List of directorial debuts

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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.

Contents

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.

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1880s

1887

1889

1890s

1892

1894

1896

1898

1900s

1901

1907

1908

1909

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

Upcoming

See also

Notes

  1. Co-directed with Robert N. Bradbury
  2. As Detlef Sierck
  3. Co-directed with Anthony Hankey
  4. Co-directed with Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen and David D. Hand
  5. Co-directed with Gunther von Fritsch
  6. Co-directed with Brian Desmond Hurst
  7. Co-directed with Robert Jordan Hill
  8. Co-directed with Yakov Bazelyan
  9. Directed segment Interlude in the Marshland
  10. Co-directed with Abe Levitow
  11. Co-directed with Bradley R. Swirnoff
  12. Co-directed with Wolfgang Reitherman
  13. Co-directed with Bill Melendez
  14. Co-directed with John Lounsbery
  15. Co-directed with Rintaro
  16. Co-directed with Kenneth Tsang
  17. Co-directed with Art Stevens
  18. Co-directed with Don Bluth
  19. Co-directed with Jesse Wells
  20. Co-directed with Frank Lustig
  21. Co-directed with Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells
  22. Co-directed with Joe Johnston
  23. Co-directed with Mike Gabriel
  24. Co-directed with David Van Taylor
  25. Co-directed with Peter Farrelly
  26. Co-directed with Quentin Lee
  27. Co-directed with Simon Wells
  28. Co-directed with Jim Wynorski
  29. Co-directed with Kevin Lima
  30. Co-directed with Eric Goldberg, Pixote Hunt, James Algar and Hendel Butoy
  31. Co-directed with Ralph Zondag
  32. Co-directed with Richard Rich
  33. Co-directed with Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly
  34. Co-directed with Richard Rich
  35. Co-directed with David Daniel
  36. Co-directed with Corey Yuen
  37. Co-directed with Norton Virgien
  38. Co-directed with Tim Johnson
  39. Co-directed with Efram Potelle
  40. Co-directed with Vicky Jenson and Bibo Bergeron
  41. Co-directed with Andrew Adamson and Kelly Asbury
  42. Co-directed with Ryan Fleck
  43. Co-directed with Nick Park
  44. Co-directed with Tim Burton
  45. Co-directed with Eric Darnell
  46. Co-directed with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino
  47. Co-directed with James Cameron
  48. Co-directed with Roger Allers
  49. Co-directed with Tim Johnson
  50. Co-directed with John Lasseter
  51. Co-directed with Chris Buck
  52. Co-directed with Brad Bird
  53. Co-directed with Vincent Paronnaud
  54. Co-directed with Steve Hickner
  55. Co-directed with Brian Hooks
  56. Co-directed with Ryan Fleck
  57. Co-directed with Sam Fell
  58. Co-directed with Matthew Robinson
  59. 1 2 Co-directed with Pete Docter
  60. Co-directed with Byron Howard
  61. Co-directed with Lionel Steketee and Thomas N'Gijol
  62. Co-directed with Stephen Anderson
  63. Co-directed with John Lasseter
  64. Co-directed with Alastair Fothergill
  65. Co-directed with Barry Cook
  66. Co-directed with Brenda Chapman
  67. Co-directed with Chris Renaud
  68. Co-directed with Sam Fell
  69. Co-directed with Peter Lord
  70. Co-directed with Steve Martino
  71. Co-directed with Mike McCoy
  72. Co-directed with Chris Buck
  73. Co-directed with Anthony Stacchi
  74. Co-directed with Guy Jenkin
  75. Co-directed with Jocelyn Towne
  76. Co-directed with Jennifer Yuh Nelson
  77. Co-directed with Chris Renaud
  78. Co-directed with Michael Thurmeier
  79. Co-directed with Mike Mitchell
  80. As Declan Dale
  81. Co-directed with Garth Jennings
  82. Co-directed with Nicholas Stoller
  83. Co-directed with Conrad Vernon
  84. Co-directed with Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda
  85. Co-directed with Lee Unkrich
  86. Co-directed with Rich Moore
  87. Co-directed with Yarrow Cheney
  88. Co-directed with Peter Ramsey
  89. Co-directed with Peter Chelsom, Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel, Dani Levy, Josef Rusnak, Til Schweiger, Massy Tadjedin
  90. Co-directed with Chris Renaud
  91. co-directed with Jim Cummings
  92. Co-directed with Sarah Smith
  93. Co-directed with Aaron Horvath
  94. Co-directed with Chris Buck
  95. Co-directed with Chris Renaud
  96. Co-directed with Domee Shi
  97. Co-directed with Alessandro Carloni

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