My Favourite Creators
by danielwsimpson | created - 09 Oct 2022 | updated - 1 week ago | PublicThese are my favourite directors, writers, and creators of all time.
1. 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...
2. Brandon Cronenberg
Director | Possessor
Brandon Cronenberg was born on January 10, 1980 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a director and writer, known for Possessor (2020), Infinity Pool (2023) and Antiviral (2012).
3. 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 ...
4. 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...
5. Steven Kostanski
Director | The Void
Steven Kostanski is known for The Void (2016), Psycho Goreman (2020) and The Divide (2011).
6. Harmony Korine
Director | Gummo
Harmony Korine was born in 1973 in Bolinas, California. His family moved to the east coast of the United States when he was five, and he spent his early years in Nashville, Tennessee, and New York. At the age of nineteen, he wrote the critically acclaimed screenplay Kids (1995) for director Larry ...
7. Dario Argento
Writer | Profondo rosso
Dario Argento was born on September 7, 1940, in Rome, Italy, the first-born son of famed Italian producer Salvatore Argento and Brazilian fashion model Elda Luxardo. Argento recalls getting his ideas for filmmaking from his close-knit family from Italian folk tales told by his parents and other ...
8. Denis Villeneuve
Director | Dune
Denis Villeneuve is a French Canadian film director and writer. He was born in 1967, in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. He started his career as a filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada. He is best known for his feature films Arrival (2016), Sicario (2015), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), ...
9. Anouk Whissell
Director | Summer of 84
Anouk Whissell is known for Summer of 84 (2018), Turbo Kid (2015) and Wake Up (2023).
10. Yoann-Karl Whissell
Actor | Turbo Kid
Yoann-Karl Whissell is known for Turbo Kid (2015), Summer of 84 (2018) and We Are Zombies (2023).
11. François Simard
Director | Turbo Kid
François Simard is known for Turbo Kid (2015), Summer of 84 (2018) and We Are Zombies (2023).
12. 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 ...
13. Matt Duffer
Writer | Stranger Things
Matt Duffer of The Duffer Brothers, born in Durham, February 15, 1984, is a writer, producer, and director for film and television. He is most known as the creator and showrunner of the hit Netflix Sci-Fi TV series Stranger Things. Other works include the thriller film Hidden and he has written ...
14. Ross Duffer
Writer | Stranger Things
Ross Duffer is known for Stranger Things (2016), We All Fall Down (2005) and Wayward Pines (2015). He has been married to Leigh Janiak since December 22, 2015.
15. Robert Eggers
Director | The Lighthouse
Robert Houston Eggers is an American filmmaker and production designer. He is best known for writing and directing the historical horror films The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019), as well as directing and co-writing the historical fiction epic film The Northman (2022). His films are noted ...
16. John Waters
Writer | Pecker
Growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s, John Waters was not like other children; he was obsessed by violence and gore, both real and on the screen. With his weird counter-culture friends as his cast, he began making silent 8mm and 16mm films in the mid-'60s; he screened these in rented Baltimore ...
17. Anthony Russo
Producer | Everything Everywhere All at Once
Anthony J. Russo is an American filmmaker and producer who works alongside his brother Joseph Russo. They have directed You, Me and Dupree, Cherry and the Marvel films Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Endgame is one of ...
18. Joseph Russo
Actor | Jersey Boys
Joseph Russo is known for Jersey Boys (2014), The Irishman (2019) and Jersey Shore Shark Attack (2012).
19. 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 ...
20. Ti West
Director | Pearl
Ti West is most notable for directing horror films, as well as being an actor, writer, producer, and editor. Ti broke out, after directing various projects, in 2009, when he directed two feature films - 2009's The House Of The Devil and Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever. Ti later directed, with his ...
21. Adam Sandler
Actor | The Waterboy
Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith (Levine), a teacher at a nursery school, and Stanley Alan Sandler, an electrical engineer. He is of Russian Jewish descent. At 17, he took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took ...
22. Julia Ducournau
Director | Titane
Julia Ducournau is a French film director and screenwriter. She attended film school at La Fémis in Paris, where she studied screenwriting. In 2011, her short film JUNIOR won the Petit Rail d'Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Her first feature, the horror movie Raw (2016), won the coveted ...
23. Joe Dante
Director | Innerspace
Joe Dante is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art. After a stint as a film reviewer, he began his filmmaking apprenticeship in 1974 as trailer editor for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. He made his directorial debut in 1976 with Hollywood Boulevard (1976) (co-directed with Allan Arkush)...
24. 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 ...
25. 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 ...
26. 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)...
27. 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 ...
28. James Gunn
Writer | Guardians of the Galaxy
James Gunn was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, to Leota and James Francis Gunn. He is from a large Catholic family, with Irish and Czech ancestry. His father and his uncles were all lawyers. He has been writing and performing as long as he can remember. He began making 8mm films at the age ...
29. Ben Stiller
Producer | Tropic Thunder
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York City, New York, to legendary comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. His father was of Austrian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent, and his mother was of Irish Catholic descent (she converted to Judaism).
His parents made no real...
30. 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, ...
31. Jocelyn DeBoer
Actress | Greener Grass
Jocelyn DeBoer is an award-winning actress, writer, and director who got her start improvising at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre where she's been a weekly performer for nearly a decade. Jocelyn is known for "Greener Grass" (2019), a dark comedy feature she co-wrote and co-directed alongside ...
32. Dawn Luebbe
Actress | Greener Grass
Dawn got her start as a stage actor in New York, where she performed off-broadway for nearly a decade. She is now an LA-based writer, actor and director. Dawn co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in the indie feature, GREENER GRASS, alongside Jocelyn DeBoer, which premiered at Sundance in 2019. ...
33. Jim Henson
Soundtrack | The Muppet Show
Jim Henson never thought that he would make a name of himself in puppetry; it was merely a way of getting himself on television. The vehicle that achieved it was Sam and Friends (1955), a late-night puppet show that was on after the 11:00 news in Washington DC. It proved to be very popular and ...
34. Frank Oz
Actor | The Muppet Show
Frank Richard Oznowicz was born in Hereford, England to puppeteers Frances and Isidore Oznowicz. His family moved to Montana in 1951, eventually settling in Oakland, California. As a teenager, he worked as an apprentice puppeteer at Children's Fairyland amusement park. He is one of the primary ...
35. Nick Antosca
Writer | Channel Zero
Nick Antosca was born on January 23, 1983 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Channel Zero (2016), The Act (2019) and A Friend of the Family (2022).
36. Makoto Shinkai
Writer | Suzume no Tojimari
Makoto Shinkai is a Japanese director, writer, producer, animator, editor, cinematographer, voice actor, manga artist and former graphic designer. Shinkai studied Japanese literature at Chuo University where he was a member of juvenile literature club where he drew picture books. In 1999, Shinkai ...
37. Hayao Miyazaki
Writer | Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking visuals in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan.
Miyazaki started his career in 1963 as an animator at the ...
38. Rahi Anil Barve
Director | Tumbbad
Rahi Anil Barve was born on June 4, 1979. He is a director and writer, known for Tumbbad (2018), Mayasabha and Gulkanda Tales.
39. Gaspar Noé
Director | Enter the Void
Gaspar Noé is an Argentinian filmmaker and screenwriter who lives in France. He is the son of Luis Felipe Noé, an Argentinian artist. He directed I Stand Alone, Irréversible, Enter the Void, Love, Climax, Carne, Lux Æterna, Sodomites and Vortex. His films are known for having a sensory overload ...
40. Lucile Hadzihalilovic
Writer | Innocence
Lucile Emina Hadzihalilovic was born on May 7, 1961 in Lyon, Rhône, France, to Bosnian parents and grew up in Morocco. She studied Art History and Film Directing at the IDHEC. She has been working in film industry since 1980's, as director, editor, writer and actress in both short and feature films...
41. Rob Savage
Director | Host
Rob Savage is a multi-award winning writer/director and 2013 Screen International Star of Tomorrow, working in shorts, features and commercials. He wrote, directed, shot, co-produced and edited micro- budget feature film Strings at age 18, which has screened at a number of prestigious International...
42. Takashi Miike
Director | Jûsan-nin no shikaku
Takashi Miike was born in the small town of Yao on the outskirts of Osaka, Japan. His main interest growing up was motorbikes, and for a while he harbored ambitions to race professionally. At the age of 18 he went to study at the film school in Yokohama founded by renowned director Shôhei Imamura, ...
43. 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 ...
44. 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 ...
45. David Slade
Director | Hard Candy
David Slade was born on September 26, 1969 in the UK. He is a director and producer, known for Hard Candy (2005), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) and 30 Days of Night (2007).
46. Eli Roth
Producer | Thanksgiving
Eli Raphael Roth was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Cora (Bialis), a painter, and Sheldon H. Roth, a psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, and clinical professor. His family is Jewish (from Austria, Hungary, Russia, and Poland). He began shooting Super 8 films at the age of eight; after watching Ridley ...
47. Jason Howden
Director | Guns Akimbo
Jason Howden is known for Guns Akimbo (2019), Deathgasm (2015) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
48. McG
Director | Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
McG was born on August 9, 1968 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009) and The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020).
49. Bong Joon Ho
Writer | Snowpiercer
Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean filmmaker. The recipient of three Academy Awards, his filmography is characterized by emphasis on social themes, genre-mixing, black humor, and sudden tone shifts. He first became known to audiences and achieved a cult following with his directorial debut film, the ...
50. Robert Olsen
Producer | Significant Other
Robert Olsen is known for Significant Other (2022), Villains (2019) and Body (2015).
51. Dan Berk
Producer | Significant Other
Dan Berk was born on February 26, 1987 in White Plains, New York, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Significant Other (2022), Villains (2019) and Body (2015).
52. Yorgos Lanthimos
Director | The Lobster
Yorgos Lanthimos was born in Athens, Greece. He studied directing for Film and Television at the Stavrakos Film School in Athens. He has directed a number of dance videos in collaboration with Greek choreographers, in addition to TV commercials, music videos, short films and theater plays. Kinetta,...
53. Emma Tammi
Director | Five Nights at Freddy's
Emma Tammi was born on February 26, 1982 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Five Nights at Freddy's (2023), The Wind (2018) and The Left Right Game (2020).
54. Ishana Shyamalan
Producer | Servant
Ishana Shyamalan is known for Servant (2019), Old (2021) and The Watchers (2024).
55. 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 ...
56. Finn Wolfhard
Actor | It
A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, actor Finn Wolfhard stars as Mike Wheeler in the critically acclaimed Netflix Original Series Stranger Things (2016). The hit series has received various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a ...
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