Tim Burton

Timothy William "Tim" Burton was born on August 25th, 1958 in Burbank, California, U.S. He is known worldwide for making dark and "quirky-themed" films. As a youngster he would enjoy watching horror films, painting, drawing; he did not quite fit in with children his age. After finished High School he went to study Character Animation at the California Institute of the Arts. After finishing he was hired by Walt Disney's Production, but his "style" wasn't exactly what the studio wanted. Luckily, it was not long before he was able to make films of his own taste. Having made Vincent (1982) and Frankenweenie (1984) he soon got public attention, specially, after launching Beetlejuice (1988); but the film that truly got him "out there" was Batman (1989). He won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction. Along the way he made great friends and co-workers, such as Johnny Depp and Danny Elfman.

Tim Burton is also known for his highly sentimental and romantic themes in his creations. Usually, it is love that moves the main character to achieve his or her obstacles. It is in Big Fish (2003)
where we find ourselves with a "human" creation of Tim Burton's. It is set in real life with no fantastic qualities and if any are shown it is clear that it was only in the main character's imagination. The movie still holds the Tim Burton "seal" but it is quite different from the rest; it doesn't quite focus on death and such things, though death is found, but it focuses on the life of an extraordinary man and the people who he loved.

Some of his creations are:

* Vincent (1982)
* Frankenweenie (1984)
* Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
* Beetlejuice (1988)
* Batman (1989)
* Edward Scissorhands (1990)
* Batman Returns (1992)
* Ed Wood (1994)
* Mars Attacks! (1996)
* Sleepy Hollow (1999)
* Planet of the Apes (2001)
* Big Fish (2003)
* Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
* Corpse Bride (2005)
* Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) - Golden Globe Award for Best Director
* Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Edward Scissorhands Trailer (1990)


Information obtained from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton

Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino was born in March 27, 1963; in Knoxville, Tennessee in the United States. Since he was a little kid, he was influenced by his mother in going to the movies and listening to rock music. While in his adolescence he dropped out school and began to work as an usher in a porn cinema.

In the 1990s Tarantino met Lawrence Bender, who liked the script from Reservoir Dogs. Then, Bender gave the script to the actor Harvey Keitel, who finally made possible to make the film. It was released in 1992, being a great success.
In 1994, Pulp Fiction was released and it consolidated his career. This film revitalized John Travolta's career, and the film won the best original screenplay. From that on, Tarantino became one of the greatest film director, considered as that because of his particular way of portraying fiction on the screen.


Some of his movies are:

Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Jackie Brown (1997)
Kill Bill, Vol.1 (2003)
Kill Bill, Vol.2 (2004)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)

If I've made it a little easier for artists to work in violence, great! I've accomplished something.

Inglourious Basterds (2009) Trailer:

David Fincher

David Fincher was born in August 29, 1962; in Denver, Colorado in the United States. While he was still in the Ashland Institute in Oregon, he began to make movies in 8mm. In the 1980s he began to work in Industrial Light & Magic, which belonged to George Lucas. There he could participate in special effects in the movie Return of the Jedi.

Fincher also worked in video music productions, for example, he worked with Madonna, Michael Jackson, Sting and Aerosmith.Fincher became famous in 1995 thanks to Seven, a crime film. Starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey. He worked again with Brad Pitt in the Fight Club and in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Some of his remarkable movies are:

Se7en (1995)
Fight Club (1999)
Zodiac (2007)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

I don't know how much movies should entertain. To me, I'm always interested in movies that scar. The thing I love about Jaws (1975) is the fact that I've never gone swimming in the ocean again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8FRBYOFu2w

George Lucas

George Lucas was born in May 14, 1944; in Modesto, California in the United States. Before wanting to become a film director, he wanted to be a race-car driver, but a car accident stopped those dreams.

When attending junior college, Lucas took liberal arts, there he began to take an interest in cinematography. He studied in University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated with a Bachelor on Fine Arts in 1967.
He has been always connected with Steven Spielberg, which has worked as a plus in their careers.

In 1971 George Lucas founded his own production company, Lucasfilm Ltd. In which is included the Pixar animation studio, that is very well-known for its cartoon films. In 1977 he began to make all the Stars Wars episodes, which was a complete success in his career.


Most important movies:

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

A special effect is a tool, a means of telling a story. A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.

Peter Jackson

Peter Robert Jackson was born on October 31st, 1961 in Pukerua Bay, New Zealand. He is a world famous Film Director, Producer and Screenwriter. He's best known for directing The Lord of the Rings and later for directing a remake of King Kong.

However, Jackson has been in the filming industry way before J.R.R. Tolkien's adaptation. He used to film horror comedies and did not go unrecognized, but it was when he directed Heavenly Creatures that he took another step towards becoming a well-known director.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was, entirely, what rocketed Jackson into fame as a Director. Not only did the costumes, special effects and cast play a wonderful role in the making of this film, but he, and his wife Fran Walsh, stayed very true to the story itself, making a wonderful script and story to narrate through film. We can be assured that Jackson will continue to deliver, as he did on 2009 with The Lovely Bones.

His works are:
-The Valley (1976)
-Bad Taste (1987)
-Meet the Feebles (1989)
-Braindead (1992)
-Heavenly Creatures (1994)
-The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001 - 2003)
-King Kong (2005) -The Lovely Bones (2009)

Information obtained: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jackson

Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki was born on January 5th, 1941, native of Tokyo, Japan. He is quite known for directing anime/animated movies that reflect how human kind is in constant destruction of nature and how that generates problems to our kind; he's also very connected to the Shintoism, which concentrates in the acknowledgement and respect for the spiritual world; and last, but not least, Miyazaki is also well known for his strong use of Feminism in his films, portraying women of independece and strong character. Some believe that he reflects his mother's spirit with his feminine characters, for she was quite a reader and who often questioned the way of life, norms.

In Princess Mononoke, his heroine is a strong woman, independent, just the type of women that inspire his creations. This movie caused sensation when it was shown in Japan and was only defeated afters Titanic came out to theaters a few months later, but it won a Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture. Though, he is still not very well known to the Occidental culture, his film Spirited Away gave the world something to talk about. He won an Oscar for this film.

Among his works, we can find:
-Future Boy Conan (1978); the animated series
-My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
-Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
-Princess Mononoke (1997)
-Spirited Away (2001)
-Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
-Ponyo (2008)

Ponyo (2008)


Information obtained from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki

Wes Anderson

Wesley Mortimer Wales "Wes" Anderson, was born on May 1st, 1969, in Houston, Texas, U.S.; Wes Anderson is known as one of today's most popular Auteur, in other words, all his films reflect his artistic vision. He is also well known for using primary colors in his films and shooting in a way that the actors can look directly into the camera. Wes Anderson studied philosophy at the University of Texas, where he met his future co-writer and friend, Owen Wilson. Together they wrote and prepared a short version on Bottle Rocket to present at the Sundance Festival and were later able to film the full length version of it.

His inspiration is drawn from places of his youth, like his old school, St. John's School, which was used as the setting for his movie Rushmore. Others, such as his mother inspired him for the role of Etheline Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenebaums. One of his other particular 'trademarks' is the use of contraste between rich and poor; and the display of disfunctional families who usually solve their problems. Though, not many viewers are used to his style of filmography and may not be considered as the usual for a Box Office hit, his movies are very admired and enjoyed by viewers around the globe.

His movies are:
-Bottle Rocket (1996)
-Rushmore (1998)
-The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
-The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
-The Darjeeling Limited (2007) -Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Trailer: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)


Information obtained from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Anderson

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola was born in April 17, 1939; in Detroit, Michigan, in the United States of America. Coppola suffered from Polio in his childhood. During that time, he used his father's movie camera.
He studied theatre at Hofstra University and graduated on 1960. In the early 1960s, Coppola started his professional career making low-budget films.
After that, in the 1970s he became famous with The Godfather trilogy. A trilogy that relates a story from the Mafia. The whole trilogy won nine academy awards.
Some other movies of Coppola that won academy awards are Dracula and Apocalypse Now.
Something important about his career is that his family has been involved on his films. His daughter Sofia Coppola has worked with him and she has made some films. Also his nephew Nicolas Cage has worked with him.


His most remarkable films are:

The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Godfather III (1990)
Dracula (1992)

Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos.

Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese was born in November 17, 1942; in Queens, New York, in the United States of America. He's a descendant from Italian immigrants. After deciding to become a film director, he wanted to be a priest. Later, he was influenced by film directors such as Orson Wells, Federico Fellini, and Michael Powell.

Scorsese attended New York University's Film School where he received his MFA in Film Directing in 1966. During 1970 he became friends with the influential Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg.

Since the 1970s he has directed lots of movies, and some of them have been nominated and also won either in the Academy Awards or in the Golden Globe. The themes of his films are about guilty, redemption, male chauvinism, and the violence in the United States.

Some of his most remarkable movies are:

Taxi Driver (1976) which was a controversial movie for that time because of its complex characters. Robert De Niro performed a psychotic and troubled man, and the co-star Jodie Foster, who performed an underage prostitute.

Raging Bull (1980)
Goodfellas (1990)
Casino (1995)
The Aviator (2004)
The Departed (2006)

Because of the movies I make, people get nervous, because they think of me as difficult and angry. I am difficult and angry, but they don't expect a sense of humor. And the only thing that gets me through is a sense of humor.

The Aviator (2004) Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zikFDK4cuQA

Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg was born on December 18th, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a Jewish family, in the United States of America; his love for filming began when he borrowed his father's movie camera for a Boy Scout project. While he was studying at the California State University, Long Beach; he got the opportunity to go into film making when he landed a job at Universal Studios as an unpaid intern and guest of the editing department. He had, however, applied three times to the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television, but had been rejected those three times.

After Spielberg became famous, USC awarded him an honorary degree in 1994, and in 1996 he became a trustee of the university. In 2002, thirty-five years after starting college, Spielberg finished his degree via independent projects at CSULB, and was awarded a B.A. in Film Production and Electronic Arts with an option in Film/Video Production. As an intern and guest of Universal Studios, Spielberg made his first short film for theatrical release, which lasted 24 minutes: Amblin' (1968). Thanks to this film, Spielberg became the youngest director to sign with a Hollywood studio: Universal Studios.

In order to commit himself entirely to his career, he decided to drop out of University. Unfortunately, when he had the chance to direct his first full length film, Malcolm Winkler, finding the key male role caused so much difficulty that the film was never shot.

Through 1968 to 1975, he participated on filming for television, such as making the pilot episodes and segments. He got his first feature-length assignment: an episode of The Name of the Game called "L.A. 2017". With this he impressed Universal Studios again and landed another short contract and he continued to do episodes for television, and later movies for television.

Spielberg's first theatrical feature film was The Sugarland Express (1974). Even though he did impress reviewers, the movie was box office failure. However, Jaws (1975) was an absolute success. It won three Academy Awards (for editing, original score and sound). Spielberg was officially a rising star. Through 1974 to 1994 Spielberg began his legacy. His film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) won him great success, which was both written and directed by him, and it won two Oscars.

Next, Spielberg got together with director George Lucas to begin one of the most famous trilogies of all time: The Indiana Jones Trilogy. Their first task was Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which recieved many nominations and had such a deep impact that it is still considered "a landmark example of the action genre". His next project, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) won him both Best Picture and Best Director; the film was an outstanding success. Spielberg went on with many films (directing, producing or co-writing) that we now consider as "classics" or "must sees" no matter the year they were made in. To name a few:

-Poltergeist (1982)
-The Twilight Zone (1983)
-Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
-The Goonies (1985) -The Color Purple (1985)
-Empire of the Sun (1987)
-Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
-Hook (1991)
-Jurassic Park (1993)
-Schindler's List (1993)

Steven Spielberg is a legend and his movies will be around for ages. I will now share with you a trailer of one of my favorite films by Spielberg:

The Empire of the Sun (1985)


Information obtained from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spielberg