Directors who have shaped film as auteurs. For TV, the auteurs are usually the Showrunners or the Producers.
This is not IMDb. Still, there are a number of film directors whose creativity, impact, and style are worthy of comment.
Also includes TV and stage directors.
Please don't just add a name, unless you are about to do the article.
Directors:
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A
- Jon Abrahams
- Lenny Abrahamson
- J. J. Abrams
- Jensen Ackles
- Charlie Adler
- Jerry Adler
- Ben Affleck
- Casey Affleck
- Dianna Agron
- Latif Ahmadi
- Andrew Ahn
- Alexandre Aja
- Desiree Akhavan
- Gbenga Akinnagbe
- Alan Alda
- Robert Aldrich
- Jace Alexander
- Jason Alexander
- Tomas Alfredson
- Debbie Allen
- Irwin Allen
- Woody Allen
- Leigh-Allyn Baker
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Robert Altman
- Paul Alter
- Brian Jordan Alvarez
- Tom Amandes
- Jon Amiel
- Paul Thomas Anderson
- Paul W.S. Anderson
- Wes Anderson
- Roy Andersson
- Julie Andrews
- Kenneth Anger
- Lou Antonio
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Noah Antwiler
- Judd Apatow
- Shiri Appleby
- Michael Apted
- Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah
B
- Rob Bailey
- Scott Baio
- Sean Baker
- Ralph Bakshi
- Josiane Balasko
- Justin Baldoni
- Alan Ball
- Antonio Banderas
- Elizabeth Banks
- Kenya Barris
- Jay Baruchel
- Norberto Barba
- Paris Barclay
- Ike Barinholtz
- Siddiq Barmak
- Paul Bartel
- Andrzej Bartkowiak
- Drew Barrymore
- Craig Bartlett
- Jason Bateman
- Justine Bateman
- Kathy Bates
- Noah Baumbach
- Mario Bava
- Michael Bay
- Warren Beatty
- Brice Beckham
- Ed Begley, Jr.
- John Behring
- Stephen Belber
- Lake Bell
- Zoë Bell
- Troian Bellisario
- Jack Bender
- Paul Benedict
- Roberto Benigni
- David Benioff
- Richard Benjamin
- Melissa Benoist
- Amber Benson
- Justin Benson
- Ingmar Bergman
- Greg Berlanti
- Carlos Bernard
- Fred Berner
- Bernardo Bertolucci
- Busby Berkeley
- Luc Besson
- Angela Bettis
- Kathryn Bigelow
- Peter Billingsley
- Brad Bird
- Yannick Bisson
- Michael Ian Black
- Shane Black
- Stefanie Black
- Macon Blair
- Cate Blanchett
- Neill Blomkamp
- Don Bluth
- Hart Bochner
- Anna Boden
- Peter Bogdanovich
- Uwe Boll
- Sergei Bondarchuk
- Bong Joon-ho
- Ed Boon
- Josh Boone
- John Boorman
- David Boreanaz
- Frank Borzage
- Danny Boyle
- Steve Boyum
- Zach Braff
- Brannon Braga
- Matt Braly
- Kenneth Branagh
- Marlon Brando
- Charles Braverman
- Kevin Bray
- Bradley Bredeweg
- Neil Breen
- Patrick Breen
- Catherine Breillat
- Robert Bresson
- Martin Brest
C
- Sarah Wayne Callies
- James Cameron
- Bruce Campbell
- Doug Campbell
- Martin Campbell
- Jane Campion
- Guillaume Canet
- Kay Cannon
- Nick Cannon
- Joe Carnahan
- Christopher Cantwell
- Peter Capaldi
- John Carpenter
- Frank Capra
- Robert Carlyle
- David Carson
- Philip Casnoff
- Jon Cassar
- John Cassavetes
- Katie Cassidy
- Alexander Cassini
- Tom Cavanagh
- Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Alain Chabat
- Claude Chabrol
- Aneesh Chaganty
- Soman Chainani
- Jackie Chan
- Chang Yi
- Damian Chapa
- Charlie Chaplin
- Alex Chapple
- Jim Charleston
- Pete Chatmon
- Damien Chazelle
- Lee Shallat Chemel
- Joan Chen
- David Chiang
- Shinichi Chiba
- Ching Siu-tung
- Sylvain Chomet
- Joyce Chopra
- Stephen Chow
- Kevin Chu
- Jon M. Chu
- Michael Cimino
- Bob Clampett
- Bob Clark
- Duane Clark
- Larry Clark
- Cam Clarke
- S. J. Clarkson
- Jemaine Clement
- George Clooney
- Eric Close
- Jean Cocteau
- The Coen Brothers
- Larry Cohen
- Matt Cohen
- Nicholas Colasanto
- Sonia Nassery Cole
- John David Coles
- Misha Collins
- Chris Columbus
- Bill Condon
- Ryan Coogler
- Martha Coolidge
- Bradley Cooper
- Jackie Cooper
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Sofia Coppola
- Panos Cosmatos
- Costa-Gavras
- Kevin Costner
- Peter Coyote
- Stephen Cragg
- Wes Craven
- Leanna Creel
- Richard Crenna
- Destin Daniel Cretton
- Michael Cristofer
- David Cronenberg
- Mackenzie Crook
- Cameron Crowe
- Alfonso Cuarón
- Michael Cudlitz
- George Cukor
- Shamus Culhane
- Joseph Culp
- Jim Cummings
- Rusty Cundieff
- Chris Cunningham
- Adam Curtis
- Vondie Curtis-Hall
D
- John Francis Daley
- Joe D'Amato
- Charles Dance
- Georgi Danelia
- Tom Danger
- Lee Daniels
- Matt Danner
- Joe Dante
- The Dardennes
- Andrew Davis
- Delmer Daves
- Jeremy Davidson
- Art Davis
- Ossie Davis
- Phil Davis
- Alex de Campi
- David DeCoteau
- Micaela Dee
- Kim Delgado
- Bill D Elia
- Guillermo del Toro
- Yann Demange
- Cecil B. DeMille
- Jonathan Demme
- Jacques Demy
- Robert De Niro
- Scott Derrickson
- Christopher Denham
- Claire Denis
- Brian De Palma
- Donna D'Errico
- Vittorio De Sica
- Jean De Segonzac
- Pete Docter
- Shannen Doherty
- Xavier Dolan
- Colman Domingo
- Tom Donaghy
- Roger Donaldson
- Richard Donner
- Vincent D'Onofrio
- Michael Donovan
- Tate Donovan
- Michael Dorn
- Kevin Dowling
- Polly Draper
- Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Julia Ducournau
- Dennis Dugan
- Christian Duguay
- Lena Dunham
- Griffin Dunne
- Kirsten Dunst
- Darren Dunstan
- Quentin Dupieux
- Albert Dupontel
- Ava DuVernay
- Ivan Dixon
E
F
- Josef Fares
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Asghar Farhadi
- Vera Farmiga
- Jamie Farr
- Mike Farrell
- Farrelly Brothers
- Lauren Faust
- Jon Favreau
- Paul Feig
- Federico Fellini
- Peter Fernandez
- Abel Ferrara
- José Ferrer
- Marco Ferreri
- Larry Fessenden
- Mark Feuerstein
- Kim Fields
- Michael Fields
- Ralph Fiennes
- David Fincher
- The Fine Brothers
- Travis Fine
- Kenneth Fink
- Danielle Fishel
- Michael Fishman
- Mike Flanagan
- Ryan Fleck
- Gary Fleder
G
- Dennis Gansel
- Ronald Victor Garcia
- Alex Garland
- Tucker Gates
- Mark Gatiss
- Karen Gaviola
- Ricky Gervais
- Greta Gerwig
- Alex Gibney
- Mel Gibson
- Lewis Gilbert
- Terry Gilliam
- Vince Gilligan
- Vern Gillum
- Paul Michael Glaser
- Lesli Linka Glatter
- John Glen
- Crispin Glover
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Adam Goldberg
- Eric Goldberg
- Bobcat Goldthwait
- Tony Goldwyn
- Steve Gomer
- Michel Gondry
- Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Bert I. Gordon
- Stuart Gordon
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt
H
- Adam Hagenbuch
- Charles Haid
- Anwar Hajher
- Brad Hall
- Jason Hall
- Lasse Hallström
- Guy Hamilton
- Michael Haneke
- Curtis Hanson
- Mariska Hargitay
- Renny Harlin
- David Harewood
- Graeme Harper
- Damian Harris
- Ed Harris
- Mel Harris
- Mary Harron
- Melissa Joan Hart
- Butch Hartman
- Chris Hartwill
- Wings Hauser
- Joel Haver
- Ethan Hawke
- Howard Hawks
- Salma Hayek
- James Hayman
- Todd Haynes
- Robert Hays
- Michel Hazanavicius
- Julie Hebert
- Kate Herron
- Werner Herzog
- Christopher Hewett
- Freddie Highmore
- George Roy Hill
- Walter Hill
- Arthur Hiller
- Jared Hillman
- Alex Hirsch
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Michael Hitchcock
- Paul Holahan
- Rod Holcomb
- Larry Holden
- Neil Hollander
- Ishirō Honda
- Med Hondo
- Tobe Hooper
- Tom Hooper
- Nathan Hope
- Dennis Hopper
- Gwyneth Horder Payton
- Mark Horowitz
- Peter Horton
- Mamoru Hosoda
- Bryce Dallas Howard
- Ron Howard
- Hou Hsiao-hsien
- Reginald Hudlin
- Brent Huff
- Hughes Brothers
- John Hughes
- Sammo Hung
- Bonnie Hunt
- David Hunt
- Helen Hunt
- Jeffrey G Hunt
- Tim Hunter
- Anjelica Huston
- Danny Huston
- John Huston
- Peter Hyams
I
J
K
- Janusz Kaminski
- Matt Kane
- Shusuke Kaneko
- John Kapelos
- Jonathan Kaplan
- Emily Kapnek
- Raj Kapoor
- Shekhar Kapur
- Anna Karina
- Lawrence Kasdan
- Daniel Kash
- Simon Kassianides
- Michael Katleman
- William Katt
- Charlie Kaufman
- Lloyd Kaufman
- Aki Kaurismäki
- Jeff Kay Director
- Elia Kazan
- James Keach
- Glen Keane
- Buster Keaton
- Hugh Keays-Byrne
- Abdellatif Kechiche
- David Keith
- Frederick King Keller
- Elodie Keene
- Brooke Kennedy
- Jonathan Kent
- Joanna Kerns
L
- John Lasseter
- Charles Laughton
- Mélanie Laurent
- Scott Lautanen
- Jude Law
- Bill Lawrence
- David Lean
- Mimi Leder
- Ang Lee
- Bruce Lee
- Danny Lee
- Malcolm D. Lee
- Spike Lee
- Mike Leigh
- Mitchell Leisen
- Bethany Joy Lenz
- Joshua Leonard
- Sergio Leone
- Dan Lerner
M
- Guy Maddin
- Karen Maine
- Constantine Makris
- Terrence Malick
- Louis Malle
- David Mamet
- Joe Manganiello
- James Mangold
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Anthony Mann
- Michael Mann
- Nick Marck
- Stuart Margolin
- José Mojica Marins
- Monte Markham
- Peter Markle
- Hannah Marks
- Donovan Marsh
- Darnell Martin
- D'Urville Martin
- Tim Matheson
- Bruno Mattei
- Elaine May
- Daisy Von Scherler Mayer
- Melanie Mayron
- Paul Mazursky
- Ian McDiarmid
- Leo McCarey
- Andrew McCarthy
- Craig McCracken
- Paul McCrane
- Bruce McCulloch
- Martin McDonagh
- Bruce Mc Donald
- Michael McDonald
- Roddy McDowall
- Scott McGinnis
- Pollyanna McIntosh
- Adam McKay
- Chris McKay
- Jim McKay
- Dave McKean
- Patrick Mc Kee
- Robert McKimson
- Ray McKinnon
- Robert Duncan McNeill
- Steve McQueen (Director)
- James McTeigue
- John McTiernan
- Christopher McQuarrie
- Peter Medak
- Vivienne Medrano
- Bill Meléndez
- Georges Méliès
- Jean-Pierre Melville
- Marc Menchaca
- Sam Mendes
- Erica Mendez
- Vladimir Menshov
- Stephen Merchant
- Burgess Meredith
- Alan Metzger
- Jason Mewes
- Nicholas Meyer
- Russ Meyer
- Nancy Meyers
- Christopher R. Mihm
- Dash Mihok
- Takashi Miike
- Nikita Mikhalkov
- Miles Millar
- Chris Miller
- George Miller
- Randall Miller
- Tim Miller
- John Milius
- Vincente Minnelli
- Jerry Minor
- Elyse Mirto
- Martha Mitchell
- Paul Mitri
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Kenji Mizoguchi
- Henrik Moller
- Jason Momoa
- Robert Montgomery
- John Luke Montias
- Christine Moore
- Joel David Moore
- Michael Moore
- Rich Moore
- Thomas R. Moore
- Tom Moore
- Aaron Moorhead
- Jacobo Morales
- Harry Morgan
- D. David Morin
- Chris Morris
- Howard Morris
- David Morrissey
- Rob Morrow
- Vic Morrow
- David Morse
- Samantha Morton
- Mr. Lawrence
N
O
P
- Al Pacino
- Marcel Pagnol
- Peter Paige
- Alan J. Pakula
- Danielle Panabaker
- Sergei Parajanov
- Dean Parisot
- Park Chan Wook
- Alan Parker
- Lana Parrilla
- George Pal
- Fess Parker
- Trey Parker and Matt Stone
- Pedro Pascal
- Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Jarrad Paul
- Scott Paulin
- Rob Paulsen
- Alexander Payne
- Nelofer Pazira
- Sam Peckinpah
- Jordan Peele
- Nicola Peltz
- Sean Penn
- Prentice Penny
- Vincent Perez
Q
R
- Josh Radnor
- Bob Rafelson
- Sam Raimi
- Ted Raimi
- Harold Ramis
- Lynne Ramsay
- David Ramsey
- Peter Ramsey
- Jim Rash
- Brett Ratner
- John Ratzenberger
- Monica Ray
- Nicholas Ray
- Satyajit Ray
- Monica Raymund
- Eric Red
- Robert Redford
- Carol Reed
- Peyton Reed
- Keanu Reeves
- Matt Reeves
- Nicolas Winding Refn
- Carl Reiner
- Rob Reiner
- Lotte Reiniger
- Ivan Reitman
- Jason Reitman
- Jill Remez
- Jean Renoir
- Rob Renzetti
- Alain Resnais
- Burt Reynolds
- Shonda Rhimes
- Alfonso Ribeiro
- Alveraz Ricardez
- Erin Richards
- Ashley Rickards
- Alan Rickman
- Leni Riefenstahl
- Eden Riegel
- Sam Riegel
- Peter Riegert
- Chris Riggi
- Guy Ritchie
- Tim Robbins
- Burke Roberts
- Ian Roberts (comedian)
- Jordan Vogt Roberts
- Cliff Robertson
- Michael M Robin
- Charlie Robinson
- Steven Robman
- RE Rodgers
- James Roday Rodriguez
- Robert Rodriguez
- Daniel Roebuck
- Nicolas Roeg
- Seth Rogen
- Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas
- Éric Rohmer
- James Rolfe
- Andrea Romano
- George A. Romero
- Rick Rosenthal
- Craig Ross Jr
- Matt Ross
- Roberto Rossellini
- Emmy Rossum
- Bobby Roth
- Eli Roth
- Tim Roth
S
- The Safdie Brothers
- Eriq La Salle
- Angus Sampson
- David F. Sandberg
- Chris Sanders
- Dede Santana
- Ken Sanzel
- Deran Sarafian
- Varun Saranga
- Jorge Saudinós
- Jeremy Saulnier
- Andrea Savage
- Derek Savage
- Chris Savino
- John Sayles
- Allison Scagliotti
- Jonathan Scarfe
- Fred Schepisi
- Lone Scherfig
- Thomas Schlamme
- John Schlesinger
- Kevin G. Schmidt
- Paul Schneider
- Rob Schneider
- Paul Schrader
- Liev Schreiber
- Joel Schumacher
- Til Schweiger
- Matthias Schweighöfer
- Robert Schwentke
- David Schwimmer
- Céline Sciamma
- Martin Scorsese
- Campbell Scott
- Oz Scott
- Ridley Scott
- Tony Scott
- Steven Seagal
- Will Sharpe
- Michael Shanks
- William Shatner
- Helen Shaver
- Adrienne Shelly
- Ron Shelton
- Dax Shepard
- Sam Shepard
- David Silverman
- Jonathan Silverman
- Justin Simien
- Bryan Singer
- Gary Sinise
- John Singleton
- Douglas Sirk
- Kevin Sizemore
- John Slattery
- Michael Slovis
- Robert Smigel
- Charles Martin Smith
- Dennis Smith
- Gregory Smith
- Kevin Smith
- Mel Smith
- Sandy Smolan
- Zack Snyder
- Steven Soderbergh
- Todd Solondz
- Marla Sokoloff
- Sion Sono
- Stephen Sommers
- Barry Sonnenfeld
- Kevin Sorbo
- David Soul
- Sissy Spacek
- Kevin Spacey
- Richard Speight Jr.
- Steven Spielberg
- The Spierig Brothers
- Aaron Springer
- Sylvester Stallone
- Richard Stanley
- Hank Steinberg
- Brian Stepanek
- Josef von Sternberg
- Fisher Stevens
- George Stevens
- Robert Stevenson
- Ben Stiller
- Whit Stillman
- Erich von Stroheim
- Rider Strong
- Eric Stoltz
- Tim Story
- Oliver Stone
- Rob Stone
- Lee Strasberg
- Barbra Streisand
- John Sturges
- Preston Sturges
- Skipp Sudduth
- Kurt Sutter
- Seijun Suzuki
- Jan Švankmajer
- EW Swackhamer
- Jeannot Szwarc
T
- Alan Tang
- Amanda Tapping
- Quentin Tarantino
- Andrei Tarkovsky
- Béla Tarr
- Genndy Tartakovsky
- Max Tash
- Frank Tashlin
- Jacques Tati
- Patrick Tatopoulos
- Jud Taylor
- Joan Tewkesbury
- Sam Taylor-Johnson
- Cheryl Texiera
- Betty Thomas
- Dave Thomas
- Jonathan Taylor Thomas
- Lea Thompson
- Rob Thompson
- Billy Bob Thornton
- Bruce Timm
- Mark Tinker
- Johnnie To
- J Miller Tobin
- Heather Tom
- Jacques Tourneur
- Robert Towne
- Robert Townsend
- Phil Traill
- Jerry Trainor
- Josh Trank
- Colin Trevorrow
- Lars von Trier
- François Truffaut
- Douglas Trumbull
- Stanley Tucci
- Brad Turner
- Kathleen Turner
- Rogers Turrentine
U
V
- Scott Valentine
- Cristina Valenzuela
- Jean-Marc Vallée
- Thurop Van Orman
- Mario Van Peebles
- Melvin Van Peebles
- Gus Van Sant
- Agnès Varda
- Baron Vaughn
- Matthew Vaughn
- Francis Veber
- Jean Vigo
- Gore Verbinski
- Paul Verhoeven
- Tom Verica
- Conrad Vernon
- King Vidor
- Denis Villeneuve
- Thomas Vinterberg
- Luchino Visconti
- Michael Vittes
- David Von Ancken
W
- The Wachowskis
- Taika Waititi
- Andrzej Wajda
- Rhys Wakefield
- Rick Wallace
- J. D. Walsh
- Raoul Walsh
- James Wan
- Alex van Warmerdam
- Dave Wasson
- John Waters
- Michael W Watkins
- Miles Watkins
- Jon Watts
- Tom Wayland
- John Wayne
- Michael Weatherly
- Jack Webb
- Wei Te-sheng
- Peter Weir
- D.B. Weiss
- Chris Weitz
- Paul Weitz
- Peter Weller
- Orson Welles
- Tom Welling
- William A. Wellman
- Wim Wenders
- Stephen Wertimer
Y
Z
