Jonathan Demme
Jonathan has won acclaim and several Oscars for films like ‘Melvin and Howard’, ‘Philadelphia’ and the nail-biting ‘Silence of the Lambs’. Demme's mother was an actress, and his father worked in public relations. He hoped to become a veterinarian, but changed his mind at college and applied for a position as film critic at the university's newspaper.
After finishing college, Demme continued as a film critic for a small paper in Coral Gables, until his father introduced him to flamboyant producer Joseph E. Levine. Levine was impressed with the young man's writing and, after a stint in the military, Demme was given a job as a publicist in the producer's organisation. Over the next few years, Demme worked for several film companies and continued to write about film and music. While in London in 1970, he was recommended to Roger Corman, the independent producer/director, who soon gave Demme the opportunity to write a motorcycle project for him. Demme teamed up with friend, Joe Viola, to turn the premise of Rashomon into a biker film, 'Angels Hard As They Come'.
After several more films for Corman, Demme was hired to direct the Hitchcockian thriller 'Last Embrace', and, in 1980, he landed 'Melvin and Howard'. While the film was only a modest commercial success, the New York Film Critics Circle named it the Best Film of 1980. He then worked on 'Swing Shift', with Goldie Hawn, but they disagreed about the political focus of the project and he left.
It was 1991's 'The Silence of the Lambs' that propelled Demme into the first rank of American filmmakers, earning him an Oscar for Best Director. Demme followed this success with the AIDS-related drama, 'Philadelphia', another blockbuster, and an adaptation of Toni Morrison's novel, 'Beloved'. The latter was released in 1998 and was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions, with the television talk show host in the starring role.
Although he is a successful director and producer, Demme has also appeared in a number of productions in an acting role, ranging from 1977's 'The Incredible Melting Man' to the 2000 television series 'OZ'.
David Fincher
David Fincher was born on August 28th of 1962 in Denver, Colorado, and grew up in Marin County, California. Reportedly it were Spielberg's "Jaws", Ridley Scotts "Alien" and a 'Making Of' featurette on "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid" that made him want to become a filmmaker. Fincher earned his first hands-on experience working for John Korty at Korty Films in Mill Valley, when he was only 18 years old. Since none other than George Lucas lived in Fincher's neighborhood, he went on to work for Lucas' visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), where he quickly assembled such namely titles as "Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi" (1983) and "Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom" (1984) to this filmography. And to this day the experience of having worked behind the camera before taking the director's chair can be witnessed in Fincher's perfectionism and competence all across the board of filmmaking.
Steven Steilberg
Steven Allan Spielberg was born to parents Arnold and Leahanni Spielberg. The older brother to three younger sisters, Spielberg began experimenting with film in his early teens making movies he would show at his family house.
At 13, Spielberg was already showing glimpses of future greatness, even winning a prize for his 40-minute war film 'Escape to Nowhere’. The family often moved with his father's job and it was at Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona that he produced his first feature-length film, 'Firelight', a science fiction movie with a budget of $400. Foreshadowing his future success, the film turned a tidy $100 profit after it was shown at a local theatre.
The film that set the Spielberg juggernaut in action was the 1975 hit 'Jaws'. The horror film about a giant killer shark with its iconic atmospheric music won three Academy Awards for editing, original score, and sound, and was nominated for Best Picture losing out to 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'. 'Jaws' set box office records grossing over US$100 million and made Spielberg a millionaire in his early 30s.
He has won three Academy Awards and in 2001, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. His fortune is estimated to be in excess of US $3 billion.
Spielberg is known for buying historical film artifacts and donating them to the Academy and supporting Jewish organisations, particularly Holocaust survivor groups.
In 2002 Steven Spielberg returned to California State University Long Beach and finished the degree he started 35 years earlier. He gained a B.A. in Film Production and Electronic Arts with an option in Film/Video Production.
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