List of directorial debuts explained
This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early works by Orson Welles such as his filming of his stage production of Twelfth Night in 1933 or his experimental short film The Hearts of Age in 1934. Often these early works were not intended for commercial release either by intent, such as film school projects or inability to find distribution.
Subsequently, many directors learned their trade in the medium of television as it became popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Notable directors who did their first directorial work in this medium include Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, and Alfonso Cuarón. As commercial television advertising became more cinematic in the 1960s and 1970s, many directors early work was in this medium, including directors such as Alan Parker and Ridley Scott. With the success of MTV and the popularity of music videos from the early 1980s, this gave another avenue for directors to hone their skills. Notable directors whose early work was in music videos include David Fincher, Jonathan Glazer, Michel Gondry, and Spike Jonze.
The following symbols indicate where a director has worked in another medium prior to directing commercially.
♦ Indicates where a director has created other earlier works for television
- Indicates when a director's earlier work is uncredited
† Indicates when a director's earlier work has not been released in cinemas, for example film school productions, short films or music videos.
Refer to individual entries for further detail.
1880s
1887
1890s
1896
1898
1900s
1901
1907
1908
1909
1910s
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920s
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930s
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940s
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950s
1950
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1953
1954
1955
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1959
1960s
1960
1961
1962
1963
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1966
1967
1968
1969
1970s
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980s
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990s
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000s
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010s
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020s
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
- Madeline Sharafian – Elio
Upcoming
See also
Notes and References
- News: Louis Le Prince, who shot the world's first film in Leeds . Ian . Youngs . June 23, 2015 . August 29, 2018 . . BBC.
- Un feu d'artifice improvisé ? Les effets pyrotechniques chez Méliès . Jacques . Malthête . 61–72 . 2003 . fr . 1960-6176 . AFRHC . 1895 . 39 . 10.4000/1895.3082 . 2-913758-31-2.
- Co-directed with Robert N. Bradbury
- As Detlef Sierck
- Co-directed with Anthony Hankey
- Co-directed with Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen and David D. Hand
- Web site: 15 Facts About Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE: America's Greatest Film Turns 75. AFI.com. January 14, 2018.
- Book: Lloyd. Ann. Robinson. David. The Illustrated History of Cinema. 162. Macmillan. 1987. 978-0-02-919241-2.
- Co-directed with Gunther von Fritsch
- Co-directed with Brian Desmond Hurst
- Co-directed with Robert Jordan Hill
- Co-directed with Yakov Bazelyan
- Web site: The 50 greatest debut movies: part six. Time Out. September 2, 2011.
- Web site: The 50 greatest debut movies: part three. Time Out. September 2, 2011.
- Book: Breaking In — How 20 Film Directors Got Their Start. Jarecki, Nicholas. 2001. Broadway Books . 0-7679-0674-8. registration.
- Directed segment Interlude in the Marshland
- Web site: Time Out's 50 greatest directorial debuts of all time. Time Out. September 2, 2011.
- Co-directed with Abe Levitow
- Web site: The 50 greatest debut movies: part five. Time Out. September 2, 2011.
- Co-directed with Bradley R. Swirnoff
- Co-directed with Wolfgang Reitherman
- Co-directed with Bill Melendez
- Co-directed with John Lounsbery
- Web site: The Top Grossing Directorial Debuts of All-time. 5 August 2011 . Indiewire.com. September 3, 2011.
- Co-directed with Rintaro
- Web site: The 50 greatest debut movies: part four. Time Out. September 2, 2011.
- Co-directed with Kenneth Tsang
- Co-directed with Art Stevens
- Web site: Eric's Top 10 Directorial Debuts. scene-stealers.com. August 20, 2009.
- Book: My First Movie. registration. Lowenstein, Stephen. 2000. Pantheon Books . 0-375-42081-9.
- Co-directed with Don Bluth
- Co-directed with Jesse Wells
- Co-directed with Frank Lustig
- Co-directed with Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells
- Web site: J.D.'s Top 10 Directorial Debuts. scene-stealers.com. August 20, 2009.
- Co-directed with Joe Johnston
- Co-directed with Mike Gabriel
- News: Imanol Arias debuta como director de cine con 'Un asunto privado' . Antonio . Albert . May 12, 1993 . Madrid . es . September 3, 2018 . . Prisa.
- Web site: Losing Chase . Macor . Alison . February 7, 1997 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200805180514/https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/1997-02-07/283342/ . August 5, 2020 . live.
- Co-directed with David Van Taylor
- Co-directed with Peter Farrelly
- Web site: Review: Dangan Runner. Kevin Ouellette. July 15, 2008. August 16, 2012. Nippon Cinema.
- Co-directed with Quentin Lee
- Co-directed with Simon Wells
- Web site: The 50 greatest debut movies: part two. Time Out. September 2, 2011.
- Co-directed with Jim Wynorski
- Co-directed with Kevin Lima
- Co-directed with Eric Goldberg, Pixote Hunt, James Algar and Hendel Butoy
- Web site: 10 best-reviewed directorial debuts since 1990. Metacritic.com. September 3, 2011.
- Co-directed with Ralph Zondag
- Co-directed with Richard Rich
- Co-directed with Richard Rich
- Co-directed with David Daniel
- Co-directed with Corey Yuen
- Co-directed with Norton Virgien
- Co-directed with Tim Johnson
- Co-directed with Efram Potelle
- Co-directed with Vicky Jenson and Bibo Bergeron
- Co-directed with Andrew Adamson and Kelly Asbury
- Sob Stories: The quiet beauty of Man Push Cart. Slate . 7 September 2006 . Slate Magazine. August 18, 2015 . Stevens . Dana .
- Co-directed with Ryan Fleck
- Co-directed with Nick Park
- Co-directed with Tim Burton
- Co-directed with Eric Darnell
- Co-directed with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino
- Co-directed with James Cameron
- Co-directed with Roger Allers
- Co-directed with Tim Johnson
- Web site: Top 5 Female Directorial Debuts. Soundonsight.org. October 24, 2011.
- Co-directed with John Lasseter
- Web site: The Doom Dispatch: The Ten best Directorial Debuts of the Decade. 29 May 2009 . www.geeksofdoom.com. August 21, 2009.
- Co-directed with Chris Buck
- Co-directed with Brad Bird
- Co-directed with Vincent Paronnaud
- Co-directed with Steve Hickner
- Co-directed with Brian Hooks
- Co-directed with Ryan Fleck
- Co-directed with Sam Fell
- Co-directed with Mark Osborne
- Web site: 10 worst-reviewed directorial debuts since 1990. Metacritic.com. September 3, 2011.
- Co-directed with Matthew Robinson
- Co-directed with Pete Docter
- News: Katalin Varga. Guardian.co.uk. October 10, 2009 . London . Peter . Bradshaw . August 8, 2009.
- Web site: TIFF '10:Day 7. 16 September 2010 . AVClub.com. September 17, 2010.
- Co-directed with Byron Howard
- Web site: SXSW Review: Attack The Block Could Be The Best Action Movie of the Year. Cinemablend.com. March 17, 2011.
- Co-directed with Lionel Steketee and Thomas N'Gijol
- Co-directed with Stephen Anderson
- Co-directed with John Lasseter
- Co-directed with Alastair Fothergill
- Co-directed with Barry Cook
- Co-directed with Brenda Chapman
- Co-directed with Chris Renaud
- Co-directed with Sam Fell
- Co-directed with Peter Lord
- Co-directed with Steve Martino
- Co-directed with Mike McCoy
- Co-directed with Chris Buck
- Co-directed with Guy Jenkin
- Web site: Bona announces Q1 2014 results. Kevin Ma. June 1, 2014. June 1, 2014. Film Business Asia.
- Co-directed with Jocelyn Towne
- Co-directed with Jennifer Yuh Nelson
- Co-directed with Chris Renaud
- Co-directed with Michael Thurmeier
- Co-directed with Mike Mitchell
- As Declan Dale
- Co-directed with Garth Jennings
- Co-directed with Andrew Stanton
- Co-directed with Nicholas Stoller
- Co-directed with Conrad Vernon
- Co-directed with Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda
- Co-directed with Lee Unkrich
- Co-directed with Rich Moore
- Co-directed with Yarrow Cheney
- Co-directed with Peter Ramsey
- Co-directed with Peter Chelsom, Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel, Dani Levy, Josef Rusnak, Til Schweiger, Massy Tadjedin
- Co-directed with Chris Renaud
- co-directed with Jim Cummings
- Co-directed with Sarah Smith
- Co-directed with Aaron Horvath
- Co-directed with Chris Buck
- Web site: Lang . Brent . 2023-02-06 . Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk's Directorial Debut Hell of a Summer Drops First Look, Altitude Film Sales Boards Horror-Comedy (Exclusive) . 2023-02-07 . Variety . 2023-02-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230207003653/https://variety.com/2023/film/news/first-look-image-finn-wolfhard-billy-bryk-hell-of-a-summer-berlin-efm-1235514681/ . live .
- Co-directed with Chris Renaud
- Web site: 9 March 2024 . I bambini di Gaza: ecco il trailer del film del regista italo-americano Loris Lai . The children of Gaza: here is the trailer of the film by Italian-American director Loris Lai . . it . 18 March 2024 . 13 March 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240313044550/https://www.hollywoodreporter.it/film/film-stranieri/i-bambini-di-gaza-opera-prima-loris-lai-trailer-cast-uscita/93970/ . live.
- Web site: 'Venom 3': Kelly Marcel Set to Direct Next Installment Starring Tom Hardy. Deadline. Justin. Kroll. October 28, 2022. December 20, 2022. October 28, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221028161027/https://deadline.com/2022/10/venom-3-kelly-marcel-set-to-direct-next-installment-starring-tom-hardy-1235157025/. live.
- Web site: Michael Cera Interview: Scott Pilgrim, Barbie, The Adults . 2023-08-16 . en-US.
- Web site: Emily Dean Making Feature Directorial Debut with Sony's 'Tao'. Animation Magazine. Ramin. Zahed. June 20, 2019. October 14, 2020.
- Web site: Tara Nicole Whitaker Making Feature Directorial Debut with Animated Pic "Pierre the Pigeon-Hawk". August 17, 2021. October 16, 2023 .
- Web site: Grobar . Matt . April 21, 2023 . Markiplier To Star In & Direct Horror Film Iron Lung From His Own Script; Self-Financed Feature Adapts David Szymanski Video Game . May 1, 2023 . . April 21, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230421164813/https://deadline.com/2023/04/markiplier-to-star-in-direct-horror-film-iron-lung-from-his-own-script-1235333152/ . live .
- Web site: First movie begins filming in New Mexico since SAG AFTRA strike . . John . Cardinale . December 13, 2023 . December 16, 2023.
- Web site: Scarlett Johansson's Directorial Debut 'Eleanor the Great' Sets Cast: June Squibb, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Hecht (EXCLUSIVE) . . Rebecca . Rubin . February 23, 2024 . February 23, 2024.
- Web site: 'Sesame Street' Movie Taps 'Portlandia' Co-Creator Jonathan Krisel as Director (EXCLUSIVE). Variety. Justin. Kroll. September 30, 2018. September 30, 2018. September 29, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180929194834/https://variety.com/2018/film/news/sesame-street-movie-director-jonathan-krisel-portlandia-1202961279/. live.
- Web site: 'The Witch Boy': Netflix To Release Animated Musical From Oscar-Nominated Director Minkyu Lee. Deadline Hollywood. Alexandra Del. Rosario. January 28, 2021. December 20, 2022. February 4, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210204114412/https://deadline.com/2021/01/the-witch-boy-netflix-oscar-nominated-minkyu-lee-animated-musical-1234682006/. live.
- Web site: Kristen Stewart To Direct Scott Free's Adaptation Of 'The Chronology Of Water' Starring Imogen Poots. Deadline Hollywood. Justin. Kroll. November 16, 2022. November 16, 2022.
- Web site: Taylor Swift Making Feature Directing Debut for Searchlight Pictures. Variety. Brent. Lang. December 9, 2022. December 11, 2022. December 10, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221210030559/https://variety.com/2022/film/news/taylor-swift-feature-directing-debut-searchlight-pictures-1235455606/. live.