IMDB 240 Best Filmmakers of Any Genre
In my daily web surfing, I stumbled upon an interesting list of the best film makers of any genre. Many know of the usual suspects in the directing world such as George Lucas (Star Wars), Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight series), and Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) but this list has an unsuspecting number one director. Just as a sneak peek at some of the directors that did not make the top ten were: 11. Peter Jackson, 17. Quentin Tarantino, 20. John woo, 54. F. Gary Gray, and snubbed at 120. Spike Lee
1. Antoine Fuqua: The director of Training Day, Shooter, Brooklyn’s Finest, and Lightening in a Bottle tops the list of best filmmakers. Beginning his remarkable career, Antoine made his start shooting music videos for the likes of Toni Braxton and Prince. The Pittsburgh native was slated to direct the Tupac biopic, but it was put on hold to direct Enimen’s second featured film, Southpaw. Antoine Fuqua for me is someone to model a career around and is a testimony to sticking to your vision of creating the films that you want to make.
2. Steven Spielberg: Indiana Jones series, ET, Catch ME if You Can, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, and Hook. Steven Spielberg is a household name to any film aficionado. Any person that has enjoyed movies, as much as I do, has seen at least one. Steven has touch many genres and has mastered all of them. Not only creating memorable movies such as ET and Jurassic Park, but co-founding Dreamworks movie studio on his way to accumulating his wealth of over $3 billion.
3. Martin Scorsese: Goodfellas, The Departed, Hugo, Boardwalk Empire, Gangs of New York, Casino, Raging Bull, and Taxi Driver. Martin Scorsese is one of the most known and recognizable names in the Film Industry. He single handedly made Mob movies an enormous impact on popular culture. Martin usually seeks out the talent of Robert De Niro to portray a wide array of characters and seems to be the perfect fit each and every time.
4. Woldgang Petersen: Poseidon, Troy, The Perfect Storm, and Outbreak. The Neverending Story. Wolfgang Petersen is a German filmmaker who began his directing career for a German television winning several awards for his acclaimed work.
5. Phillip Noyce: Salt, The Bone Collector, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger. The Australian born Noyce directed salt which grossed 293 million (IMDB). Noyce was 18 when he made his first film as well as his 50 minute documentary, Caster and Pollux, winning best short film of 1974.
6. Paul Greengrass: United 93, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum. Greengrass began his film career with a super 8 camera. The England born director specializes in dramatizations of real-life events and is known for his signature use of hand-held cameras.
7. Christopher Nolan: The Dark Knight, Dark Knight Rising, Inception, Batman Begins, Inception, and Momento. Best known for his cerebral, often non-linear storytelling, Nolan is the acclaimed writer-director of the Dark knight series. Over the course of a decade plus of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from low-budget independent films to working on some of the biggest blockbusters ever. Due to his success with the Batman series he has been enlisted to revamp the Superman series in Man of Steel set to open in the summer of 2013.
8. Simon West: Con Air, Laura Croft: Tomb Raider, and The Expendables 2. Simon West started as a film editor with the BBC, then moved to directing documentaries and commercials including many for Budweiser. He made his directorial debut with Con Air in 1997.
9. Tony Scott: Unstoppable, Domino, Man of Fire, Enemy of the State, Crimson Tide, The Last Boy Scout, Beverly Hills Cop III, Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Fan, and True Romance. The youngest of three brothers including brother Ridley Scott, Tony Scott had a natural talent for art and painting. Scott is synonymous with Denzel Washington collaborating on 5 films including his final film before his death, Unstoppable. His trademark shooting style was frenetic camera the pulled you into each frame.
10. Ridley Scott: Prometheus, Robin Hood, American Gangster, Black Hawk Down, Hannibal, Gladiator, G.I. Jane, and Thelma and Louise. Ridley Scott began his career at the BBC as a trainee set designer on several shows. He formed an advertising production company called RSA (Ridley Scott Associates) that was focused on producing stunning visuals for their clients. He personally continues to sketch most of his own storyboards, with great artistic style that he developed in his youth. Like his late brother he tends to work with the same starring actor. In his case, Ridley tends to team with Russell Crowe, as the pair have mad 4 movies together.
To see the rest of the list check IMDB.
I am appaled that Spike Lee is not on this list. What his movies have done for the African American…scratch that for the urban/educational experience was/is a force