A film director is someone who controls a film’s artistic and dramatic aspects by visualizing how the script will be actually on screen.
So, the film director is very important about a movie, and this is why one of the most important categories in the Oscar Awards is the directors. So, let’s find out more about some of the most famous!
- Michael Bay’s full name is Michael Benjamin Bay
- He was born on February 17, 1965
- He is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic visuals and extensive use of special effects, including frequent depictions of explosions
- The films he has produced and directed, which include Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001) and the Transformers film series (2007–present)
- His films have grossed over US$7.8 billion worldwide
- Making him one of the most commercially successful directors in history
- He is co-founder of commercial production house The Institute, a.k.a. The Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness
- He co-owns Platinum Dunes
- It is a production house which has remade horror movies including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Amityville Horror (2005), The Hitcher (2007), Friday the 13th (2009) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
- Despite his commercial success at the box office, Bay’s work is generally held in low esteem by film critics
- While The Rock (1996) and Transformers (2007) received moderately positive reviews
- His other films, including the four Transformers sequels, have been received negatively by critics
- Michael Bay was born in Los Angeles
- He was raised by his adoptive parents
- Harriet, a bookstore owner/child psychiatrist
- And Jim, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).[8] Bay was raised Jewish
- His grandfather was from Russia
- His cousin, Susan Bay, is the widow of Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy
- Leonard Nimoy eventually cast as the voice actor for Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon
- He attended the exclusive Crossroads School, in Santa Monica, California
- Bay often traces his interest in action films back to an incident during his childhood
- As a boy, he attached some firecrackers to a toy train and filmed the ensuing fiery disaster with his mother’s 8 millimeter camera
- The fire department was called and he was grounded
- Bay founded production house Platinum Dunes with fellow producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form in 2001
- Bay and Wyndcrest Holdings, a Florida-based investment firm, acquired the digital effects company Digital Domain from James Cameron and Stan Winston in 2006, infusing the struggling business with a $50 million investment
- Digital Domain considered an initial public offering in 2009 but ultimately withdrew the offer, because of the lack of interest
- The company was sold to Galloping Horse in 2012
- After leaving Propaganda Films, Bay and producer Scott Gardenhour, also formerly at Propaganda, formed The Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness (now known as The Institute), to produce commercials and other projects
- Through The Institute, Bay has directed and produced spots for Victoria’s Secret, Lexus, Budweiser, Reebok, Mercedes-Benz, and Nike
- One of his Victoria Secret ads was for the 2009 “A Thousand Fantasies” holiday campaign
- Bay co-founded 451 Media Group with Doug Nunes (who serves as CEO), and with John and Anthony Gentile, who previously marketed brands such as Micronauts, Visionaries, Sky Dancers and the Power Glove
- In 2015, the company announced an interactive publishing division to offer “augmented reality” content from printed graphic novels with digital video
- The graphic novels employ Touchcode technology from T+ink (previously used in the Power Glove), in which ink used in the printing process unlocks access to exclusive content that is housed on the Machinima Network, which is transferred to users’ touch-screen-enabled mobile devices when the printed books are touched to those devices
- The company’s premiere slate of graphic novels was unveiled at the October 2015 New York Comic-Con
- The creators involved included Scott Rosenberg, Skip Woods, George Pelecanos, Mark Mallouk, Clay McLeod Chapman and Peter and Paul Williams
- In June 2016, Bay joined The Rogue Initiative, a production studio and technology company, as a strategic advisor and stakeholder
- The studio merges Hollywood production with interactive talent to generate story-driven content for games, mobile, virtual reality, mixed reality, television and feature film
- As part of the partnership, Bay will develop and direct a multiplatform action-adventure game and cinematic VR experiences, based on an original IP conceived by him
- Bay lives in Miami with his three English mastiffs, named for characters in his films
- As a boy, he donated his Bar Mitzvah money to an animal shelter and often includes his dogs in his films
- Bonecrusher appeared as Mikaela’s dog “Bones” in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
- Mason, his first English mastiff, was named for John Patrick Mason, played by Sean Connery in The Rock
- Mason appeared as Marcus’ dog in Bad Boys II and as Miles’ dog in Transformers
- He died during production of the latter film in March 2007
- Bay is not married and has no children
- He previously dated sportscaster Lisa Dergan
- In 2016 Bay owned a $50 million Gulfstream G550 jet, as well as a Bentley, a Range Rover, an Escalade, a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and two Camaros from the Transformers franchise
- Safdie brothers is an American directing duo that have gained rave reviews with their last two films.
- Joshua Safdie was born on April 3, 1984
- Benjamin Safdie was born on February 24, 1986
- They are American independent filmmakers based in New York City
- They frequently collaborate
- The Safdie brothers were raised in New York
- They are the children of Amy and Alberto Safdie
- They spent their childhood living between their father in Queens and their mother and stepfather in Manhattan
- They began making films at a young age
- Inspired by their film-enthusiast father, Alberto
- They graduated from Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School in Manhattan
- At Boston University, they co-founded the creative collective Red Bucket Films with Alex Kalman, Sam Lisenco, Brett Jutkiewicz, and Zachary Treitz
- Josh and Benny Safdie graduated from Boston University College of Communication in 2007 and 2008, respectively
- The turmoil of their youth, as children of divorced parents, became an inspiration for later work
- They are distantly related to famed architect Moshe Safdie
- The Safdie brothers are Jewish
- Their father, who is of Sephardic Jewish (Syrian Jewish) ancestry, was raised in France and Italy
- In 2007, Josh Safdie was hired by Andy Spade and Anthony Sperduti to create a short film featuring Kate Spade Handbags
- He devised a concise story about the adventures of a kleptomaniac woman
- Eleonore Hendricks, who co-wrote the screenplay, portrayed the lead role
- The project eventually turned into a feature film
- The film, titled The Pleasure of Being Robbed, had its world premiere at the 2008 South by Southwest
- It also screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
- Along with a short film The Acquaintances of a Lonely John directed by Benny Safdie
- Their second feature film, Daddy Longlegs, had its world premiere under the title Go Get Some Rosemary in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
- Starring Ronald Bronstein
- It was inspired by the filmmakers’ younger years living with their father, Albert
- Bronstein won the Breakthrough Actor Award at the Gotham Independent Film Awards 2010
- The film won the John Cassavetes Award at the 26th Independent Spirit Awards
- Their first full-length documentary film, Lenny Cooke, follows the life of Lenny Cooke, a once phenom high school basketball player, from adolescence to manhood
- The film premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival
- In 2014, the Safdie Brothers produced Heaven Knows What under their Elara Pictures banner
- The film centers around the real-life stories written in a book titled Mad Love in New York City by lead actress Arielle Holmes
- The film had its world premiere at the 71st Venice International Film Festival
- It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and the Tokyo International Film Festival
- The Safdies directed the 2017 crime film Good Time
- Starring Robert Pattinson and Ben Safdie as siblings
- The film was selected to compete for Palme d’Or in the main competition section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival
- The Safdies directed Uncut Gems
- Starring Adam Sandler
- And Martin Scorsese serving as an executive producer
- The film was inspired by their father’s time working in the Manhattan Diamond District
- The film had its world premiere at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival
- In December 2017, The Hollywood Reporter announced that The Safdies will helm 48 Hrs.
- It will be a remake of the movie of the same name
- With the script being written by Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein, and Jerrod Carmichael
- Lynn Shelton was best known for writing, directing, and producing such films as Humpday and Your Sister’s Sister
- She was born on August 27, 1965
- She died on May 15, 2020
- Shelton was born in Ohio, and grew up in Seattle
- She described herself as having been audacious as a young girl, but having lost confidence in her creativity in adolescence
- After high school, Shelton attended Oberlin College in Ohio and then the University of Washington School of Drama
- She then moved to New York and followed the Master’s of Fine Arts program in photography and related media at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan
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