Anand p sivan list of greatest film makers ..
by anandpsivan-202-755728 | created - 03 Nov 2011 | updated - 03 Nov 2011 | Public1. Christopher Nolan
Writer | Tenet
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.
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I don't think there is any question about how great this particular filmmaker is. Ever since Memento, he has proven himself to be something quite different from anything we have ever seen before in movies. No matter if he stands there as director, writer or producer, his films becomes masterpieces.
2. 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...
I can not even start describing this genius. He is crazy, no doubt about it, but undoubtedly one of the very best filmmakers of all time. His writing is ingenious, with crazy stories and awesome dialogue unlike any other. His directing is new and exciting. All in all, he is a master.
3. 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 ...
Sure, he started his career with some pretty strange movies that aren't in my taste, but after the failure of The Frighteners he decided to adapat the stories of JRR Tolkien, Merian C. Cooper and Alice Sebold, and has since only created masterpieces. Using old, boring and dusty stories as ground, he adapts them into masterpieces.
4. 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 ...
I can't even start describing this genius. He was one of the best filmmakers of his time, and made masterpiece after masterpiece.
5. 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 ...
Until this the second golden age in Hollywood, quite a lot of the screenplays were boring stuff about nothing. But that wouldn't matter, if the director's name was Alfred Hitchcock. He may well be the greatest director of all time, and when he gets to strut his stuff (in Psycho, Rebecca and so on), his movies become masterpieces. If only he had ever written the screenplays himself too, maybe he would have been the greatest filmmaker of all time.
6. 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 ...
The very first few minutes of the first episode of Twin Peaks should be enough to convince us about the skills of this director. He has some strange taste, but a lot of skill.
7. 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.
Damon may prefer to sit in the chair of the writer and executive producer, but even so his skills come through to the finished product. Lost is a testament of this man's skills, and I very much look forward to seeing Cowboys & Aliens and Prometheus.
8. 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, ...
Similar to Hitchcock, Spielberg seldom writes, but even so, he manages to turn the screenplays into spectacular pieces of cinema, unlike most pictures one has seen otherwhere. From the moment he finished Jaws to the day he finished Tintin, he shows great skill.
9. Richard Kelly
Writer | Donnie Darko
James Richard Kelly better known as Richard Kelly, is an American film director and writer, known for writing and directing the cult classic Donnie Darko in 2001. Kelly was born James Richard Kelly in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Lane and Ennis Kelly. He grew up in Midlothian, Virginia, where...
Since Donnie Darko, he seems to have wandered off his path, and neither Southerland Tales nor The Box can match his debut. Even so, from his debut and onward, great skill as screenwriter and director is shown.
10. 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 ...
It is as most clear in Edward Scissorhands and Corspe Bride. When Tim sits in the director's and producer's chair, while simultaneously have been a part in the conception and early development of the project, he manages to create such characters, worlds and stories that it is impossible to not be amazed.
11. Jonathan Nolan
Writer | Westworld
Attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois, graduating in 1994.
Graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1999. Majored in English.
Shortly after graduating from Georgetown University, Jonathan Nolan served as a production assistant on Memento (2000).
Wrote the short story, "...
Christopher's brother shows great skill as a writer. From his great short story "Memento Mori" to his screenplay for "The Dak Knight" he shows great skill and mastership. I can't wait to see "Person of Interest" and "Hell and Gone".
12. Fran Walsh
Writer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Fran Walsh is a New Zealand writer and wife of New Zealand film director Peter Jackson. She co-wrote The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, which is seen by many as Jackson's magnum opus and one of the most significant film series ever made. She also wrote The Hobbit trilogy, a prequel to Jackson's ...
Jackson's wife has been at his side as a writer, producer and songwriter for quite some time, and it is clear that without her the masterpieces of her husband's could never have been made.
13. 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 ...
After producing his friend's Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels" he made a career on his own, starting up with the great crime film "L4yer Cak3" and continuing with "Stardust" and "Kickass". He truly is a filmmaker who can kick some ass, you ask me.
14. J.J. Abrams
Producer | Lost
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles, the son of TV producer parents. At 15, he wrote the music for Don Dohler's Nightbeast (1982). In his senior year of college, he and Jill Mazursky teamed up to write a feature film, which became Taking Care of Business (1990)....
Abrams is a producer of some weight, and after a shaky beginning of his career he has produced some of the best TV-series and better films of the 2000s. Lost and Cloverfield are just two examples of films that show us his skill.
15. 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 ...
The mind and heart behind Pixar has shown himself to be a great filmmaker. Starting his career with smaller short films, he has gone on to make films loved by everyone, toddlers and teenagers and grown-ups and retired people alike.
16. 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 ...
Since Lasseter has withdrawn and started preferring working as an executive producer, it is up to Andrew (and Brad Bird and Pete Docter) to show the world what Pixar Animations can do. Starting up as a great writer, and now continuing as a great director, he has with Wall-E created one of the best animated movies of all time.
17. Seth Rogen
Producer | This Is the End
An actor, comedian and writer, Seth Rogen has come a long way from doing stand-up comedy as a teen.
Rogen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Sandy (Belogus), a social worker, and Mark Rogen, who worked for non-profits. His father is American-born and his mother is Canadian. He is of Russian...
I only need to watch Superbad and Pineapple Express to know that Seth Rogen is a great actor, producer and writer. Sure, he doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word "serious", but everything he has a had a part in - including commentary on the movies he's made - becomes hilarious and great.
18. 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 creator of "The Simpsons"... Do I even need to explain why this guy is a genius?
19. 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 ...
Say what you want about the screenplay for "Kingdom of Heaven" or the realism of the protagonist, but in it mr. Scott shows great skill as a director, similar to that of Gladiator, perhaps one of the greatest film of all time.
20. Orson Welles
Actor | Citizen Kane
His father, Richard Head Welles, was a well-to-do inventor, his mother, Beatrice (Ives) Welles, a beautiful concert pianist; Orson Welles was gifted in many arts (magic, piano, painting) as a child. When his mother died in 1924 (when he was nine) he traveled the world with his father. He was ...
I have yet to see any other creation of Welles than "Citizen Kane", but that is irrelevant. In that single film - directed, produced, written and acted by him at the age of 25 - is enough to show us what a great master of cinema he was.
21. 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...
Another genius among animators has shown great skill in every awesome project made by him so far.
22. Philippa Boyens
Writer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Philippa Boyens is a New Zealand writer and producer who has co-written several of Peter Jackson's films. She co-wrote the Academy Award winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Hobbit trilogy which is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings films, The Lovely Bones, Mortal Engines, and the 2005 remake of ...
Together with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, Philippa works as writer and co-producer, and is a part of creating some of the best movies of all time in her own way.
23. Måns Mårlind
Writer | Midnight Sun
Måns Mårlind was born on July 29, 1969 in Vallentuna, Stockholms län, Sweden. He is a writer and director, known for Midnight Sun (2016), The Bridge (2011) and Swoon (2019).
Perhaps Sweden's greatest filmmaker, Måns Mårlind is an imaginative and fresh new writer-director unlike any other.
24. Thomas Vinterberg
Director | Jagten
With Sidste omgang (1993) (Last Round), his graduation short from The National Film School of Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg got an early taste of critical success. He received the Jury's and Producers' Awards at the International Student Film Fest in Munich and won the 1st Prize at the Tel Aviv Film ...
Festen may well be one of Scandinavia's ever greatest picture, much thanks to its great writer-director.
25. Aaron Sorkin
Writer | The West Wing
Aaron Sorkin grew up in Scarsdale, a suburb of New York City where he was very involved in his high school drama and theater club. After graduating from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater, Sorkin intended to pursue a career in acting. It took him only a short time to ...
"The West Wing" and "The Social Network" are the great creations of this writer.
26. Ingmar Bergman
Writer | Smultronstället
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born July 14, 1918, the son of a priest. The film and T.V. series, The Best Intentions (1992) is biographical and shows the early marriage of his parents. The film Sunday's Children (1992) depicts a bicycle journey with his father. In the miniseries Private Confessions (...
The greatest Scandinavian filmmaker of all time? No. The greatest Scandinavian director of all time? Yes.
27. Christopher McQuarrie
Writer | The Usual Suspects
Christopher McQuarrie is an acclaimed producer, director and an Academy Award® winning writer. McQuarrie grew up in Princeton Junction, New Jersey and in lieu of college, he spent the first five years out of school traveling and working at a detective agency. He later moved to Los Angeles to pursue...
Since the beginning, little of interest have come from the desk of Mr. McQuarrie. But with "The Usual Suspects", he has shown a great skill in terms of screenwriting.
28. Jimmy McGovern
Writer | The Street
Jimmy McGovern was born in September 1949 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for The Street (2006), Cracker (1993) and Moving On (2009).
With Cracker, perhaps the best-written and most well-made British crime series so far, McGovern has shown himself a great writer and producer.
29. Danny Elfman
Music_department | The Nightmare Before Christmas
As Danny Elfman was growing up in the Los Angeles area, he was largely unaware of his talent for composing. It wasn't until the early 1970s that Danny and his older brother Richard Elfman started a musical troupe while in Paris; the group "Mystic Knights of Oingo-Boingo" was created for Richard's ...
Danny Elfman may be a film composer first and foremost, but his expertise as a filmmaker is seldom beat, and when teaming up with Tim Burton he has created some ingenious pictures. Without him, films like "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Corpse Bride" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" would never have ended up as great as they are.
30. Drew Goddard
Writer | The Cabin in the Woods
Drew Goddard was raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He attended Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, New Mexico and graduated in 1993. He then attended the University of Colorado, and worked as a production assistant in L.A. after graduation. A spec script Drew wrote based on Six Feet Under (2001) ...
The great screenwriter behind some of my favourite episodes of Lost - as well as the great screenwriter behind Cloverfield - Drew Goddard is a filmmaker whose work I really look forward to seeing more of.
31. 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 ...
In this day and age, many directors have the exact same "directing styles". A young filmmaker who has his own, unique style is Neill Blomkamp, whose commercials, short films and great feature debut all show great skill.
32. Duncan Jones
Director | Moon
Duncan Jones was born on May 30, 1971 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for Moon (2009), Source Code (2011) and Mute (2018). He has been married to Rodene Ronquillo since November 6, 2012. They have two children.
Amount of feature films made by Duncan Jones: 2 Amount of masterpieces made by Duncan Jones: 2 This should speak for itself.
33. David Yates
Director | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
David Yates was born on October 8, 1963 in St. Helens, Merseyside, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) and The Legend of Tarzan (2016).
Until David Yates showed up, the Harry Potter film series was almost laughable. Now, with him teaming up with Steve Kloves, we have finally managed to get some balance in the series.
34. Darren Aronofsky
Director | 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 ...
There are few directors who work in so strange ways than Aronofsky, and yet his movies becomes awesome in every single way. If only he could go back to writing as well, I can see many great movies in the future.
35. Ulf Malmros
Writer | Den bästa sommaren
Ulf Malmros was born on March 16, 1965 in Molkom, Värmlands län, Sweden. He is a writer and director, known for A Summer Tale (2000), Tjenare kungen (2005) and Bröllopsfotografen (2009).
"Den Bästa Sommaren", "Smala Susie" and "Bröllopsfotografen" are all three examples of Sweden's five best movies, and I think we can thank this great filmmaker for that.
36. 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...
Generally, I think that a film can only truly be called "A film by" if the filmmaker in question has in some way been a part of the writing/conception process. David Fincher isn't a writer, but his style is still so original and so great, that his movies truly are HIS movies.
37. 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...
38. Josh Olson
Writer | A History of Violence
Josh Olson was born on January 10, 1963 in the USA. He is a writer and producer, known for A History of Violence (2005), Masters of the Universe (1987) and Infested (2002).
So far the only film by Josh Olson that I have seen is "A History of Violence", but that film - with ingenious adaptation from the original graphic novel, alongside terrific characters and dialogue - tells me all I need to know about this guy's genius.
39. David Benioff
Producer | Game of Thrones
David Benioff was born on September 25, 1970 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Game of Thrones (2011), The Kite Runner (2007) and 25th Hour (2002). He has been married to Amanda Peet since September 30, 2006. They have three children.
The co-creator of Game of Thrones and screenwriter of Troy has shown great skills in adapting great tales into as good as the original and much better than the original, respectively.
40. Daniel Knight
Producer | Troll Bridge
Daniel Knight was born on August 30, 1978 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He is a producer and actor, known for Troll Bridge (2019), Blood on the Game Dice (2011) and The Morning After (2006).
The founder of independent film industry Snowgum films, this guy has made some of the best short films I've seen so far, including "Run Rincewind Run", "Goldilocked", "Snowgumalanche" and "Undead Ted". I really look forward to his and his team's upcoming "Troll Bridge".
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