Paul Thomas Anderson
Birth : 1970-06-26, Studio City, California, USA
History
Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Los Angeles, Anderson developed an interest in filmmaking from a young age. An alumnus of the Sundance Institute, Anderson is famous for making often epic psychological drama films which often take place in San Fernando Valley and deal with characters seeking after redemption, forgiveness or loss; they also use wide framing as well as realistic or gritty cinematography. Anderson made his feature film debut with Hard Eight (1996). He found critical and commercial success with Boogie Nights (1997), set in the Golden Age of Porn, and received further accolades with Magnolia (1999), an ensemble piece set in the San Fernando Valley, and Punch-Drunk Love (2002), a romantic comedy-drama film.
Anderson's 2007 film There Will Be Blood, about an oil prospector during the Southern California oil boom, achieved major critical and commercial success and was often cited as one of the greatest films of the 2000s. This was followed by The Master (2012) and Inherent Vice (2014). Anderson's eighth film, Phantom Thread, was released in 2017. He has directed music videos for artists including Fiona Apple, Radiohead, Haim, Joanna Newsom, Aimee Mann, Jon Brion and Michael Penn, and has also directed a documentary, Junun (2015), about the making of the album in India. More recently, he directed a short film accompanying Thom Yorke's Anima (2019), released on Netflix and in select IMAX theatres.
Anderson's films are often characterized by their depiction of flawed and desperate characters, explorations of themes such as dysfunctional families, alienation and loneliness, a bold visual style that uses moving camera and long takes, and memorable use of music. He is noted for his frequent collaborations with actors Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Melora Walters, John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix and Daniel Day-Lewis, cinematographer Robert Elswit, costume designer Mark Bridges, and composers Jon Brion and Jonny Greenwood. His films have consistently garnered critical acclaim. Anderson has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, one Golden Globe Award and five BAFTA Awards, and has won a Best Director Award at Cannes, both Golden and a Silver Bear at Berlin and a Silver Lion at Venice.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Paul Thomas Anderson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Thanks
In a near-future Boston, an amateur stand up comedian with memory problems struggles to maintain his sobriety as he falls for his transgender best friend. After she rejects his affection, he hears of a company that can give him another chance with her. Introducing NuYou: a business that creates human clones for the modern day consumer.
Thanks
A paranoid man embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother.
Self (archive footage)
A portrait of the life and career of Robert Downey Sr. (1936-2021), the visionary and fearless US filmmaker — father of actor Robert Downey Jr. — who in the sixties and seventies laid the foundations for countercultural comedy.
Writer
The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
Director of Photography
The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
Producer
The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
Director
The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
Producer
In a short musical film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Thom Yorke of Radiohead stars in a mind-bending visual piece. Best played loud.
Director
In a short musical film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Thom Yorke of Radiohead stars in a mind-bending visual piece. Best played loud.
Executive Producer
A famous writer's obsession leaves his relationships and marriage in shambles.
Director of Photography
In 1950s London, renowned British dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock comes across Alma, a young, strong-willed woman, who soon becomes ever present in his life as his muse and lover.
Producer
In 1950s London, renowned British dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock comes across Alma, a young, strong-willed woman, who soon becomes ever present in his life as his muse and lover.
Writer
In 1950s London, renowned British dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock comes across Alma, a young, strong-willed woman, who soon becomes ever present in his life as his muse and lover.
Director
In 1950s London, renowned British dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock comes across Alma, a young, strong-willed woman, who soon becomes ever present in his life as his muse and lover.
Director
Three songs by American pop rock trio Haim, shot live at LA's Valentine Recording Studios, making the 2017 album 'Something to Tell You'.
Director
In this music video for Radiohead's new single, singer Thom Yorke traverses a shifting landscape of hall-ways, houses, department stores and mountains in search of an unknown destination.
Self
Two great filmmakers discuss the evolution of film, 70mm and Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight".
Self (voice) (uncredited)
Paul Thomas Anderson joined his close friend and collaborator Jonny Greenwood on a trip to Rajasthan in northwest India, where they were hosted by the Maharaja of Jodhpur, and he brought his camera with him. Their destination was the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort, where Greenwood was recording an album with Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and an amazing group of musicians.
Camera Operator
Paul Thomas Anderson joined his close friend and collaborator Jonny Greenwood on a trip to Rajasthan in northwest India, where they were hosted by the Maharaja of Jodhpur, and he brought his camera with him. Their destination was the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort, where Greenwood was recording an album with Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and an amazing group of musicians.
Director
Paul Thomas Anderson joined his close friend and collaborator Jonny Greenwood on a trip to Rajasthan in northwest India, where they were hosted by the Maharaja of Jodhpur, and he brought his camera with him. Their destination was the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort, where Greenwood was recording an album with Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and an amazing group of musicians.
Self
On the set of Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice.
Writer
In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.
Producer
In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.
Director
In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.
Self
Robert Altman's life and career contained multitudes. This father of American independent cinema left an indelible mark, not merely on the evolution of his art form, but also on the western zeitgeist. With its use of rare interviews, representative film clips, archival images, and musings from his family and most recognizable collaborators, Altman is a dynamic and heartfelt mediation on an artist whose expression, passion and appetite knew few bounds.
Producer
Freddie, a volatile, heavy-drinking veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, finds some semblance of a family when he stumbles onto the ship of Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of a new "religion" he forms after World War II.
Writer
Freddie, a volatile, heavy-drinking veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, finds some semblance of a family when he stumbles onto the ship of Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of a new "religion" he forms after World War II.
Director
Freddie, a volatile, heavy-drinking veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, finds some semblance of a family when he stumbles onto the ship of Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of a new "religion" he forms after World War II.
Director
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
Producer
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
Screenplay
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
Director
Paul Thomas Anderson spoofs the famous 1980s Mattress Man commercial outtake using Dean Trumbell, the character played by Philip Seymour Hoffman in Anderson's 'Punch-Drunk Love', and he promotes his mattress company by performing a stunt that doesn't go all that well.
Director
A man goes shopping for a new couch.
Director
A short film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Part of Adam Sandler's 'Meatball Series'. Shot during the filming of 'Punch-Drunk Love'.
Producer
A socially awkward and volatile small business owner meets the love of his life after being threatened by a gang of scammers.
Screenplay
A socially awkward and volatile small business owner meets the love of his life after being threatened by a gang of scammers.
Director
A socially awkward and volatile small business owner meets the love of his life after being threatened by a gang of scammers.
Bus Passenger (uncredited)
John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a murder charge.
Script Editor
Corky Romano is a bumbling, simpleton, veterinarian and the youngest, outcast son of an aging gangster, named Pops Romano, who calls upon Corky to infiltrate the local FBI and retrieve and destroy evidence being used to incriminate Pops for racketeering charges.
Self
A very in-depth documentary that follows the very over-worked director Paul Thomas Anderson through a gruelling 80+ days of shooting for the film Magnolia (1999), containing behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.
Writer
An epic mosaic of many interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
Man Confiscating Sign (uncredited)
An epic mosaic of many interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
Producer
An epic mosaic of many interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
Director
An epic mosaic of many interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
Self
Friends, enemies, acquaintances, and family of porn star John Holmes recall their experiences with him, from his childhood to his eventual death from AIDS in 1988.
Writer
Two guys talk about a seminar where they learn how to pick up chicks, both are seen from the waist down only, one is playing acoustic guitar. Related to the Frank TJ Mackie seminars shown in the film Magnolia.
Director
Two guys talk about a seminar where they learn how to pick up chicks, both are seen from the waist down only, one is playing acoustic guitar. Related to the Frank TJ Mackie seminars shown in the film Magnolia.
Writer
Set in 1977, back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, idealistic porn producer Jack Horner aspires to elevate his craft to an art form. Horner discovers Eddie Adams, a hot young talent working as a busboy in a nightclub, and welcomes him into the extended family of movie-makers, misfits and hangers-on that are always around. Adams' rise from nobody to a celebrity adult entertainer is meteoric, and soon the whole world seems to know his porn alter ego, "Dirk Diggler". Now, when disco and drugs are in vogue, fashion is in flux and the party never seems to stop, Adams' dreams of turning sex into stardom are about to collide with cold, hard reality.
Producer
Set in 1977, back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, idealistic porn producer Jack Horner aspires to elevate his craft to an art form. Horner discovers Eddie Adams, a hot young talent working as a busboy in a nightclub, and welcomes him into the extended family of movie-makers, misfits and hangers-on that are always around. Adams' rise from nobody to a celebrity adult entertainer is meteoric, and soon the whole world seems to know his porn alter ego, "Dirk Diggler". Now, when disco and drugs are in vogue, fashion is in flux and the party never seems to stop, Adams' dreams of turning sex into stardom are about to collide with cold, hard reality.
Director
Set in 1977, back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, idealistic porn producer Jack Horner aspires to elevate his craft to an art form. Horner discovers Eddie Adams, a hot young talent working as a busboy in a nightclub, and welcomes him into the extended family of movie-makers, misfits and hangers-on that are always around. Adams' rise from nobody to a celebrity adult entertainer is meteoric, and soon the whole world seems to know his porn alter ego, "Dirk Diggler". Now, when disco and drugs are in vogue, fashion is in flux and the party never seems to stop, Adams' dreams of turning sex into stardom are about to collide with cold, hard reality.
Screenplay
A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.
Director
A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.
Writer
Cigarettes & Coffee tells the story of five people's lives all interconnected through a $20 bill.
Director
Cigarettes & Coffee tells the story of five people's lives all interconnected through a $20 bill.
Director
In 1992, Anderson was knee-deep at night in devising what would eventually become “Boogie Nights,” but during the day he worked as a production assistant on “Sworn To Vengeance,” a telefilm thriller starring Robert Conrad. From this gig sprang a brief, fascinating clip of the future director giving viewers a tour of the different departments on-set, from transpo to catering and make-up/wardrobe.
self
In 1992, Anderson was knee-deep at night in devising what would eventually become “Boogie Nights,” but during the day he worked as a production assistant on “Sworn To Vengeance,” a telefilm thriller starring Robert Conrad. From this gig sprang a brief, fascinating clip of the future director giving viewers a tour of the different departments on-set, from transpo to catering and make-up/wardrobe.
Director of Photography
The Dirk Diggler Story is a 1988 mockumentary short film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It follows the rise and fall of Dirk Diggler, a well-endowed male porn star. The character was modeled on American porn actor John Holmes. The film was later expanded into Anderson's 1997 film Boogie Nights.
Writer
The Dirk Diggler Story is a 1988 mockumentary short film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It follows the rise and fall of Dirk Diggler, a well-endowed male porn star. The character was modeled on American porn actor John Holmes. The film was later expanded into Anderson's 1997 film Boogie Nights.
Director
The Dirk Diggler Story is a 1988 mockumentary short film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It follows the rise and fall of Dirk Diggler, a well-endowed male porn star. The character was modeled on American porn actor John Holmes. The film was later expanded into Anderson's 1997 film Boogie Nights.
Producer
Plot TBA.
Screenplay
Plot TBA.
Writer
Vineland, a zone of blessed anarchy in northern California, is the last refuge of hippiedom, a culture devastated by the sobriety epidemic, Reaganomics, and the Tube. Here, in an Orwellian 1984, Zoyd Wheeler and his daughter Prairie search for Prairie's long-lost mother, a Sixties radical who ran off with a narc.
Director
Vineland, a zone of blessed anarchy in northern California, is the last refuge of hippiedom, a culture devastated by the sobriety epidemic, Reaganomics, and the Tube. Here, in an Orwellian 1984, Zoyd Wheeler and his daughter Prairie search for Prairie's long-lost mother, a Sixties radical who ran off with a narc.
Director
Plot TBA.
Director
The concept of the show is that Brion will play accompaniment to his guest, sometimes inviting other performers on stage to assist. Like the regular Friday night shows that Brion performed at the club Largo in Los Angeles at the time, the performance is largely improvised. Those Largo performances, displaying the depth of Brion’s pop knowledge and musicianship, were huge successes. And in this instance, with Smith, the result is one amazing musical moment after another.
