Top Ten directors of Hollywood

By: SM. Mehdi Hassan

Steven Spielberg:

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He is one of the directors who made aliens, UFOs, creatures from other planets, very popular among American people. Spielberg started film making when he was a teenager. At the age of 21, he released his first movie Amblin. He attended California State University and was awarded a B.A degree in Film Production and Electronic Arts after thirty five years. Spielberg’s first successful movie was a horror film titled Jaws. The film collected $100 million and was nominated for Best Picture. His first hit sci-fi movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released in 1977. In the 1980’s, he made Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first of his hit sequel Indiana Jones. Among his other successful movies there are: War of the Worlds, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report, Artificial Intelligence: AI, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, Amistad, Schindler's List etc.

Steven Soderbergh:

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Soderbergh is a producer, screen writer, cinematographer, editor and Oscar winning director. When he was a teenager, he got interested in movie making. His father was the dean of College of Education at Louisiana State University and at the age of fifteen, he enrolled in film animation class and made a short movie titled Janitor. After graduating from high school, he went to Hollywood and started working as a freelance editor. Success came in 1989, after the movie Sex Lies and Video tapes, which won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1998, Out of Sight was another success at the box office. His biggest grossing film was Ocean’s Eleven.

George Lucas:

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George Lucas, a friend Steven Spielberg, is another trend setter in the genre of sci-fi movies. He and Spielberg were good friends. Together, they made Raiders of the Lost Ark. Graduating from Thomas Downey High School; Lucas tried his luck in the racing circuit. After a serious accident, he reevaluated his dreams and went to Modesto Junior College. In the 1970’s, along with Francis Ford Coppola, Lucas founded a studio and produced Star Wars and American Graffiti. The two movies were a big success. Star Wars charmed the movie goers with the magic of special effect.

Quentin Tarantino:

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Born in March at Tennessee, USA, a first look at this director would make you feel that he talks too much. Yes, this is Tarantino, but do not judge him by his swift talking. His movie making style started a new era in Hollywood film industry. He does not like the conventional style of story telling that opens up with a simple event and moves to the climax. His movie starts where the story ends or it takes off from the middle. The movie Kill Bill opens up where the story ends and gradually shows what happens. Tarantino started his career as a screen writer and he won Oscar for that. He is also an actor, producer and director.

Ang Lee:

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Ang Lee came to America in 1980 to study theatre at the University of Illinois. Earlier, he studied in National Taiwan University of Arts. During his study at the Illinois University, he made a short film titled Shades of the Lake, which won the Best Drama Award in Taiwan. As his thesis project, he made another film Fine Line, which became the best film in New York University Film Festival. In 2005, he made a low budget movie based on Annie Proulx's short story, Broke Back Mountain. It brought Ang Lee in the lime light of Hollywood. The movies won numerous awards including Oscar for best director.

Michael Moore:

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“Moore's blend of humour, righteousness and persistence that has made his documentaries so successful”, this is how a Guardian article titled “The world's 40 best directors”, describes Moore. I first saw his documentary Bowling for Columbine which reveals the gun culture of America. Till now he did documentaries on globalization, gun violence, the Iraq War, and terrorist attack of 9/11. In his first documentary, Roger and Me he showed the effect on Michigan people after General Motors decided to move their factory to Mexico. Moore’s biggest success is Fahrenheit 9/11, a documentary that reveals the link between Bush family and the family of Osama Bin Laden. The documentary has received numerous awards and it is the highest grossing documentary in USA.

Larry and Andy Wachowski:

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Also known as the Wachowski brothers are the creator of sci-fi block buster Matrix. This movie established them as successful directors in Hollywood. The main feature of this movie is that it shows the struggle for humanity in a world created by machines and robots. The film also has a great display of martial arts and visual effects. After the success of Matrix, they released the sequels Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolution. Matrix won four academy awards for best editing, sound effects editing, visual Effects and sound.

John Woo:





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John Woo’s early life was full of struggle. At the age of five, woo’s parents escaped to Hong Kong. His father suffered from Tuberculosis. Among all the sufferings and hardships, woo’s only source of joy was the local movie theatre. His favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz. Woo started his career at the age of 23 as a script supervisor at Cathay Studio. Woo is famous for his action movies. However, in the beginning of his career, he became famous as a comedy director.

His first successful action movie came out in 1986, A better tomorrow. The movie created a new wave in the world of action cinema in Hong Kong.

Peter Jackson:

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Lord of Rings (trilogy) and King Kong director Peter Jackson started movie making at the age of eight. His parent’s friend bought him a movie camera and he used it to make his movies. He first started serious film making at the age of 22. The movie titled Bad Taste was written, produced, directed and even starred by him. He shot the movie with a second hand camera. However, the movie was a big success and won awards in Cannes Film Festival. After this, he moved to Bollywood and started working as a professional director.

Tim Burton:

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Tim Burton is well known for his off beat style. From childhood he enjoyed watching movies. Like John woo, film was a mental refuge for Tim. Tim started his career as an animator apprentice in the Walt Disney studio. His first successful movie was Batman Returns in 1992. The movie collected $160 million. In 2001, he made another splash in the American box office with Planet of the Apes. In the first week, the movie collected $68 million.