Paul Thomas Anderson
Encyclopedia
Paul Thomas Anderson is an American
film director
, screenwriter
, and producer
. He has written and directed five feature films: Hard Eight
(1996), Boogie Nights
(1997), Magnolia
(1999), Punch-Drunk Love
(2002) and There Will Be Blood
(2007). He has been nominated for five Academy Awards
— There Will Be Blood for Best Achievement in Directing, Best Motion Picture of the Year, and Best Adapted Screenplay; Magnolia for Best Original Screenplay; and Boogie Nights for Best Original Screenplay.
Anderson has been hailed as being "one of the most exciting talents to come along in years" and "among the supreme talents of today." In 2004, Anderson was ranked 21st on The Guardian's
list of the 40 best directors. In 2007, Total Film
named him the 20th-greatest director of all time. In 2011, Entertainment Weekly
named him the 11th-greatest working director calling him "one of the most dynamic directors to emerge in the last 20 years".
Gough) and Ernie Anderson
, who was an actor, the voice of ABC
, and a Cleveland
television late-night horror movie host known as "Ghoulardi
" (for which Anderson later named his production company). Anderson grew up in the San Fernando Valley
. He attended a number of schools, including Buckley in Sherman Oaks, John Thomas Dye School
, Campbell Hall School
, Cushing Academy
and Montclair Prep
.
Anderson was involved in filmmaking at a young age and started making movies on his dad’s video camera
when he was a 12-year-old. He later started using 8 mm film
and realized that video
was easier. He began writing as a teenager and at the age of 17 he began experimenting with a Bolex
16 mm camera
. As a high school student at the age of 17, he made the 30-minute mockumentary
using a video camera called The Dirk Diggler Story (1988), about a well-endowed male porn star
(inspired by John Holmes
, who also served as a major inspiration for Boogie Nights
).
and only two days at New York University
so he could "garner ammunition" on what he called a "bad situation", Anderson began his career as a production assistant
on television movies, music videos
and game shows
in Los Angeles
and New York
. With some money he won gambling, his girlfriend's credit card, and $10,000 his father set aside for college, Anderson decided to make a 20 minute film that would be his "college
".
The film he made was Cigarettes & Coffee (1993), a short film made for $20,000 connecting multiple story lines with a twenty-dollar bill
. The film was screened at the 1993 Sundance Festival Shorts Program and he decided to expand the film into a feature length film and was subsequently invited to the 1994 Sundance filmmakers' lab.
While at the Sundance filmmakers' lab, Anderson already had a deal with Rysher Entertainment
to direct his first feature. In 1996, Anderson made his first full-length feature
, Sydney, which was retitled Hard Eight
(1996). Rysher re-edited the film upon completion but Anderson was able to get his version released but only after he retitled the film and came up with the $200,000 necessary to finish it. Anderson submitted the work print of his cut of the film which was accepted and screened in the Un Certain Regard
section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
. The version that was released was Anderson's and even though Rysher did nothing to promote it, the acclaim from the film launched his career.
Anderson began working on the script for his next feature film during his troubles with Hard Eight completing the script in the summer 1995. The result was Anderson's breakout film Boogie Nights
(1997), a full-length major motion based on his short The Dirk Diggler Story. The script was noticed by New Line Cinemas president, Michael De Luca, who felt "totally gaga" reading it. It was released on October 10, 1997 and was a critical and commercial success. The film revived the career of Burt Reynolds
and provided breakout roles
for Mark Wahlberg
and Julianne Moore
. The film received three Academy Award nominations, for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
(Burt Reynolds
), Best Actress in a Supporting Role
(Julianne Moore
), and Best Original Screenplay.
After the success of Boogie Nights, Anderson was told by New Line he could do whatever he wanted for his next film and granted Anderson creative control without hearing an idea for the film. Initially wanting to make a film that was "intimate and small-scale" as he started writing, the script "kept blossoming" and the resulting film was the ensemble piece Magnolia
(1999), which tells the story of the peculiar interaction among the lives of several individuals in the San Fernando Valley, California
.
Anderson used the music of Aimee Mann
as a basis and inspiration for the film. Magnolia received three Academy Award nominations, for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
(Tom Cruise
), Best Original Song
for "Save Me" by Aimee Mann
and Best Original Screenplay. In an interview after the film's release Anderson was quoted as saying "... what I really feel is that Magnolia is, for better or worse, the best movie I'll ever make."
After the release of Magnolia
, Anderson stated that he would like to work with Adam Sandler in the future and that he was determined to make his next film 90 minutes long. His next feature was the comedy
/romance
film Punch-Drunk Love
(2002), partly based on David Phillips (also called The Pudding Guy), starring Adam Sandler
with Emily Watson
as his love interest. The story centers around a beleaguered small-business owner (Sandler) with anger issues and seven emasculating sisters. Sandler received critical praise for his role in his first major departure from the mainstream comedies which made him a star. Roger Ebert
wrote that "Sandler, liberated from the constraints of formula, reveals unexpected depths as an actor. Watching this film, you can imagine him in Dennis Hopper roles. He has darkness, obsession and power." At the 2002 Cannes Film Festival
, the film won best director
and was nominated for the Golden Palm
.
Anderson's most recent film, There Will Be Blood (2007), was loosely based on the Upton Sinclair
novel Oil!
. The budget of the film was $25 million, and it gained $76.1 million worldwide. Anderson had previously stated that he wanted to work with Daniel Day-Lewis
who starred in and won an Oscar for Best Leading Actor
for his role. Paul Dano
received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Anderson was nominated for Best Director from the Directors Guild of America
. The film also received eight Academy Award nominations
, tying with No Country For Old Men
for the most nominations. Anderson received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, losing all three to the Coen Brothers
for No Country For Old Men. There Will Be Blood was largely regarded as one of the greatest films of the decade.
In December 2009 Variety
reported that Anderson was working on a new script tentatively titled The Master
, about a "charismatic intellectual" who starts a new religion in the 1950s. Though the film makes no reference to the movement, it has "long been widely assumed to be based on Scientology
." Frequent Anderson player Philip Seymour Hoffman
was reported to be attached as the lead. Reese Witherspoon
and Jeremy Renner
were rumored to star opposite Hoffman but the roles officially went to Joaquin Phoenix
and Amy Adams
.
It has been reported by several sources that Anderson is now working on an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon
's Inherent Vice
, with rumors of Robert Downey Jr in the lead. In February 2011 it was reported that Megan Ellison, daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison
, would possibly finance both The Master and Inherent Vice.
. Anderson was a standby director for Robert Altman's
A Prairie Home Companion
for insurance purposes, as Altman was 80 years old at the time. Anderson was not formally credited in the film, but receives a "Special thanks to ..." toward the end of the closing credits.
, Steven Soderbergh
, Richard Linklater
, David O. Russell
, and Spike Jonze
, who learned the craft not in film schools, but by viewing thousands of movies on video. Anderson learned about filmmaking by watching films by the filmmakers he liked, reading books and magazines about the "technical stuff", and watching films accompanied by director's audio commentary
. He believes that film school is a "complete con" because "the information is there when you get it". He cites Martin Scorsese
, Robert Altman
, Jonathan Demme
, Stanley Kubrick
, Orson Welles
, and Max Ophuls
as his main influences as a filmmaker.
Anderson is known for films set in the San Fernando Valley
with realistically flawed
and desperate characters. Among the subjects dealt with in Anderson's films are dysfunctional familial relationships
, alienation
, regret
, loneliness
, and ghosts of the past. Boogie Nights and Magnolia were noted for their large ensemble casts
, Punch-Drunk Love was a short 90 minute film compared to his previous two, and There Will Be Blood was more overtly engaged with politics than his previous films.
Anderson's stylistic trademarks include constantly moving camera, steadicam-based
long takes
, memorable use of music, and multilayered audiovisual imagery.
Anderson frequently collaborates with many actors and crew carrying them over from film to film. Anderson has referred to his regular actors as "my little rep company" which includes John C. Reilly
, Philip Baker Hall
, Philip Seymour Hoffman
, Julianne Moore
, William H. Macy
, and
Melora Walters
. Luis Guzmán
is also considered an Anderson regular. With the exception of Paul F. Tompkins
, who had an equally minor role in Magnolia, There Will Be Blood had an entirely new cast. Additionally, Robert Elswit
has been cinematographer for Anderson's first five features. Anderson also regularly works with producing partners JoAnne Sellar and Daniel Lupi.
cast member Maya Rudolph
. They have two daughters, Pearl Bailey, born October 2005, and Lucille, born November 6, 2009, and one son, Jack, born July 3, 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. He has written and directed five feature films: Hard Eight
Hard Eight (film)
Hard Eight is a 1996 American crime thriller film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson...
(1996), Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
(1997), Magnolia
Magnolia (film)
Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance...
(1999), Punch-Drunk Love
Punch-Drunk Love
Punch-Drunk Love is a 2002 romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzmán also appear....
(2002) and There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and...
(2007). He has been nominated for five Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
— There Will Be Blood for Best Achievement in Directing, Best Motion Picture of the Year, and Best Adapted Screenplay; Magnolia for Best Original Screenplay; and Boogie Nights for Best Original Screenplay.
Anderson has been hailed as being "one of the most exciting talents to come along in years" and "among the supreme talents of today." In 2004, Anderson was ranked 21st on The Guardian's
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
list of the 40 best directors. In 2007, Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
named him the 20th-greatest director of all time. In 2011, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
named him the 11th-greatest working director calling him "one of the most dynamic directors to emerge in the last 20 years".
Early life
Paul Thomas Anderson was born on June 26, 1970 in Studio City, California, to Edwina (néeMarried and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Gough) and Ernie Anderson
Ernie Anderson
Ernie Anderson was an American disc jockey, and television and radio announcer/voiceover artist...
, who was an actor, the voice of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, and a Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
television late-night horror movie host known as "Ghoulardi
Ghoulardi
Ghoulardi was a fictional character invented and portrayed by disc jockey, voice announcer, and actor Ernie Anderson as the horror host of late night Shock Theater at WJW-TV, Channel 8, in Cleveland, Ohio from January 13, 1963 through December 16, 1966....
" (for which Anderson later named his production company). Anderson grew up in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
. He attended a number of schools, including Buckley in Sherman Oaks, John Thomas Dye School
John Thomas Dye School
The John Thomas Dye School, nicknamed JTD, is an independent private coeducational nonsectarian elementary day school located in the Bel-Air area of Los Angeles, California, serving students in kindergarten through sixth grade....
, Campbell Hall School
Campbell Hall School
Campbell Hall School is an independent, coeducational, K-12 Episcopal day school located in Studio City, California, United States. Founded in 1944 by the Reverend Alexander Campbell, Campbell Hall School is home to approximately 1,000 students from kindergarten through high school. Campbell Hall...
, Cushing Academy
Cushing Academy
Cushing Academy is a coeducational college preparatory boarding school for grades 9 through 12 plus an optional postgraduate year located in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1865 in fulfilment of a bequest by Thomas Parkman Cushing and opened in 1875, and is sometimes cited as the...
and Montclair Prep
Montclair College Preparatory School
Montclair College Preparatory School, also commonly known as "Montclair Prep" is a school located in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, near Panorama City. The school teaches grades 9 through 12.-History:Founded in 1956, by the late Dr. Vernon E...
.
Anderson was involved in filmmaking at a young age and started making movies on his dad’s video camera
Video camera
A video camera is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. The earliest video cameras were those of John Logie Baird, based on the electromechanical Nipkow disk and used by the BBC in...
when he was a 12-year-old. He later started using 8 mm film
8 mm film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
and realized that video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
was easier. He began writing as a teenager and at the age of 17 he began experimenting with a Bolex
Bolex
Bolex is a Swiss company that manufactures motion picture cameras and lenses, the most notable products of which are in the 16 mm and Super 16 mm formats. The Bolex company was initially founded by Jacques Bogopolsky in 1927. Bolex is derived from his name. He had previously designed cameras for...
16 mm camera
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
. As a high school student at the age of 17, he made the 30-minute mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
using a video camera called The Dirk Diggler Story (1988), about a well-endowed male porn star
Pornographic actor
A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is a person who appears in pornographic film. Most actors appear nude in films...
(inspired by John Holmes
John Holmes (actor)
John Curtis Holmes better known as John C. Holmes or Johnny Wadd , was one of the most prolific male porn stars of all time, appearing in about 2,500 adult loops, stag films, and pornographic feature movies in the 1970s and 1980s...
, who also served as a major inspiration for Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
).
Career
After two semesters as an English major at Emerson CollegeEmerson College
Emerson College is a private coeducational university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," Emerson is "the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts...
and only two days at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
so he could "garner ammunition" on what he called a "bad situation", Anderson began his career as a production assistant
Production assistant
A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production...
on television movies, music videos
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
and game shows
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. With some money he won gambling, his girlfriend's credit card, and $10,000 his father set aside for college, Anderson decided to make a 20 minute film that would be his "college
Film school
The term film school is used to describe any educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training are usually incorporated into...
".
The film he made was Cigarettes & Coffee (1993), a short film made for $20,000 connecting multiple story lines with a twenty-dollar bill
United States twenty-dollar bill
The United States twenty-dollar bill is a denomination of United States currency. U.S. President Andrew Jackson is currently featured on the front side of the bill, which is why the twenty-dollar bill is often called a "Jackson," while the White House is featured on the reverse side.The...
. The film was screened at the 1993 Sundance Festival Shorts Program and he decided to expand the film into a feature length film and was subsequently invited to the 1994 Sundance filmmakers' lab.
While at the Sundance filmmakers' lab, Anderson already had a deal with Rysher Entertainment
Rysher Entertainment
Rysher Entertainment is the owner of TV and film programming content, primarily distributed around the world by CBS Television Distribution and CBS/ Paramount Pictures...
to direct his first feature. In 1996, Anderson made his first full-length feature
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
, Sydney, which was retitled Hard Eight
Hard Eight (film)
Hard Eight is a 1996 American crime thriller film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson...
(1996). Rysher re-edited the film upon completion but Anderson was able to get his version released but only after he retitled the film and came up with the $200,000 necessary to finish it. Anderson submitted the work print of his cut of the film which was accepted and screened in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
1996 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Francis Ford Coppola *Nathalie Baye *Greta Scacchi, actrice *Michael Ballhaus *Henry Chapier *Atom Egoyan *Eiko Ishioka *Krzysztof Piesiewicz *Antonio Tabucchi...
. The version that was released was Anderson's and even though Rysher did nothing to promote it, the acclaim from the film launched his career.
Anderson began working on the script for his next feature film during his troubles with Hard Eight completing the script in the summer 1995. The result was Anderson's breakout film Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
(1997), a full-length major motion based on his short The Dirk Diggler Story. The script was noticed by New Line Cinemas president, Michael De Luca, who felt "totally gaga" reading it. It was released on October 10, 1997 and was a critical and commercial success. The film revived the career of Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
and provided breakout roles
Breakthrough role
A Breakthrough role, also known as Breakout role , is a term in the film industry to describe the film of an actor or actress which contributed significantly to the development of their career. It may not always refer to a film debut but a film which may have had some mainstream success that...
for Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
and Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
. The film received three Academy Award nominations, for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
), Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
), and Best Original Screenplay.
After the success of Boogie Nights, Anderson was told by New Line he could do whatever he wanted for his next film and granted Anderson creative control without hearing an idea for the film. Initially wanting to make a film that was "intimate and small-scale" as he started writing, the script "kept blossoming" and the resulting film was the ensemble piece Magnolia
Magnolia (film)
Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance...
(1999), which tells the story of the peculiar interaction among the lives of several individuals in the San Fernando Valley, California
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
.
Anderson used the music of Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bassist.-Early life:Aimee Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, graduated from Open High School in 1978 and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the Young Snakes...
as a basis and inspiration for the film. Magnolia received three Academy Award nominations, for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
), Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
for "Save Me" by Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bassist.-Early life:Aimee Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, graduated from Open High School in 1978 and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the Young Snakes...
and Best Original Screenplay. In an interview after the film's release Anderson was quoted as saying "... what I really feel is that Magnolia is, for better or worse, the best movie I'll ever make."
After the release of Magnolia
Magnolia (film)
Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance...
, Anderson stated that he would like to work with Adam Sandler in the future and that he was determined to make his next film 90 minutes long. His next feature was the comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
/romance
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
film Punch-Drunk Love
Punch-Drunk Love
Punch-Drunk Love is a 2002 romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzmán also appear....
(2002), partly based on David Phillips (also called The Pudding Guy), starring Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
with Emily Watson
Emily Watson
Emily Watson is an English actress. She gave an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.- Early life :...
as his love interest. The story centers around a beleaguered small-business owner (Sandler) with anger issues and seven emasculating sisters. Sandler received critical praise for his role in his first major departure from the mainstream comedies which made him a star. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
wrote that "Sandler, liberated from the constraints of formula, reveals unexpected depths as an actor. Watching this film, you can imagine him in Dennis Hopper roles. He has darkness, obsession and power." At the 2002 Cannes Film Festival
2002 Cannes Film Festival
The 2002 Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski.-Jury:* David Lynch * Sharon Stone* Michelle Yeoh...
, the film won best director
Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Director Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946....
and was nominated for the Golden Palm
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
.
Anderson's most recent film, There Will Be Blood (2007), was loosely based on the Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
novel Oil!
Oil!
Oil! is a novel by Upton Sinclair published in 1927 told as a third person narrative. The book was written in the context of the Harding administration's Teapot Dome Scandal and takes place in Southern California. It is a social and political satire skewering the human foibles of all its...
. The budget of the film was $25 million, and it gained $76.1 million worldwide. Anderson had previously stated that he wanted to work with Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
who starred in and won an Oscar for Best Leading Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for his role. Paul Dano
Paul Dano
Paul Franklin Dano is an American actor and producer. He has appeared in films such as L.I.E. , The Girl Next Door , Little Miss Sunshine , There Will Be Blood , and Where the Wild Things Are .-Early life:Dano was born in New York City, the son of Gladys and Paul Dano...
received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Anderson was nominated for Best Director from the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
. The film also received eight Academy Award nominations
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
, tying with No Country For Old Men
No Country for Old Men (film)
No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American crime thriller directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin. The film was adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name...
for the most nominations. Anderson received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, losing all three to the Coen Brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
for No Country For Old Men. There Will Be Blood was largely regarded as one of the greatest films of the decade.
In December 2009 Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
reported that Anderson was working on a new script tentatively titled The Master
The Master (2012 film)
The Master is an upcoming drama film written, directed and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson. It was given the green-light in May 2011, and began filming in June. The film will star Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Laura Dern...
, about a "charismatic intellectual" who starts a new religion in the 1950s. Though the film makes no reference to the movement, it has "long been widely assumed to be based on Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
." Frequent Anderson player Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...
was reported to be attached as the lead. Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
and Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Lee Renner is a two-time Academy-Award-nominated American actor and musician. Renner appeared in films throughout the 2000s, mostly in supporting roles. He came to prominence in films such as Dahmer , S.W.A.T. , Neo Ned , 28 Weeks Later and The Hurt Locker...
were rumored to star opposite Hoffman but the roles officially went to Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix , formerly credited as Leaf Phoenix, is an American film actor. He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and his family returned to the continental United States four years later...
and Amy Adams
Amy Adams
Amy Lou Adams is an American actress and singer. Adams began her performing career on stage in dinner theaters before making her screen debut in the 1999 black comedy film Drop Dead Gorgeous...
.
It has been reported by several sources that Anderson is now working on an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
's Inherent Vice
Inherent Vice
Inherent Vice is a novel by Thomas Pynchon, originally published in August 2009.-Title:The term "inherent vice" is a legal tenet referring to a "hidden defect of a good or property which of itself is the cause of its deterioration, damage, or wastage...
, with rumors of Robert Downey Jr in the lead. In February 2011 it was reported that Megan Ellison, daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison
Larry Ellison
Lawrence Joseph "Larry" Ellison is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Oracle Corporation, one of the world's leading enterprise software companies. As of 2011, he is the third wealthiest American citizen, with an estimated worth of $33 billion.- Early life :Larry Ellison was born in the...
, would possibly finance both The Master and Inherent Vice.
Other work
In addition to films, Anderson has directed several music videos, including several for musician Fiona AppleFiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Apple met international acclaim for her 1996 debut album, Tidal, which was a critical and commercial success...
. Anderson was a standby director for Robert Altman's
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion (film)
A Prairie Home Companion is a 2006 ensemble comedy elegy directed by Robert Altman, and was his final film, released just five months before his death...
for insurance purposes, as Altman was 80 years old at the time. Anderson was not formally credited in the film, but receives a "Special thanks to ..." toward the end of the closing credits.
Film style, themes and trademarks
Anderson is a member of the first generation of "self taught filmmakers," much like directors Quentin TarantinoQuentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
, Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
, Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
, David O. Russell
David O. Russell
David Owen Russell is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work, and is notorious for his explosive confrontations with cast members.-Early life:...
, and Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze is an American director, producer and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television...
, who learned the craft not in film schools, but by viewing thousands of movies on video. Anderson learned about filmmaking by watching films by the filmmakers he liked, reading books and magazines about the "technical stuff", and watching films accompanied by director's audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
. He believes that film school is a "complete con" because "the information is there when you get it". He cites Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
, Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
, Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
, Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, and Max Ophuls
Max Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer — known as Max Ophüls — was an influential German-born film director who worked in Germany , France , the United States , and France again...
as his main influences as a filmmaker.
Anderson is known for films set in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
with realistically flawed
Character flaw
In the creation and criticism of fictional works, a character flaw is a limitation, imperfection, problem, phobia, or deficiency present in a character who may be otherwise very functional. The flaw can be a problem that directly affects the character's actions and abilities, such as a violent temper...
and desperate characters. Among the subjects dealt with in Anderson's films are dysfunctional familial relationships
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
, alienation
Social alienation
The term social alienation has many discipline-specific uses; Roberts notes how even within the social sciences, it “is used to refer both to a personal psychological state and to a type of social relationship”...
, regret
Regret (emotion)
Regret is a negative conscious and emotional reaction to personal past acts and behaviors. Regret is often expressed by the term "sorry." Regret is often felt when someone feels sadness, shame, embarrassment, depression, annoyance or guilt after committing an action or actions that the person later...
, loneliness
Loneliness
Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. However, it is a subjective experience...
, and ghosts of the past. Boogie Nights and Magnolia were noted for their large ensemble casts
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
, Punch-Drunk Love was a short 90 minute film compared to his previous two, and There Will Be Blood was more overtly engaged with politics than his previous films.
Anderson's stylistic trademarks include constantly moving camera, steadicam-based
Steadicam
A Steadicam is a stabilizing mount for a motion picture camera that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement, allowing a smooth shot even when moving quickly over an uneven surface...
long takes
Long take
A long take is an uninterrupted shot in a film which lasts much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general, usually lasting several minutes. It can be used for dramatic and narrative effect if done properly, and in moving shots is often accomplished...
, memorable use of music, and multilayered audiovisual imagery.
Anderson frequently collaborates with many actors and crew carrying them over from film to film. Anderson has referred to his regular actors as "my little rep company" which includes John C. Reilly
John C. Reilly
John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
, Philip Baker Hall
Philip Baker Hall
-Early life:Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of a factory worker father who was from Montgomery, Alabama. He attended the University of Toledo. As a younger man, Hall served in the military, started a family, and became a high school English teacher. In 1961, he decided to become an actor...
, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...
, Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
, William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
, and
Melora Walters
Melora Walters
Melora Walters is an American actress.-Personal life:Walters was born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia to American parents. She was partly raised there and in Holland. Walters attended high school at Lake Forest Academy-Ferry Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois...
. Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
is also considered an Anderson regular. With the exception of Paul F. Tompkins
Paul F. Tompkins
Paul Francis Tompkins , best known as Paul F. Tompkins, is an American actor and comedian.-Life and career:Tompkins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a receptionist mother and railway worker father. He started out in stand-up comedy in 1986 at The Comedy Works, Philadelphia, PA, where he...
, who had an equally minor role in Magnolia, There Will Be Blood had an entirely new cast. Additionally, Robert Elswit
Robert Elswit
Robert Christopher Elswit, ASC is an American cinematographer. He has had multiple Oscar, BAFTA, and Independent Spirit nominations for several films, including There Will Be Blood. Elswit frequently works with director Paul Thomas Anderson.Elswit is a fierce defender of shooting with film, and...
has been cinematographer for Anderson's first five features. Anderson also regularly works with producing partners JoAnne Sellar and Daniel Lupi.
Personal life
Anderson is currently the partner of former Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
cast member Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph
Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...
. They have two daughters, Pearl Bailey, born October 2005, and Lucille, born November 6, 2009, and one son, Jack, born July 3, 2011.
Feature films
- Hard EightHard Eight (film)Hard Eight is a 1996 American crime thriller film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson...
(also known as Sydney) (1996) - Boogie NightsBoogie NightsBoogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
(1997) - MagnoliaMagnolia (film)Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance...
(1999) - Punch-Drunk LovePunch-Drunk LovePunch-Drunk Love is a 2002 romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzmán also appear....
(2002) - There Will Be BloodThere Will Be BloodThere Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and...
(2007) - The MasterThe Master (2012 film)The Master is an upcoming drama film written, directed and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson. It was given the green-light in May 2011, and began filming in June. The film will star Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Laura Dern...
(2012)
Short films
- The Dirk Diggler Story (1987)
- Cigarettes and Coffee (1993)
- Flagpole Special (1998)
- Couch (2002)
Music videos
- "TryTry (Michael Penn song)"Try" is the opening song from the 1997 Michael Penn album Resigned.A music video for the song was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and was shot with the crew of Boogie Nights while the movie was in its editing process...
" by Michael PennMichael PennMichael Penn is an American singer, songwriter and composer. He is the eldest son of actor/director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan, and the brother of actors Sean Penn and the late Chris Penn.-Career:...
(1997) - "Across the UniverseAcross the Universe"Across the Universe" is a song by the English group The Beatles. It was written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song first appeared on the various artists charity compilation album No One's Gonna Change Our World in December 1969, and later, in different form, on Let It Be,...
" by Fiona AppleFiona AppleFiona Apple McAfee Maggart is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Apple met international acclaim for her 1996 debut album, Tidal, which was a critical and commercial success...
(1998) - "Fast as You CanFast as You Can"Fast as You Can" is a song written by Fiona Apple, and produced by Jon Brion for her second album, When the Pawn.... It was released as the album's lead single in late 1999 in the United States and in February 2000 in the United Kingdom. It became one of Apple's most successful singles in both...
" by Fiona Apple (1999) - "Save MeSave Me (Aimee Mann song)Save Me is a song written and performed by Aimee Mann for use in the film Magnolia. It appears on the Magnolia soundtrack, which was released on December 7, 1999. The song also appears on the European edition of the album, Bachelor No...
" by Aimee MannAimee MannAimee Mann is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bassist.-Early life:Aimee Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, graduated from Open High School in 1978 and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the Young Snakes...
(1999) - "Limp" by Fiona Apple (2000)
- "Paper Bag" by Fiona Apple (2000)
- "Here We Go" by Jon BrionJon BrionJon Brion is an American rock and pop multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, composer and record producer.-Early life:...
(2002)
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Academy Awards Academy Awards An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers... |
Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
|
| 2008 | Academy Awards Academy Awards An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers... |
Best Director | There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
|
| 2008 | Academy Awards Academy Awards An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers... |
Best Adapted Screenplay | There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
|
| 2000 | Academy Awards Academy Awards An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers... |
Best Original Screenplay | Magnolia Magnolia (film) Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance... |
|
| 1998 | Academy Awards Academy Awards An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers... |
Best Original Screenplay | Boogie Nights Boogie Nights Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s... |
|
| 2008 | British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:... |
Best Direction BAFTA Award for Best Direction Winners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-2010s:* 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network** Tom Hooper – The King's Speech** Danny Boyle – 127 Hours... |
There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
|
| 2008 | British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:... |
Best Film BAFTA Award for Best Film This page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards... |
There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
|
| 2008 | British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:... |
Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Adapted Screenplay has been presented to its winners since 1968:-1980s:1983: Heat and Dust – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala*Betrayal – Harold Pinter... |
There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
|
| 1998 | British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:... |
Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay The BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay is the British Academy Film Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. It has been awarded since 1984, when the original category was split into two awards, the other being the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted... |
Boogie Nights Boogie Nights Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s... |
|
| 2008 | Berlin International Film Festival Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978... |
Golden Berlin Bear Golden Bear According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear.... |
There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
|
| 2008 | Berlin International Film Festival Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978... |
Silver Bear for Best Director Silver Bear for Best Director The Silver Bear for Best Director is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for best achievement in direction.-Awards:-Repeated winners:*Mario Monicelli *Satyajit Ray *Carlos Saura -External links:*... |
There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
|
| 2000 | Berlin International Film Festival Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978... |
Golden Berlin Bear Golden Bear According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear.... |
Magnolia Magnolia (film) Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance... |
|
| 2002 | Cannes Film Festival Cannes Film Festival The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals... |
Golden Palm Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du... |
Punch-Drunk Love Punch-Drunk Love Punch-Drunk Love is a 2002 romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzmán also appear.... |
|
| 2002 | Cannes Film Festival Cannes Film Festival The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals... |
Best Director Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival) The Best Director Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.... |
Punch-Drunk Love Punch-Drunk Love Punch-Drunk Love is a 2002 romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzmán also appear.... |
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| 2008 | Directors Guild of America Award | DGA Award - Motion Pictures Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Feature Film Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures is one of the annual awards given by Directors Guild of America.-1940s:* 1948: Joseph L... |
There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
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| 1998 | Independent Spirit Awards Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit... |
Best First Feature Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature The Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards. It is usually given to the director and producer . The "first feature" designation is applied to the director not the producer... |
Hard Eight Hard Eight (film) Hard Eight is a 1996 American crime thriller film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson... |
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| 1998 | Independent Spirit Awards Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit... |
Best First Screenplay Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay The Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay is one of the annual awards given by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers.-1990s:1994*David O... |
Hard Eight Hard Eight (film) Hard Eight is a 1996 American crime thriller film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson... |
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| 2008 | PGA Awards Producers Guild of America Producers Guild of America is a trade organization representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 4,700 members of the producing establishment worldwide... |
PGA Award - Motion Pictures | There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
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| 2008 | USC Scripter Award USC Scripter Award USC Scripter Award is the name given to an award presented annually by the University of Southern California to honor screenwriters.-1987:*84 Charing Cross Road**Hugh Whitemore and Helene Hanff -1988:... |
USC Scripter Award USC Scripter Award USC Scripter Award is the name given to an award presented annually by the University of Southern California to honor screenwriters.-1987:*84 Charing Cross Road**Hugh Whitemore and Helene Hanff -1988:... |
There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
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| 2008 | WGA Awards Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949... |
Best Adapted Screenplay Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is one of the three screenwriting Writers Guild of America Awards, one that is specifically for film... |
There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and... |
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| 2000 | WGA Awards Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949... |
Best Original Screenplay Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America Award.... |
Magnolia Magnolia (film) Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance... |
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| 1998 | WGA Awards Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949... |
Best Original Screenplay Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America Award.... |
Boogie Nights Boogie Nights Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s... |