List of Famous Filmmakers

Reference
Updated June 9, 2017272 items

List of famous filmmakers, with photos, bios, and other information when available. Who are the top filmmakers in the world? This includes the most prominent filmmakers, living and dead, both in America and abroad. This list of notable filmmakers is ordered by their level of prominence, and can be sorted for various bits of information, such as where these historic filmmakers were born and what their nationality is. The people on this list are from different countries, but what they all have in common is that they're all renowned filmmakers.

List ranges from Flying Lotus to Isabella Rossellini, plus much more.

From reputable, prominent, and well known filmmakers to the lesser known filmmakers of today, these are some of the best professionals in the filmmaker field. If you want to answer the questions, "Who are the most famous filmmakers ever?" and "What are the names of famous filmmakers?" then you're in the right place. {#nodes}
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  • James Franco
    James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in 127 Hours (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in live-action films, such as Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002โ€“2007); Milk (2008); Pineapple Express (2008); Eat, Pray, Love (2010); Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011); Spring Breakers (2012); Oz the Great and Powerful (2013); This Is the End (2013); and The Disaster Artist (2017), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. He is known for his collaborations with fellow actor Seth Rogen, having appeared in eight films and one television series with him. Franco is also known for his work on television; his first prominent acting role was the character Daniel Desario on the short-lived ensemble comedy-drama Freaks and Geeks (1999โ€“2000), which developed a cult following. He portrayed the title character in the television biographical film James Dean (2001), for which he won a Golden Globe Award. Franco had a recurring role on the daytime soap opera General Hospital (2009โ€“2012) and starred in the limited series 11.22.63 (2016). He currently stars in the David Simon-created HBO drama The Deuce (2017โ€“present). Franco volunteers for the Art of Elysium charity, and has taught film classes at New York University, the University of Southern California, UCLA, Studio 4, Palo Alto High School, and Playhouse West.
  • Isabella Rossellini
    Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (born 18 June 1952) is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. The daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian neorealist film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted for her successful tenure as a Lancรดme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet (1986) and Death Becomes Her (1992). Rossellini also received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in Crime of the Century (1996).
  • Jean Cocteau
    Jean Maurice Eugรจne Clรฉment Cocteau (French: [ส’ษ‘ฬƒ kษ”kto]; 5 July 1889 โ€“ 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. Cocteau is best known for his novels Le Grand ร‰cart (1923), Le Livre Blanc (1928), and Les Enfants Terribles (1929); the stage plays La Voix Humaine (1930), La Machine Infernale (1934), Les Parents terribles (1938), La Machine ร  รฉcrire (1941), and L'Aigle ร  deux tรชtes (1946); and the films The Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents Terribles (1948), from his own eponymous piรฉce, Beauty and the Beast (1946), Orpheus (1949), and Testament of Orpheus (1960), which alongside Blood of a Poet and Orpheus constitute the so-called Orphic Trilogy. He was described as "one of [the] avant-garde's most successful and influential filmmakers" by AllMovie.
  • Morgan Spurlock
    Morgan Valentine Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter, and playwright. Spurlock's films include Super Size Me (2004), Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? (2008), POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011), Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope (2011), and One Direction: This Is Us (2013). He was the executive producer and star of the reality television series 30 Days (2005-2008). In June 2013, Spurlock became host and producer of the CNN show Morgan Spurlock Inside Man (2013โ€“2016). He is also the co-founder of short-film content marketing company Cinelan, which produced the Focus Forward campaign for GE.
  • Dylan Moran
    Dylan William Moran (; born 3 November 1971) is an Irish comedian, writer, actor, filmmaker and artist. He is best known for his observational comedy, the television sitcom Black Books (which he starred in and co-wrote) and his work with Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run. He appeared as one of the two lead characters in the Irish black comedy titled A Film with Me in It in 2008. Moran's most recent film is Calvary, an Irish black comedy drama film written and directed by John Michael McDonagh. Moran is a regular performer at national and international comedy festivals including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Kilkenny Comedy Festival. In 2007, Moran was voted the 17th-greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and again in the updated 2010 list as the 14th-greatest stand-up comic. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife, Elaine, and two children.
  • Paul Provenza
    Paul Provenza (born July 31, 1957) is a television presenter, actor, actor on stage, radio panelist, stand-up comedian, filmmaker, and skeptic based in Los Angeles. He has appeared on several podcasts and in recent years has interviewed other stand-up comedians. In 2005 he became a director, in 2010 an author and in 2011 he started producing for comedy festivals and television.