Favorite Directors
by smcgann14 | created - 16 Jul 2016 | updated - 4 months 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 ...
10/10: The Shining (1980); 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); Full Metal Jacket (1987); Barry Lyndon (1975); Paths of Glory (1957); Eyes Wide Shut (1999); Spartacus (1960); Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964); A Clockwork Orange (1971); The Killing (1956); Lolita (1962); Fear and Desire (1953); Killer's Kiss (1955)
2. 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...
10/10: Magnolia (1999); There Will Be Blood (2007); The Master (2012); Hard Eight (1996); Punch-Drunk Love (2002); Phantom Thread (2017); Licorice Pizza (2021); Boogie Nights (1997); Junun (2015); Inherent Vice (2014)
3. Woody Allen
Writer | Annie Hall
Woody Allen was born on November 30, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in The Bronx, NY, the son of Martin Konigsberg and Nettie Konigsberg. He has one younger sister, Letty Aronson. As a young boy, he became intrigued with magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two hobbies that he continues today.
Allen ...
10/10: The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985); Hannah and Her Sisters (1986); Annie Hall (1977); Manhattan (1979)
9/10: Midnight in Paris (2011); Broadway Danny Rose (1984); Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989); Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972); Blue Jasmine (2013); Small Time Crooks (2000)
7/10: Scoop (2006)
4. Mamoru Hosoda
Director | Samâ uôzu
Mamoru Hosoda is a Japanese film director and animator. Formerly employed at Toei Animation, he went to work at Madhouse from 2005 to 2011. Hosoda left Madhouse in 2011 to establish his own animation studio, Studio Chizu. He first came to public attention in the early 2000s with the first two films...
10/10: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006); Wolf Children (2012)
5. 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...
10/10: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
9/10: The Breakfast Club (1985)
8/10: Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
6. Robert Zemeckis
Writer | Back to the Future
A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect ...
10/10: Forrest Gump (1994); Contact (1997); Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988); Allied (2016)
9/10: Back to the Future (1985); The Polar Express (2004); Flight (2012)
8/10: Cast Away (2000)
7/10: Back to the Future Part II (1989); Back to the Future Part III (1990)
6/10: Welcome to Marwen (2018)
7. 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 ...
10/10: Stand by Me (1986); This is Spinal Tap (1984)
9/10: Misery (1990)
8/10: The American President (1995)
7/10: The Bucket List (2007); North (1994)
8. 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 ...
10/10: Spirited Away (2001); The Wind Rises (2013); Castle in the Sky (1986)
9/10: Lupin the 3rd: Castle of Cagliostro (1979); Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
9. Park Chan-wook
Director | Oldeuboi
Park Chan-wook was born on August 23, 1963 in Seoul, South Korea. He is a producer and director, known for Oldboy (2003), The Handmaiden (2016) and Decision to Leave (2022). He is married to Eun-hee Kim. They have one child.
10/10: The Handmaiden (2016); J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (2000)
9/10: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
10. 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 ...
10/10: The Godfather (1972); The Conversation (1974); One from the Heart (1981)
9/10: Apocalypse Now (1979)
7/10: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
6/10: Dementia 13 (1963)
11. 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 ...
10/10: Raising Arizona (1987); No Country for Old Men (2007); The Big Lebowski (1998)
9/10: A Serious Man (2009)
12. 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...
10/10: Raising Arizona (1987); No Country for Old Men (2007); The Big Lebowski (1998)
9/10: A Serious Man (2009)
13. Brad Jones
Writer | Freak Out
Brad Jones was born on December 20, 1981 in Springfield, Illinois, USA. He is an editor and producer, known for Freak Out (2003), Game Boys (2008) and Paranoia (2011). He has been married to Laura Luke since November 11, 2017. They have one child. He was previously married to Jillian Zurawski.
10/10: Cheap (2005); Game Boys (2008); Freak Out (2003)
9/10: Midnight Heat (2007); Hooker with a Heart of Gold (2010)
14. 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...
10/10: Reservoir Dogs (1992); Pulp Fiction (1994); Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003); Django Unchained (2012)
9/10: Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood (2019)
8/10: Jackie Brown (1997)
15. 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 ...
10/10: The Dark Knight (2008); Inception (2010)
9/10: Dunkirk (2017)
8/10: Batman Begins (2005)
16. 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 ...
10/10: Psycho (1960); Notorious (1946); Shadow of a Doubt (1943); Rear Window (1954)
9/10: The 39 Steps (1935)
8/10: The Trouble with Harry (1955)
17. Patty Jenkins
Director | Wonder Woman
Patty Jenkins is a writer/director best known for directing Wonder Woman, the Warner Bros./DC Comics blockbuster of 2017, and her debut feature Monster. Patty also works in television where she is best known for the pilot and finale episode of AMC's hit show The Killing.
Patty began her career as a ...
10/10: Monster (2003); Wonder Woman (2017); Five (2011, segment: 10/10)
18. Kevin Smith
Producer | Clerks
Kevin Patrick Smith was born in Red Bank but grew up in Highlands, New Jersey, the son of Grace (Schultz) and Donald E. Smith, a postal worker. He is very proud of his native state; this fact can be seen in all of his movies. Kevin is of mostly German, with some Irish and English, ancestry.
His ...
10/10: Dogma (1999); Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
9/10: Clerks II (2006); Mallrats (1995)
8/10: Clerks (1994)
19. 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 ...
10/10: Pi (1998); Requiem for a Dream (2000); Noah (2014)
9/10: The Fountain (2006); The Wrestler (2008)
20. 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 ...
10/10: Do the Right Thing (1989); 25th Hour (2002); Malcolm X (1992); BlacKkKlansman (2018); 4 Little Girls (1997)
9/10: Inside Man (2006); Bamboozled (2000)
8/10: Da 5 Bloods (2020)
6/10: School Daze (1988); Jungle Fever (1991)
21. 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 ...
10/10: The Aviator (2004); Goodfellas (1990); Casino (1995); Boxcar Bertha (1972)
9/10: Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967); The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
22. Satoshi Kon
Writer | Tôkyô goddofâzâzu
Satoshi Kon was born in 1963. He studied at the Musashino College of the Arts. He began his career as a Manga artist. He then moved to animation and worked as a background artist on many films (including Roujin Z (1991) by 'Katsuhiro Otomo'). Then, in 1995, he wrote an episode of the anthology film ...
10/10: Perfect Blue (1997); Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
7/10: Millennium Actress (2001)
23. 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 ...
10/10: Lost Highway (1997); Blue Velvet (1986); The Elephant Man (1980); Mulholland Drive (2001); Wild at Heart (1990)
9/10: The Straight Story (1999)
8/10: Eraserhead (1977); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992); Inland Empire (2006)
6/10: Dune (1984)
24. 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 ...
10/10: Memories of Murder (2003); Parasite (2019); Okja (2017)
9/10: Mother (2009)
8/10: The Host (2006); Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)
6/10: Snowpiercer (2013)
25. 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, ...
10/10: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989); Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); War Horse (2011); Catch Me If You Can (2002); The Fablemans (2022); Duel (1971); Minority Report (2002)
9/10: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001); The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
7/10: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
6/10: 1941 (1979); Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
26. 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 ...
10/10: Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009); The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004); The Royal Tenenbaums (2001); Bottle Rocket (1996)
9/10: Rushmore (1998); Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
27. Gus Van Sant
Director | Elephant
Gus Green Van Sant Jr. is an American filmmaker, painter, screenwriter, photographer and musician from Louisville, Kentucky who is known for directing films such as Good Will Hunting, the 1998 remake of Psycho, Gerry, Elephant, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, Milk, Last Days, Finding Forrester, ...
10/10: Elephant (2003); Good Will Hunting (1997); Mala Noche (1986)
9/10: To Die For (1995)
5/10: Gerry (2002)
28. Jason Reitman
Producer | Up in the Air
Jason Reitman is a Canadian filmmaker and producer who notably directed Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Juno, Thank You for Smoking, Up in the Air, Young Adult and Tully. He produced Chloe and Jennifer's Body, two films that advanced Amanda Seyfried's career for adult oriented roles. He is the son of Ivan...
10/10: Men, Women & Children (2014); Up in the Air (2009); The Front Runner (2018); Thank You for Smoking (2005)
9/10: Juno (2007)
29. 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...
10/10: Baby Driver (2017); Hot Fuzz (2007); Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
30. Douglas Sirk
Director | Schlußakkord
Film director Douglas Sirk, whose reputation blossomed in the generation after his 1959 retirement from Hollywood filmmaking, was born Hans Detlef Sierck on April 26, 1897, in Hamburg, Germany, to a journalist. Both of his parents were Danish, and the future director would make movies in German, ...
10/10: Written on the Wind (1956); The Tarnished Angels (1957)
9/10: All That Heaven Allows (1955); Magnificent Obsession (1954); Imitation of Life (1959)
31. 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 ...
10/10: The Limey (1999); Ocean's Twelve (2004); Behind the Candelabra (2013); The Informant! (2009); Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989); Out of Sight (1998); High Flying Bird (2019)
9/10: Erin Brockovich (2000); Schizopolis (1996); Kafka (1991); Gray's Anatomy (1996); Full Frontal (2002)
8/10: King of the Hill (1993); Solaris (2002); Ocean's Eleven (2001); Traffic (2000); The Laundromat (2019)
7/10: Eros (2004, segment 8/10); Let Them All Talk (2020); The Underneath (1995)
32. Tate Taylor
Producer | Get on Up
Tate Taylor was born on June 3, 1969 in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Get on Up (2014), The Help (2011) and The Girl on the Train (2016).
10/10: Get on Up (2014); The Help (2011)
9/10: Pretty Ugly People (2008); The Girl on the Train (2016)
33. Evan Goldberg
Producer | This Is the End
Evan Goldberg is a Canadian director, screenwriter and producer. Goldberg is known for his work on Superbad, Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, Funny People, The Green Hornet, 50/50, Goon, The Watch, This is the End, Neighbors, The Interview and The Night Before. Goldberg works alongside longtime ...
10/10: The Interview (2014); This is the End (2013)
34. 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...
10/10: The Interview (2014); This is the End (2013)
35. 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 ...
10/10: Beetlejuice (1988)
9/10: Edward Scissorhands (1990); Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985); Batman Returns (1992); Batman (1989)
8/10: Corpse Bride (2005); Alice in Wonderland (2010)
7/10: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
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