Famous Filmmakers

• Abrahamson, Lenny

  The Oscar-nominated director of the 2015 film Room

• Abrams, J.J.

  The creator of TV's Alias and Lost

• Affleck, Ben

  The star and director of the Oscar-winning film Argo

• Allen, Woody

  The director and star of Annie Hall

• Almodóvar, Pedro

  The director of 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'

• Altman, Robert

  The director of M*A*S*H and The Player

• Anderson, Paul Thomas

  The writer/director of Magnolia and There Will Be Blood

• Anderson, Wes

  Director of Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom

• Apatow, Judd

  The guy who made The 40 Year-old Virgin and Knocked Up

• Arbuckle, Fatty

  The rotund silent film comedian

• Aronofsky, Darren

  The Oscar-nominated director of Black Swan

• Aster, Ari

  The director of 'Hereditary' and 'Midsommar'

• Attenborough, Richard

  The director and producer of the movie Gandhi

• Baumbach, Noah

  The director of 'The Squid and the Whale and 'Marriage Story'

• Bay, Michael

  The high-octane director of the Transformers films

• Beatty, Warren

  The star of Bonnie and Clyde and Reds

• Bell, Lake

  The writer, director and star of In a World...

• Benigni, Roberto

  The writer/director/star of Life is Beautiful

• Bergman, Ingmar

  Artsy Swedish director of The Seventh Seal

• Berg, Peter

  Dr. Billy Kronk on TV's Chicago Hope

• Bigelow, Kathryn

  The Oscar-winning director of The Hurt Locker

• Bogdanovich, Peter

  Director of The Last Picture Show

• Boyle, Danny

  Director of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire

• Braff, Zach

  The guy from Scrubs and Garden State

• Branagh, Kenneth

   The director and star of the 1989 film Henry V

• Brooks, Mel

  The guy who made Blazing Saddles and The Producers

• Bruckheimer, Jerry

  Big-budget movie producer behind Con Air and Bad Boys

• Burnham, Bo

  The comedian who directed the movie 'Eighth Grade'

• Burns, Ken

  The director of the TV documentaries The Civil War and Baseball

• Burton, Tim

  The director of the comedy-horror film Beetlejuice

• Buñuel, Luis

  The Spanish surrealist who directed 'The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'

• Cameron, James

  The director of Titanic and Avatar

• Campion, Jane

  The writer and director of The Piano

• Capra, Frank

  The director of It's a Wonderful Life

• Chandor, J.C.

  The director of All Is Lost

• Chan, Jackie

  Hong Kong action superstar from Rumble in the Bronx

• Chan-wook, Park

  The director of 'Oldboy' and 'The Handmaiden'

• Chaplin, Charlie

  "The Little Tramp" of silent films

• Chazelle, Damien

  The director of 'Whiplash' and "La La Land"

• Cholodenko, Lisa

  The director of Laurel Canyon and The Kids Are All Right

• Chung, Lee Isaac

  The writer/director of 'Minari'

• Cimino, Michael

  The director of 'The Deer Hunter' and 'Heaven's Gate'

• Coen Brothers, The

  The filmmaking pair who made Fargo and True Grit

• Coppola, Francis Ford

  The director of The Godfather films

• Coppola, Sofia

  The writer and director of Lost in Translation

• Corman, Roger

  "The King of B-Movies"

• Costner, Kevin

  Star of Dances With Wolves

• Craven, Wes

  The creator if Nightmare on Elm Street

• Crichton, Michael

  The author of Jurassic Park

• Cronenberg, David

  The director of The Fly and A Dangerous Method

• Cronyn, Hume

  Diminutive character actor from Cocoon

• Cuarón, Alfonso

  The Oscar-winning director of Gravity and Roma

• Daniels, Lee

  The director of Precious

• Daniels, The

  The filmmaking pair who made Everything Everywhere All At Once

• Davis, Ossie

  Husband of Ruby Dee and veteran of stage and screen

• Del Toro, Guillermo

  The maker of the film The Shape of Water

• De Mille, Cecil B.

  The legendary film director who did The Ten Commandments

• Demme, Jonathan

  The director of 'Silence of the Lambs'

• De Niro, Robert

  The intense star of Taxi Driver

• Dickerson, Ernest R.

  Spike Lee's cinematographer and the director of 'Juice'

• Dumont, Bruno

  The artsy French director of Li'l Quinquin

• Dunham, Lena

   The creator and star of the TV series Girls

• Duvall, Robert

  Oscar-winning star of Tender Mercies

• DuVernay, Ava

  The director of the movie Selma

• Eastwood, Clint

  Star of the Dirty Harry films

• Eisenstein, Sergei

  Russian director of the film The Battleship Potemkin

• Emmerich, Roland

  Director of Independence Day

• Estevez, Emilio

  The Martin Sheen son who was in Breakfast Club and Repo Man

• Fassbinder, Rainer Werner

  The director of the movie The Marriage of Maria Braun

• Favreau, Jon

  The guy who made Swingers with Vince Vaughn

• Fellini, Federico

  The Italian director of La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2

• Fennell, Emerald

  The Oscar-winning writer, director and producer of Promising Young Woman

• Field, Todd

  The director of Tár and In the Bedroom

• Fincher, David

  The director of The Social Network

• Fleischer, Max

  The creator of Betty Boop cartoons

• Fleischer, Richard

  The director of 'Doctor Doolittle' and 'Soylent Green'

• Fonda, Peter

  The star of Easy Rider and Ulee's Gold

• Ford, John

  Director of The Searchers and other Hollywood westerns

• Ford, Tom

  The fashion designer who directed 'A Single Man'

• Forman, Milos

  The director of 'Amadeus' and 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'

• Foster, Jodie

  The star of The Silence of the Lambs

• Frakes, Jonathan

  Commander Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation

• Friedkin, William

  The director of The French Connection and The Exorcist

• Fuller, Samuel

  The director of Pickup on South Street and The Naked Kiss

• Garland, Alex

  The author of The Beach and director of Ex Machina

• Gerwig, Greta

  The star of the move 'Frances Ha'

• Gibson, Mel

  The writer and director of The Passion of the Christ

• Godard, Jean-Luc

  Existentialist, Marxist French movie director

• Gonzalez Inarritu, Alejandro

  The Oscar-winning director of Birdman

• Greengrass, Paul

  The director of 'United 93' and 'The Bourne Ultimatum'

• Griffith, D.W.

  Ground-breaking director of Birth of a Nation

• Gunn, James

  The filmmaker who did 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

• Haggis, Paul

  Writer and director of the film Crash

• Haneke, Michael

  The director of Caché and Amour

• Hanson, Curtis

  The director of L. A. Confidential

• Harryhausen, Ray

  The stop-motion filmmaker who did Jason and the Argonauts

• Hawks, Howard

  The versatile film director who did Bringing Up Baby

• Haynes, Todd

  The director of Far From Heaven and TV's Mildred Pierce

• Herzog, Werner

  German filmmaker who made Aguirre: The Wrath of God

• Hitchcock, Alfred

  The director of the classic suspense film Psycho

• Hooper, Tom

  The director of the film The King's Speech

• Hopper, Dennis

  The good guy in Easy Rider and the bad guy in Speed

• Howard, Ron

  Movie director who was Opie on The Andy Griffith Show

• Hunt, Bonnie

  The mom in those Beethoven dog movies

• Huston, John

  Director of The Man Who Would Be King

• Ice Cube

  Rap's NWA co-founder and movie star of Barbershop

• Ince, Thomas H.

  The director of Civilization

• Jackson, Peter

  The director of the Lord of the Rings movies

• Jaglom, Henry

   The idiosyncratic filmmaker who did "Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?"

• Jarmusch, Jim

  The director of Stranger Than Paradise and Ghost Dog

• Jenkins, Barry

  The director of 2016's 'Moonlight'

• Jenkins, Patty

  The director of 2017's 'Wonder Woman'

• Johnson, Rian

  The writer/director of 'Knives Out'

• Jones, Duncan

  The director of the films Moon and Source Code

• Jonze, Spike

  The director of Her and Being John Malkovich

• Judge, Mike

  Creator of Beavis and Butt-head and King of the Hill

• Jutra, Claude

  Director of Mon Oncle Antoine

• Keaton, Buster

  The silent film comedy great known as "The Great Stone Face"

• Keaton, Diane

  Woody Allen's co-star in Annie Hall

• Kopple, Barbara

  The documentary maker who did Harlan County, USA

• Kubrick, Stanley

  The director of 2001: A Space Odyssey

• Kurosawa, Akira

  Legendary Japanese movie director

• Lang, Fritz

  The director of 1927's Metropolis

• Lansing, Sherry

  The first woman to head a Hollywood movie studio

• Lanthimos, Yorgos

  The Greek filmmaker who did 'The Lobster'

• Lean, David

  The director of Lawrence of Arabia

• Lee, Ang

  Oscar-winning director of Brokeback Mountain

• Lee, Spike

  Outspoken African-American director of Do the Right Thing

• Leigh, Mike

  The filmmaker who did Secrets and Lies and Vera Drake

• Leone, Sergio

  Italian director of movie westerns

• Levinson, Barry

  The director of Diner and Rain Man

• Lewis, Jerry

  Host of the annual Jerry Lewis telethon

• Linklater, Richard

  Director of Slackers and School of Rock

• Lloyd, Harold

  The silent film comedian who dangled from a clock face in Safety Last

• Lonergan, Kenneth

  The director of 'You Can Count on Me'

• Lubitsch, Ernst

  The director of Ninotchka

• Lucas, George

  The creator of Star Wars

• Lumière, Louis

  Pioneer inventor in moviemaking and projection

• Lupino, Ida

  The Hollywood actress who also directed the 1950’s noir film 'The Hitch-Hiker'

• Lynch, David

  The director of Blue Velvet

• Mamet, David

  The playwright who wrote Glengarry Glen Ross

• Marshall, Garry

  The creator of the TV show 'Happy Days'

• Mazursky, Paul

  The director of An Unmarried Woman

• McCarthy, Tom

  The director of Spotlight and The Station Agent

• McDonagh, Martin

  The playwright who made the film The Banshees of Inisherin

• McKay, Adam

  The director of Anchorman and The Big Short

• McQueen, Steven

  The director of 12 Years a Slave

• Mendes, Sam

  The Oscar-winning director of 'American Beauty'

• Miller, Bennett

  Director of the 2005 movie Capote

• Miller, George

  The director of the Mad Max movies

• Miyazaki, Hayao

  The animator who made Spirited Away

• Moore, Michael

  The director of Roger & Me and Bowling for Columbine

• Murch, Walter

  Ace editor of the 1974 film The Conversation

• Nichols, Mike

  The director of The Graduate

• Nimoy, Leonard

  Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek

• Nolan, Christopher

  The Oscar-winning director of Oppenheimer

• Noé, Gaspar

  The Argentinian-born French filmmaker who did 'Irreversible'

• Olivier, Sir Laurence

  The British acting legend who made the 1944 film Henry V

• Orkin, Ruth

  Photographer of An American Girl in Italy

• Oz, Frank

  The voice of Yoda and Miss Piggy

• Pakula, Alan J.

  The director of All the President's Men

• Parker, Alan

  The director of 'Midnight Express' and 'Angel Heart'

• Parker, Nate

  The star, writer and director of 2016's 'The Birth of a Nation'

• Park, Nick

  Creator of Wallace & Gromit

• Pawlikowski, Pawel

  The writer/director of the film 'Cold War'

• Peckinpah, Sam

  The movie director who made The Wild Bunch

• Peele, Jordan

  The comedian who wrote and directed the horror film 'Get Out'

• Pennebaker, D.A.

  The documentarian who made Dylan's 'Don't Look Back'

• Penn, Sean

  The intense actor who won Oscars for Mystic River and Milk

• Perry, Tyler

  Madea in his film Diary of a Mad Black Woman

• Phillips, Todd

  The director of 'The Hangover' and 'Joker'

• Polanski, Roman

  Director of Chinatown and The Pianist

• Rae, Issa

  The creator of the Web series Awkward Black Girl

• Rafelson, Bob

  The director of the film Five Easy Pieces

• Raimi, Sam

  Director of The Evil Dead and Spider-Man

• Ramis, Harold

  The director of Groundhog Day

• Ratner, Brett

  The director of the 'Rush Hour' movies

• Ray, Nicholas

  The director of the movie Rebel Without A Cause

• Redford, Robert

  Star of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

• Reichardt, Kelly

  The independent filmmaker who did 'Meek's Cutoff'

• Reiner, Carl

  Creator of TV's The Dick Van Dyke Show

• Reitman, Jason

  The director of Juno and Up in the Air

• Riefenstahl, Leni

  Filmmaker who documented Hitler's Germany

• Ritchie, Guy

  The director of Snatch and Madonna's ex-husband

• Robbe-Grillet, Alain

  The "anti-novel" guy who wrote the film Last Year at Marienbad

• Robbins, Tim

  Oscar-winning star of Mystic River and Bull Durham

• Rodriguez, Robert

  Filmmaker who did Desperado and Spy Kids

• Romero, George

  The director of the Night of the Living Dead films

• Roth, Eli

  The director of 'Hostel'

• Russell, David O.

  The Oscar-nominated director of The Fighter

• Schrader, Paul

  The man who wrote Taxi Driver

• Scorsese, Martin

  The director of Taxi Driver and Goodfellas

• Scott, Ridley

  The director of the sci-fi classic Blade Runner

• Shortland, Cate

  The Australian filmmaker who directed 2020's Black Widow

• Shyamalan, M. Night

  The writer and director of The Sixth Sense

• Singleton, John

  The writer and director of Boyz N the Hood

• Smith, Kevin

  The director of Clerks and Chasing Amy

• Snyder, Zack

  The director of '300' and 'Man of Steel'

• Soderbergh, Steven

  The Oscar-winning director of the Oceans Eleven films

• Spielberg, Steven

  The director of Jurassic Park

• Stiller, Ben

  The star of There's Something About Mary and Zoolander

• Stone, Oliver

  Controversial director of JFK and Natural Born Killers

• Streisand, Barbra

  The Oscar-winning star of Funny Girl

• Tarantino, Quentin

  Writer and director of Pulp Fiction

• Tarkovsky, Andrei

  The director of 'Stalker' and 'Solaris'

• Taymor, Julie

  The director of the Broadway musical The Lion King

• Thornton, Billy Bob

  The writer, director and star of Sling Blade

• Truffaut, François

  The French filmmaker who did 'The 400 Blows'

• Tucci, Stanley

  Nigel, the fashion consultant in The Devil Wears Prada

• Tyldum, Morten

  The director of Headhunters and The Imitation Game

• Vadim, Roger

  Director of And God Created Woman

• Van Sant, Gus

  Director of Good Will Hunting

• Varda, Agnés

  The French filmmaker who did Cléo From 5 to 7

• Vinton, Will

  Creator of the California Raisins

• Wan, James

  The director of the horror film Saw

• Warhol, Andy

  The pop artist who painted a Campbell's Soup can

• Waters, John

  Oddball filmmaker who made Polyester and Pecker

• Welles, Orson

  The man who made Citizen Kane

• Werber, Bernard

  Author of Empire of the Ants

• Wertmüller, Lina

  The Italian filmmaker who made 'Seven Beauties' and 'Swept Away'

• Whedon, Joss

  The guy behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer

• Whitaker, Forest

  Oscar-winning star of The Last King of Scotland

• Wilder, Billy

  Director of Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot

• Wilder, Gene

  Frizzy-haired star of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein

• Williams, Maria P.

  The first black woman to write and produce a movie, in 1923

• Wiseau, Tommy

  The guy who made the bad cult film The Room

• Woo, John

  Director of Face/Off and Hard Target

• Wright, Edgar

  The maker of 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz'

• Wyler, William

  The director of Ben-Hur and The Best Years of Our Lives

• Yauch, Adam

  MCA from the rap group Beastie Boys

• Zapruder, Abraham

  The man who took a home movie of JFK being shot

• Zeitlin, Benh

   The director of Beasts of the Southern Wild

• Zhao, Chloé

  The writer and director of the film 'The Rider'

• Zombie, Rob

  Front man for the rock band White Zombie

See: Index by Occupation