile (1979), Mann ...
The Last of the Mohicans, Public Enemies, Collateral, Heat, The Insider, The Keep, Miami Vice (2006), The Aviator, The Kingdom, Ford v Ferrari, Miami Vice (TV)
62. Charles Band
Producer | Puppet Master
Charles Band is a writer, producer, director and publisher. He was born on December 27, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, as Charles Robert Band. His father was producer and director Albert Band and his brother is composer Richard Band.
Band has been writing, producing and directing films in the ...
Puppet Master, Subspecies, Crash!, Trancers, Hideous!, Dollman vs. Demonic Toys, TerrorVision, From Beyond, Robot Wars, Talisman, Creepozoids, Seedpeople, Meridian: Kiss of the Beast, Intruder, Dr. Moreau's House of Pain, Decadent Evil, Castle Freak, Ghoulies
63. David Lynch
Writer | Twin Peaks
Born in precisely the kind of small-town American setting so familiar from his films, David Lynch spent his childhood being shunted from one state to another as his research scientist father kept getting relocated. He attended various art schools, married Peggy Lynch and then fathered future ...
Mulholland Drive, Dune, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks (TV, 1990)
64. John Carpenter
Writer | The Fog
John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York, to mother Milton Jean (Carter) and father Howard Ralph Carpenter. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father, a professor, was head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He attended Western Kentucky ...
They Live, In the Mouth of Madness, The Thing, Prince of Darkness, Escape from New York, Black Moon Rising, Dark Star, Village of the Damned, Eyes of Laura Mars, Someone's Watching Me!, Halloween, The Fog (1980, 2005)
65. Steven Knight
Writer | Locke
Steven Knight is a British screenwriter and film director. He is best known for screenplays he wrote for the films Dirty Pretty Things (2002) and Eastern Promises (2007), and also directed as well as written the film Locke (2013).
Knight is also one of three creators of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire...
Locke, The Girl in the Spider's Web, The Hundred-Foot Journey, Burnt, Allied, Seventh Son, Peaky Blinders (TV), Taboo (TV), See (TV),
66. James Wan
Writer | Saw
James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director of Malaysian Chinese descent. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw (2004) and creating Billy the puppet. Wan has also directed Dead Silence (2007), Death Sentence (2007), Insidious (2010)...
The Conjuring Universe, Malignant, Aquaman, Furious 7
67. Stan Lee
Producer | Black Panther
Stan Lee was an American comic-book writer, editor, and publisher, who was executive vice president and publisher of Marvel Comics.
Stan was born in New York City, to Celia (Solomon) and Jack Lieber, a dress cutter. His parents were Romanian Jewish immigrants. Lee co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, ...
Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Legacy
68. Nicole Kassell
Director | The Woodsman
Nicole Kassell received a BA from Columbia University in Art History and an MFA from NYU's Film Program, where she was honored with full scholarships for two years. Her short film, "Jaime," won the DGA student female filmmaker prize, and her thesis film, "The Green Hour," premiered at the Sundance ...
Watchmen (TV), The Leftovers (TV), Westworld (TV), The Woodsman
69. Steph Green
Director | The Americans
Steph Green is an Oscar and Emmy nominated film and TV director, whose cinematic projects range from independent features to award-winning television. Green was nominated for an Academy Award in 2009 for her short film "New Boy" which she wrote and directed in Ireland. She has directed top TV shows...
Watchmen (TV), The Man in the High Castle (TV), Dare Me (TV)
70. Sam Esmail
Producer | Mr. Robot
Sam Esmail was born on September 17, 1977 in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Mr. Robot (2015), Homecoming (2018) and Leave the World Behind (2023). He has been married to Emmy Rossum since May 28, 2017. They have two children.
Homecoming (TV), Mr. Robot (TV)
71. Stephen Williams
Producer | Watchmen
Stephen Williams is known for Watchmen (2019), Lost (2004) and Undercovers (2010). He is married to Jocelyn Snowdon. They have one child.
Watchmen (TV), Westworld (TV), The Walking Dead (TV)
72. Paolo Sorrentino
Writer | È stata la mano di Dio
Director and screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino was born in Naples in 1970, and and became an orphan when he lost both of his parents at the age of 16. At the age of 25, after studying for a few years at the Faculty of Economics and Business in University of Naples Federico II, he decided to work in the...
The Young Pope (TV), The New Pope (TV)
73. Jamie Uys
Director | The Gods Must Be Crazy
Jamie Uys was an internationally acclaimed film director who completed 24 films. Prizes for his work included the 1981 Grand Prix at the Festival International du Film de Comedy Vevey for 'The Gods Must be Crazy' and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association award for best documentary in 1974 for '...
The Gods Must Be Crazy, Animals Are Beautiful People
74. Godfrey Reggio
Director | Koyaanisqatsi
Godfrey Reggio is a pioneer of a film style that creates poetic images of extraordinary emotional impact for audiences worldwide. Reggio is prominent in the film world for his QATSI trilogy, essays of visual images and sound that chronicle the destructive impact of the modern world on the ...
Qatsi Trilogy
75. Ron Fricke
Cinematographer | Samsara
Ron Fricke is known for Samsara (2011), Baraka (1992) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Baraka, Samsara, Chronos, Sacred Site, Koyaanisqatsi
76. Claude Nuridsany
Director | Microcosmos: Le peuple de l'herbe
Claude Nuridsany was born in Paris, France. He is known for Microcosmos (1996), Genesis (2004) and The Field of Enchantment (2011).
Microcosmos, Genesis
77. Marie Pérennou
Director | Microcosmos: Le peuple de l'herbe
Marie Pérennou is known for Microcosmos (1996), Genesis (2004) and The Field of Enchantment (2011).
Microcosmos, Genesis
78. Ray Harryhausen
Actor | Spies Like Us
When it comes to motion-picture special effects, there is only one name that personifies movie magic: Ray Harryhausen. From his debut films with George Pal to his final film, Harryhausen imbued magic and visual strength to motion-picture special effects as no other technician has, before or since.
...
Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad trilogy, Evolution of the World, The Pit and the Pendulum (2007), The Story of King Midas, The Story of 'Little Red Riding Hood', The Storybook Review, The Story of 'Rapunzel', The Story of 'The Tortoise & the Hare', How to Bridge a Gorge, Guadalcanal, The Story of 'Hansel and Gretel' (TV)
79. Edward Burtynsky
Director | Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
Edward Burtynsky was born on February 22, 1955 in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. He is a director, known for Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018), Watermark (2013) and Great Lakes Untamed (2022).
Watermark
80. Jennifer Baichwal
Director | Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
Jennifer Baichwal was born in Montréal and grew up in Victoria, British Columbia. She studied philosophy and theology at McGill University, receiving an MA in 1994.
Jennifer has been directing and producing documentaries for 25 years. Among other films, installations and lens-based projects, she has...
Manufactured Landscapes, Watermark, Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
81. David Attenborough
Self | Blue Planet II
Born 8 May 1926, the younger brother of actor Lord Richard Attenborough. He never expressed a wish to act and, instead, studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, graduating in 1947, the year he began his two years National Service in the Royal Navy. In 1952, he joined BBC Television at ...
The Blue Planet (TV), The Life of Mammals (TV), Planet Earth (TV), The Living Planet (TV), Life in the Freezer (TV), The Private Life of Plants (TV), Life in the Undergrowth (TV), Life in Cold Blood (TV), Nature's Great Events (TV), Seven Worlds, One Planet (TV)
82. Michael Moore
Director | Bowling for Columbine
Michael Francis Moore was born in Flint, Michigan on April 23, 1954, and was raised in its Davison suburb. He is the son of Helen Veronica (Wall), a secretary, and Francis Richard Moore, who worked on an auto assembly line. He has Irish, as well as English and Scottish, ancestry.
Moore studied ...
Canadian Bacon, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Where to Invade Next
83. Mark Achbar
Producer | The Corporation
Mark Achbar is known for The Corporation (2003), Two Brides and a Scalpel: Diary of a Lesbian Marriage (2000) and Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992).
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, The Corporation
84. Rod Serling
Writer | The Twilight Zone
A former boxer, paratrooper and general all-around angry young man, Rod Serling was one of the radical new voices that made the "Golden Age" of television. Long before The Twilight Zone (1959), he was known for writing such high-quality scripts as "Patterns" and "Requiem for a Heavyweight," both ...
The Twilight Zone (TV), Night Gallery (TV), Seven Days In May, The Doomsday Flight, Planet of the Apes (1968)
85. Stephen King
Writer | Maximum Overdrive
Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21, 1947, at the Maine General Hospital in Portland. His parents were Nellie Ruth (Pillsbury), who worked as a caregiver at a mental institute, and Donald Edwin King, a merchant seaman. His father was born under the surname "Pollock," but used the last name ...
The Shining, The Green Mile, Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption, Misery, Dreamcatcher, Secret Window, The Dark Tower, Salem's Lot, Cat’s Eye, Cujo, 1408, The Mist, Sleepwalkers, The Dead Zone, Pet Sematary, The Running Man, Maximum Overdrive, Dolores Claiborne, The Night Flier, Christine, Sometimes They Come Back, Graveyard Shift, Doctor Sleep, Creepshow, Children of the Corn, The Outsider (TV), The Stand (TV), The Tommyknockers (TV), Salem's Lot (TV), The Langoliers (TV), Under the Dome (TV), Nightmares & Dreamscapes (TV)
86. Damon Lindelof
Producer | Lost
Damon Lindelof was born on April 24, 1973 in Teaneck, New Jersey, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Lost (2004), The Leftovers (2014) and Watchmen (2019). He has been married to Heidi Fugeman since May 28, 2005. They have one child.
Watchmen (TV), The Leftovers (TV), Tomorrowland, Prometheus
87. Michael Palin
Writer | Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Michael Palin is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. He was one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python.
After the Monty Python television series ended in 1974, the Palin/Jones team worked on Ripping Yarns, an intermittent television comedy series broadcast over ...
Monty Python, Monty Python's Flying Circus (TV), Fierce Creatures
88. Ian Fleming
Writer | Casino Royale
Born into a wealthy and influential English family, Ian Fleming spent his early years attending top British schools such as Eton and Sandhurst military academy. He took to writing while schooling in Kitzbuhel, Austria, and upon failing the entrance requirements for Foreign Service joined the news ...
James Bond
89. Ryan Murphy
Producer | Glee
Born November 9, 1965 in Indianapolis, Indiana, US as Ryan Patrick Murphy, he is an American writer, director, and producer, responsible for creating such hits as Nip/Tuck (2003), Glee (2009) and American Horror Story (2011). His mother, J. Andy Murphy, was a writer and communications worker and ...
American Horror Story (TV), Ratched (TV), 9-1-1 (TV)
90. Michael Crichton
Writer | Jurassic Park
Michael Crichton was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in Roslyn, New York. His father was a journalist and encouraged him to write and to type. Michael gave up studying English at Harvard University, having become disillusioned with the teaching standards--the final straw came when he ...
Jurassic Park, Westworld, Sphere, The Terminal Man, The Andromeda Strain
91. Toby Finlay
Writer | Dorian Gray
Toby Finlay is known for Dorian Gray (2009), Ripper Street (2012) and Peaky Blinders (2013).
Dorian Gray (2009), Ripper Street, Cobra (2021), The Serpent, Peaky Blinders (TV)
92. Mike Judge
Writer | Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
Mike Judge is an American actor, animator, film director, screenwriter, and television producer.
In 1962, Judge was born in Guayaquil, the largest city of Ecuador and the country's main port. His parents were expatriate Americans. His father was archaeologist William James Judge and his mother was ...
Office Space, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Beavis and Butt-Head (TV), King of the Hill (TV), Silicon Valley (TV), Saturday Night Live (TV)
93. Seth MacFarlane
Writer | Family Guy
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane was born in the small New England town of Kent, Connecticut, where he lived with his mother, Ann Perry (Sager), an admissions office worker, his father, Ronald Milton MacFarlane, a prep school teacher, and his sister, Rachael MacFarlane, now a voice actress and singer. He ...
Ted, Family Guy (TV), American Dad! (TV), Johnny Bravo (TV), Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, This Changes Everything (2015)
94. Matt Groening
Writer | The Simpsons
Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Matt Groening did not particularly like school, which is what originally turned him towards drawing. In the mid-1980s, he moved to Los Angeles and started drawing a comic strip named "Life in Hell", which eventually became published in the newspaper where he worked. ...
The Simpsons (TV)
95. Phil Tippett
Visual_effects | Jurassic Park
Phil Tippett is the founder and namesake of Tippett Studio. His varied career in visual effects has spanned more than 30 years and includes two Academy Awards; and six nominations, one BAFTA award and four nominations, two Emmys and the advent of modern digital effects in motion pictures.
As a child...
Visual Effects: Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Willow, Dragonslayer, The Spiderwick Chronicles, House II: The Second Story, The Haunting, The Golden Child, RoboCop
96. Syd Mead
Art_department | Blade Runner
Syd Mead was a designer for Ford Motor Company, U.S. Steel, and Philips Electronics. After establishing himself as a "Futurist" consultant, he visualized technology and products for companies like Sony, Chrysler, Mechanix Illustrated, and Playboy. Syd's movie designs appeared in 'Star Trek - The ...
Art Department: Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, TRON, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, Aliens, Tomorrowland, Solar Crisis, Short Circuit, Elysium, Mission: Impossible III, Mission to Mars
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