Directors
by marksarlljr | created - 28 Aug 2014 | updated - 04 Nov 2014 | Public
1. Henry Selick
Director | Coraline
Henry Selick is a film director, specializing in films with stop-motion animation. He has formal training as an animator.
Selick was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, son of Charles H. Selick and Melanie Molan. He was mostly raised in Rumson, New Jersey. As a child, Selick took up drawing as a hobby. ...
Coraline and James and the Giant Peach are his two greatest achievements. Good job. Hope The Shadow King gets brought back into the spotlight soon.
2. Barry Levinson
Director | Rain Man
Barry Lee Levinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Violet (Krichinsky) and Irvin Levinson, who worked in furniture and appliance. He is of Russian Jewish descent. Levinson graduated from high school in 1960, attended college at American University in Washington, DC. He did well, but decided he ...
What Just Happened?, Rain Man, Wag the Dog, Good Morning, Vietnam, Man of the Year, Liberty Heights, and You Don't Know Jack. The man has a laundry list of well-written films and satire.
3. John Lasseter
Writer | Toy Story 2
Although born in Hollywood, John and his twin sister Johanna were raised in Whittier 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 ...
Toy Story 1 & 2 and A Bug's Life are absolutely phenomenal.
4. 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 ...
The Raid films have excellent action.
5. Morgan Spurlock
Producer | Super Size Me
Morgan Spurlock was born on November 7, 1970 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Super Size Me (2004), The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011) and Mansome (2012). He has been married to Sara Bernstein since May 2, 2016. He was previously married to Alexandra ...
Super Size Me, Simpsons 20th Anniversary TV special, CNN's Inside Man, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Mansome, and We the Economy. I will not forgive him for doing 1D: This is Us.
6. Nick Park
Writer | The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Nick Park was born on December 6, 1958 in Preston, Lancashire, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), Chicken Run (2000) and Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993).
You can't go wrong with the mind behind Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, and Creature Comforts.
7. James DeMonaco
Writer | The Purge: Anarchy
James DeMonaco was born in 1969 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Purge: Anarchy (2014), The Purge: Election Year (2016) and The First Purge (2018).
The Purge films and Little New York.
8. Spike Lee
Director | Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended ...
Jungle Fever, Do the Right Thing, Red Hook Summer, Mo' Better Blues, School Daze, Get on the Bus, and Malcolm X. Controversial filmmaker.
9. Genndy Tartakovsky
Producer | Samurai Jack
Genndy Tartakovsky was born and raised in Moscow, USSR. He and his family moved to Chicago, IL when he was 7 years old, after his father defected to the US. His interest in comic books and animation led him to study animation at CalArts in Los Angeles. While he was there he produced two student ...
Dexter's Lab will always be his finest work.
10. Richard Linklater
Director | Waking Life
Self-taught writer-director Richard Stuart Linklater was born in Houston, Texas, to Diane Margaret (Krieger), who taught at a university, and Charles W. Linklater III. Richard was among the first and most successful talents to emerge during the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s. ...
School of Rock, A Scanner Darkly, and Boyhood are his best works. Even the Bad News Bears remake wasn't too bad.
11. Pete Docter
Writer | Up
Pete Docter is the Oscar®-winning director of "Monsters, Inc.," "Up," and "Inside Out," and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. He is currently directing Pixar's feature film "Soul" with producer Dana Murray, which is set to release June 19, 2020.
Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the ...
Monsters, Inc. was excellent and Up was pretty good and enriching too. Hope to see how Inside Out will turn out.
12. 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 ...
Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride, Charlie & the Choc. Factory, Dark Shadows, Frankenweenie, Vincent, and Beetlejuice. Still cannot forget about Johnny Depp having scissors for hands.
13. 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 ...
Spirited Away (my favourite), Howl's Moving Castle, Porco Rosso, The Wind Rises, and Princess Mononoke.
14. 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 and The Corporation. Great documentaries despite its biases.
15. Shawn Levy
Producer | Free Guy
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 ...
An oddball director at that in comedy. The Night at the Museum films are great.
16. Jay Roach
Director | Trumbo
Jay Roach was born on June 14, 1957 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Trumbo (2015), Bombshell (2019) and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997). He has been married to Susanna Hoffs since April 17, 1993. They have two children.
The Meet the Flippers films, Goldmember, The Campaign, Recount, and Hitchhiker's Guide.
17. Sylvain Chomet
Director | Les triplettes de Belleville
Sylvain Chomet was born on November 10, 1963 in Maisons-Laffitte, Seine-et-Oise [now Yvelines, Île-de-France], France. He is a director and writer, known for The Triplets of Belleville (2003), The Illusionist (2010) and Paris, I Love You (2006).
Belleville Rendez-vous. The Illusionist film (not with Ed Norton) was OK.
18. Nick Love
Writer | The Football Factory
Nick Love was born on December 24, 1969 in London, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for The Football Factory (2004), The Sweeney (2012) and Monsters (2010). He was previously married to Patsy Palmer.
Football Factory and Outlaw are hard-hitting knockouts. The Sweeney was good too.
19. 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 Snatch before he turned a blind eye. Sherlock Holmes 2009 wasn't too bad.
20. Larry Charles
Producer | Seinfeld
Larry Charles was born on December 1, 1956 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Seinfeld (1989), The Dictator (2012) and Brüno (2009).
Religulous, Borat, and The Dictator. Controversial guy.
21. Edgar Wright
Director | Shaun of the Dead
Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his comedic Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy consisting of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013), made with recurrent collaborators Simon Pegg...
Everything except Shaun of the Dead was well-done on his part.
22. Neill Blomkamp
Director | District 9
Neill Blomkamp is a South African-Canadian film director and screenwriter who is known for the science fiction films District 9, Elysium and Chappie. He also directed the supernatural horror film Demonic and the 2007 short film Halo: Landfall, based on the Microsoft science fiction video game ...
Much of his work is swell with its social commentary and grungy robotic mayhem
23. 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...
The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and even The Iron Giant.
24. Sidney Lumet
Director | 12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet was a master of cinema, best known for his technical knowledge and his skill at getting first-rate performances from his actors -- and for shooting most of his films in his beloved New York. He made over 40 movies, often complex and emotional, but seldom overly sentimental. Although ...
Network will always be his crowning achievement.
25. Shane Meadows
Director | This Is England
Shane Meadows was born on December 26, 1972 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for This Is England (2006), Dead Man's Shoes (2004) and TwentyFourSeven (1997).
This is England, Dead Man's Shoes, and Once Upon a Time in the Midlands.
26. Alexander Payne
Director | Nebraska
Director, producer and screenwriter Alexander Payne was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Peggy (Constantine) and George Payne, ran a Greek restaurant. His father is of Greek and German ancestry, and his mother is of Greek descent; the family name was originally Papadopoulos. He is the youngest...
Sideways and About Schmidt are his greatest works. Election was good in its own quirky way.
27. Lenny Abrahamson
Director | Room
Lenny Abrahamson was born in Dublin in 1966. He studied physics and philosophy at Trinity College Dublin. While at university he directed short videos with the Trinity Video Society, which he co-founded with Ed Guiney. He graduated in 1991 with first class honours (gold medal). His first short film...
Garage and Frank were well-done dramedies. One of Ireland's finest filmmakers.
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