New Creative talents in Hollywood directors.
by MovieGuy109 | created - 20 Dec 2011 | updated - 20 Dec 2011 | PublicDirectors that have emerged during or after the 1990's with their films. They may have been directing films for years but they have only directed a few.
1. 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 ...
Anderson is one of the most original new filmakers in America. His films present witty and droll looks at romantic and family relationships usually involving masculine bonding and brotherhood with characters often on journeys and road trips. His films include: Bottle Rocket (1996);Rushmore (1998); The Royal Tenenbaums (2001); The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004); The Darjeeling Limited (2007); Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009, animated) All up to Fantastic Mr. Fox belong to Criterion Collection.
2. Todd Field
Director | Tár
William Todd Field was born in Pomona, California, and began acting after graduating from high school in Portland, Oregon, where he was raised. A budding jazz musician as well, he skipped college in favor of a move east to New York to study acting. Once there, he began performing with the Ark ...
Actor Todd Field turned to directing with In the Bedroom and has turned a cornerstone. His films normally present a look at american suburbia including sexuality and underlying emotions. His two films are: In the Bedroom (2001); Little Children (2006).
3. 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...
Payne has slowly moved his way into the critical spotlight with his 1992 film Citizen Ruth to his commercial hit The Descendants. Payne's films often look at the family dynamic with high drama and sometimes heartwarming comedy. His films include: Citizen Ruth (1992); Election (1999); About Schmidt (2002); Sideways (2004); The Descendants (2011)
4. Todd Solondz
Director | Welcome to the Dollhouse
Todd Solondz was born in Newark, New Jersey. One of his earliest jobs in the film industry was when, as a young man, he worked as a messenger for the Writers' Guild of America. During this time, he wrote several screenplays.
Solondz's first color film with sync sound was the short "Schatt's Last ...
Todd Solondz has not made it in the mainstream yet, but his wacked-out films have won a place with critics. His films take on subjects few filmmakers explore such as pedophilia and social alienation. His films include: Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995); Happiness (1998); Storytelling (2002); Palindromes (2004); Life During Wartime (2009).
5. Paul Thomas Anderson
Director | Punch-Drunk Love
Anderson was born in 1970. He was one of the first of the "video store" generation of film-makers. His father was the first man on his block to own a V.C.R., and from a very early age Anderson had an infinite number of titles available to him. While film-makers like Spielberg cut their teeth making...
Paul Thomas Anderson has brought a distinctive style of hollywood filmmaking with films that explore a variety of different topics without directly overlapping each other. His films include: Hard Eight (1997); Boogie Nights (1998); Magnolia (1999); Punch-Drunk Love (2002); There Will Be Blood (2007).
6. 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-...
Mendes won an Oscar for his provocative film American Beauty and though his later films are not quite as incredible, he still has a strong style which often includes films that take place in american suburbs and has made a number of experimental films that have churned out hits such as Road to Perdition. His films include: American Beauty (1999); Road to Perdition (2002); Jarhead (2005); Revolutionary Road (2008); Away We Go (2009).
7. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Director | Biutiful
Alejandro González Iñárritu (ih-nyar-ee-too), born August 15th, 1963, is a Mexican film director.
González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the Directors Guild of America for Best Director. He is also the first Mexican-born ...
Inarritu worked his way into american cinema with gritty dramas that depict harsh aspects of life often in poverty or criminal environments. His films include: Amores Perros (2000); 21 Grams (2003); Babel (2006); Biutiful (2010).
8. Tom Hanks
Producer | Cast Away
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager), a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has ...
Hanks is one of the most well-known actors in America but has emerged as a director with two light-weight films and though those films are not as good as his acting jobs, his talent as a director is beginning as a director is emerging. His films are: that thing you do! (1992); Larry Crowne (2011).
9. Alfonso Cuarón
Producer | Gravity
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born on November 28th 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico. From an early age, he yearned to be either a film director or an astronaut. However, he did not want to enter the army, so he settled for directing. He didn't receive his first camera until his twelfth birthday, and then ...
Cuaron has emerged out of mexican cinema with his sex comedies and creative fantasy stories made for kids. His talent peaked in the sci-fi action film Children of Men, an adult fantasy tale. His films include: Solo Can Tu Pareja (1991); A Little Princess (1995); Great Expectations (1998); Y Tu Mama Tambien (2002); Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004); Children of Men (2006)
10. Noah Baumbach
Writer | The Squid and the Whale
Born in Brooklyn in 1969 Noah Baumbach is the son of two film critics, Georgia Brown and Jonathan Baumbach (also a writer). His studies at Vassar College were the subject of his first film (made as he was 26 years old), Kicking and Screaming (1995). His second major picture, made ten years later, ...
Baumbach has emerged as one of the strongest independent filmmakers in the USA with films that depict life with piercing honesty and hilarious satire associated with writers, romantics, and young people. His films include: Kicking and Screaming (1995); Mr. Jealousy (1997); The Squid and the Whale (2005); Margot at the Wedding (2007); Greenberg (2010).
11. 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 ...
del Toro has come to notoriety with a number of fantasy films full of monsters and comic book creatures anchored by redeeming messages of beauty. His films include: Cronos (1992); Mimic (1997); The Devil's Backbone (2001); Blade II (2002); Hellboy (2004); Pan's Labyrinth (2006); Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008).
12. 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...
Fincher's films are powerful examples of storytelling usually associated with crime thrillers. Fincher has made movies that have held people's attention for long streches of time and have brought originality to Hollywood. Films include: Alien 3 (1991); Se7en (1994); The Game (1997); Fight Club (1999); Panic Room (2002); Zodiac (2007); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008); The Social Network (2010); The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011).
13. Ben Affleck
Producer | Argo
Benjamin Géza "Ben" Affleck-Boldt was born on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to mother Chris Anne (Boldt), a school teacher, and father Timothy Byers "Tim" Affleck, a social worker. Ben has a younger brother, actor Casey Affleck, who was born in 1975...
Affleck has proven himself as an actor but has proven himself a great director with The Town. Though Gone Baby Gone had redeeming qualities, The Town confirmed his talent as a director. His films: Gone Baby Gone (2007); The Town (2010)
14. Robert De Niro
Actor | Cape Fear
One of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral) and Robert De Niro Sr. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his other ancestry is Irish, English, Dutch, German, and French. He was trained ...
One of the greatest actors of the 20th Century has also proven himself as a director with A Bronx Tale (1993) and The Good Shepherd (2006).
15. Tim Robbins
Actor | Mystic River
Born in West Covina, California, but raised in New York City, Tim Robbins is the son of former The Highwaymen singer Gil Robbins and actress Mary Robbins (née Bledsoe). Robbins studied drama at UCLA, where he graduated with honors in 1981. That same year, he formed the Actors' Gang theater group, ...
Robbins has made a number of great films with Bob Roberts (1992), Dead Man Walking (1995), and The Cradle Will Rock (1999).
16. Sean Penn
Actor | Mystic River
Sean Penn is a powerhouse film performer capable of intensely moving work, who has gone from strength to strength during a colourful film career, and who has drawn much media attention for his stormy private life and political viewpoints.
Sean Justin Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the ...
Penn is a notable director due to making The Indian Runner (1991), Crossing Guard (1995), The Pledge (2001), Into the Wild (2007).
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