Bad Directors
by OfficialPaul | created - 18 Mar 2011 | updated - 31 Aug 2022 | Public
1. Roger Christian
Set_decorator | Star Wars
Academy Award winner Roger Christian has had an extensive film career. He won an Academy Award for set decoration on director George Lucas's Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), which began a long collaboration between the filmmakers. Christian subsequently worked with Lucas on Star Wars: ...
Flops: Battlefield Earth (2000)
2. Pitof
Director | Vidocq
Pitof started his career in 1976 as photographer, assistant director and editor for films and commercials. He then branched out into musical scoring, software design and graphic design for televisions, music videos and commercials.
A pioneer of digital imaging in France, Pitof made his debut in ...
Flops: Catwoman (2004) (2004)
3. Aaron Seltzer
Writer | Disaster Movie
Aaron Seltzer was born on January 12, 1974 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He is a writer and director, known for Disaster Movie (2008), Date Movie (2006) and Epic Movie (2007).
Representing himself and Jason Friedberg
Flops: Epic Movie (2007) (2007)
4. Edward D. Wood Jr.
Writer | Plan 9 from Outer Space
Hacks are nothing new in Hollywood. Since the beginning of the film industry at the turn of the 20th century, thousands of untalented people have come to Los Angeles from all over America and abroad to try to make it big (as writers, producers, directors, actors, talent agents, singers, composers, ...
Flops: Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) (1959)
5. Dennis Dugan
Actor | Happy Gilmore
Dennis Barton Dugan is an American film director, actor, comedian and screenwriter from Wheaton, Illinois who directed several films featuring Adam Sandler including Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, Jack & Jill, Grown Ups, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry and You Don't Mess With the Zohan. He also ...
Caution: National Security (2003) (2003); Just Go with It (2011) (2011)
Flops: Problem Child (1990) (1990); Beverly Hills Ninja (1997) (1997); Saving Silverman (2001) (2001); I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007) (2007); You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008) (2008); Grown Ups (2010) (2010)
6. Barry Sonnenfeld
Director | Men in Black
Barry Sonnenfeld was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from New York University Film School in 1978. He started work as director of photography on the Oscar-nominated In Our Water (1982). Then Joel Coen and Ethan Coen hired him for Blood Simple (1984). This film began his collaboration...
Flops: Wild Wild West (1999) (1999); Big Trouble (2002) (2002); Men in Black II (2002) (2002)
7. M. Night Shyamalan
Producer | Lady in the Water
Born in Puducherry, India, and raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots.
He is the son of Jayalakshmi, a Tamil ...
Flops: Lady in the Water (2006) (2006); The Happening (2008) (2008); The Last Airbender (2010) (2010)
8. Joel Schumacher
Director | The Phantom of the Opera
Joel Schumacher was an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and fashion designer from New York City. He rose to fame in the 1980s for directing the coming-of-age drama "St. Elmo's Fire" (1985), and the vampire-themed horror film "The Lost Boys" (1987). In the 1990s, he worked on two ...
Caution: Batman Forever (1995) (1995)
Flops: Batman & Robin (1997) (1997); Bad Company (2002) (2002); The Number 23 (2007) (2007); Trespass (2011) (2011)
9. Michael Lehmann
Director | Heathers
Michael Lehmann was born on March 30, 1957 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Heathers (1988), Hudson Hawk (1991) and American Horror Story (2011). He is married to Holland Sutton.
Flops: Hudson Hawk (1991) (1991); 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002) (2002); Because I Said So (2007) (2006)
10. Tyler Perry
Writer | Diary of a Mad Black Woman
Perry was born and raised in New Orleans, to Willie Maxine (Campbell) and Emmitt Perry, Sr. His mother was a church-goer and took Perry along with her once a week. His father was a carpenter and they had a very strained and abusive relationship, which led Perry to suffer from depression as a ...
11. Uwe Boll
Producer | Postal
As a youth, he produced a number of short films on Super 8 and video. After short stints as guest auditor at Filmacademy Vienna and Filmhochschule Munich, Boll studied literature and economics in Cologne and Siegen. He graduated from university in 1995 with a doctorate in literature. From 1995-2000...
Flops:
12. Mort Nathan
Producer | The Golden Girls
Mort Nathan was born on May 11, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is a producer and writer, known for The Golden Girls (1985), Boat Trip (2002) and Kingpin (1996).
Flops: Boat Trip (2002) (2002); Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj (2006) (2006)
13. Keenen Ivory Wayans
Writer | White Chicks
The trail-blazing linchpin of a sprawling family dynasty of comic entertainers, it was multi-talented writer/director/producer Keenen Ivory Wayans (born June 8, 1958, in New York City) who led the familial pack and was the first to achieve national prominence when he successfully created, launched,...
Flops: White Chicks (2004) (2004)
14. Roland Emmerich
Writer | Independence Day
Roland Emmerich is a German film director and producer of blockbuster films like The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Godzilla (1998), Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000). Before fame, he originally wanted to be a production designer, but decided to be a director, after watching the original ...
Caution: The Day After Tomorrow (2004) (2004)
Flops: Godzilla (1998) (1998)
15. Prince
Soundtrack | Under the Cherry Moon
Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Mattie Shaw, a jazz singer and social worker, and John L. Nelson, a lyricist and pianist. His father's stage name was "Prince Rogers". His parents were both from African-American families from Louisiana. They separated during his youth, ...
Flops:
16. Jan de Bont
Director | Speed
Jan de Bont was one of 17 children born into a Roman Catholic Dutch family in Eindhoven on 22 October 1943. Credited with being creative and having a good mentality for camera techniques, he became a popular cinematographer. He worked on a huge number of films before finding himself on the ...
Caution: Twister (1996) (1996); Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003) (2003)
Flops: Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) (1997); The Haunting (1999) (1999)
17. Stephen King
Writer | Maximum Overdrive
Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21, 1947, at the Maine General Hospital in Portland. His parents were Nellie Ruth (Pillsbury), who worked as a caregiver at a mental institute, and Donald Edwin King, a merchant seaman. His father was born under the surname "Pollock," but used the last name ...
Flops:
18. Danny DeVito
Actor | Matilda
Danny DeVito has amassed a formidable and versatile body of work as an actor, producer and director that spans the stage, television and film.
Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. was born on November 17, 1944, in Neptune, New Jersey, to Italian-American parents. His mother, Julia (Moccello), was a homemaker. ...
Flops: Duplex (2003) (2003)
19. Dan Aykroyd
Writer | Ghostbusters
Daniel Edward Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to Lorraine Hélène (Gougeon), a secretary from a French-Canadian family, and Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd, a civil engineer who advised prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Aykroyd attended Carleton University in 1969, where...
Flops: Nothing But Trouble (1991) (1991)
20. Vondie Curtis-Hall
Actor | Romeo + Juliet
Vondie Curtis-Hall was born on September 30, 1950 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Romeo + Juliet (1996), Falling Down (1993) and Waist Deep (2006). He has been married to Kasi Lemmons since August 19, 1995. They have two children.
Flops: Glitter (2001) (2001)
21. Frank Marshall
Producer | Congo
Frank was born in Glendale, California to musician Jack Marshall. He entered the film world when his parents invited him to a birthday party for the daughter of directing legend John Ford in 1966. There, he met Peter Bogdanovich and soon agreed to work on his first film, Targets (1968), later ...
22. Michael Bay
Producer | Armageddon
A graduate of Wesleyan University, Michael Bay spent his 20s working on advertisements and music videos. His first projects after film school were in the music video business. He created music videos for Tina Turner, Meat Loaf, Lionel Richie, Wilson Phillips, Donny Osmond and Divinyls. His work won...
23. John Derek
Actor | The Ten Commandments
John Derek was born on August 12, 1926 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Ten Commandments (1956), Ghosts Can't Do It (1989) and Bolero (1984). He was married to Bo Derek, Linda Evans, Ursula Andress and Pati Behrs. He died on May 22, 1998 in ...
24. Richard Pearce
Director | Heartland
Richard Pearce was born on January 25, 1943 in San Diego, California, USA. He is a director and cinematographer, known for Heartland (1979), Food, Inc. (2008) and Hair (1979). He has been married to Lynzee Klingman since January 5, 1980. They have two children.
25. Allan Moyle
Director | Pump Up the Volume
Unconventional filmmaker who moved from independent cinema into the Hollywood mainstream. Moyle became a sought-after writer-director after the surprising success of Pump Up the Volume (1990), a sleeper hit about teen angst starring Christian Slater. His previous directorial outing occurred a full ...
26. Russell Mulcahy
Director | Highlander
Dynamic film/video director Russell Mulcahy was born June 23, 1953, in Melbourne, Australia. He first gained fame directing visually striking music video clips for such artists as Elton John, Duran Duran, The Buggles and Bonnie Tyler. He is also well known for feature films, starting off with the ...
27. Floyd Mutrux
Producer | Dick Tracy
Floyd Mutrux was born on June 25, 1941 in Houston, Texas, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Dick Tracy (1990), Bound by Honor (1993) and Freebie and the Bean (1974).
28. Peter Segal
Director | Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult
Peter Segal was born in 1962. He is a director and producer, known for Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994), Get Smart (2008) and Second Act (2018). He is married to Linda Segal. They have three children.
29. George B. Seitz
Director | The Sky Ranger
Former playwright George B. Seitz left the theater for Hollywood in 1913, and before long he was turning out screenplays for action serials such as The Perils of Pauline (1914), The Exploits of Elaine (1914), and The Iron Claw (1916). In addition to writing and sometimes starring in these ...
30. Stephen Sommers
Producer | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Stephen Sommers was born on March 20, 1962 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota, he attended St. John's University and the University of Seville in Spain. Afterward, Sommers spent the next four years performing as an actor in theater groups and managing rock bands throughout ...
31. Garry Marshall
Actor | A League of Their Own
Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 - July 19, 2016) was an American actor and filmmaker. He started his career in the 1960s writing for The Lucy Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show before he developed Neil Simon's 1965 play The Odd Couple for television in 1970. He gained fame for creating Happy ...
32. Eddie Murphy
Actor | The Nutty Professor
Edward Regan Murphy was born April 3, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York, to Lillian Lynch (born: Lillian Laney), a telephone operator, and Charles Edward Murphy, a transit police officer who was also an amateur comedian and actor. After his father died, his mother married Vernon Lynch, a foreman at a ...
33. Lawrence Kasdan
Writer | The Big Chill
Lawrence Kasdan is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. He directed Body Heat, Grand Canyon, The Big Chill, Silverado and Dreamcatcher. He wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Bodyguard, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens and Solo: A Star Wars Story. He is ...
34. Nancy Meyers
Writer | It's Complicated
Nancy Jane Meyers is an American filmmaker. She has written, produced, and directed many critically and commercially successful films including Private Benjamin (1980), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Baby Boom (1987), Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), The Parent ...
35. Fred F. Sears
Director | The Giant Claw
A graduate of Boston College, Fred F. Sears got his show-business start in regional theater, where he was an actor, director and producer. He started "little theater" groups and was a drama instructor at Southwestern University when Columbia Pictures hired him as a dialogue director. He also worked...
36. Hugh Wilson
Writer | Blast from the Past
Hugh Wilson was born on August 24, 1943 in Miami, Florida, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Blast from the Past (1999), Frank's Place (1987) and WKRP in Cincinnati (1978). He was married to Charters Smith. He died on January 14, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
37. Doris Wishman
Director | Satan Was a Lady
Doris Wishman was born on June 1, 1912 in New York City, New York, USA. She was a director and producer, known for Satan Was a Lady (2001), Nude on the Moon (1961) and Keyholes Are for Peeping (1972). She was married to Louis Silverman and Jack Abrahms. She died on August 10, 2002 in Miami, Florida...
38. Brian Yuzna
Producer | Beyond Re-Animator
Brian Yuzna was born on August 30, 1949 in Manila, Philippines. He is a writer and producer, known for Beyond Re-Animator (2003), The Dentist (1996) and Faust (2000). He is married to Cathy Yuzna. They have four children.
39. Emile Ardolino
Director | Dirty Dancing
Emile Ardolino was born on May 9, 1943 in Maspeth, New York, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Dirty Dancing (1987), Great Performances: Dance in America (1976) and He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983). He died on November 20, 1993 in Bel Air, California, USA.
40. Steve Barron
Director | The Durrells
Steve Barron started in films as a camera assistant on epic productions such as Richard Donner's 'Superman', Richard Attenborough's 'A Bridge Too Far' and Ridley Scott's The Duellists (1977). He began directing music videos in the early eighties for The Jam, Human League, and Adam & the Ants, his ...
41. Nick Castle
Director | The Last Starfighter
Nick Castle was born on September 21, 1947 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a writer and director, known for The Last Starfighter (1984), The Boy Who Could Fly (1986) and Escape from New York (1981). He has been married to Mary Charlene Napp since December 31, 1981. They have one child.
42. George P. Cosmatos
Director | Rambo: First Blood Part II
George P. Cosmatos was born on January 4, 1941 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He was a director and assistant director, known for Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Leviathan (1989) and Cobra (1986). He was married to Birgitta Ljungberg. He died on April 19, 2005 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
43. Tamra Davis
Director | A Conversation with Basquiat
Began her career directing music videos for acts like Tone Loc, Depeche Mode, Indigo Girls, NWA, Hanson and Sonic Youth and made her first feature in 92 with Guncrazy starring Drew Barrymore. Ms Barrymore received a Golden Globe Nomination. She then went on to direct feature films starring Chris ...
44. Clive Donner
Director | The Caretaker
British director Clive Donner was born in West Hampstead, London, England. By age 18 he was already working in the film business, as an office clerk at Denham Studios. He eventually became an editor and then graduated to the director's chair. After making a series of TV commercials, he made his ...
45. Stan Dragoti
Director | Mr. Mom
Stan Dragoti was born on October 4, 1932 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Mr. Mom (1983), She's Out of Control (1989) and The Man with One Red Shoe (1985). He was married to Cheryl Tiegs. He died on July 13, 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
46. Guy Green
Cinematographer | Great Expectations
Guy Green is well known to film audiences. Formerly a cinematographer, he was the first British D.P. to receive an Academy Award for his black-and-white photography on David Lean's Great Expectations (1946). He founded the British Society of Cinematographers together with Freddie Young and Jack ...
47. Robert Greenwald
Director | Xanadu
Robert Greenwald is president of Brave New Films, a nonprofit film company that he founded after a career in commercial television and film to motivate and educate viewers on the most pressing issues of the day.
Brave New Films distributes its work for free through social media and in concert with ...
48. John Guillermin
Director | The Towering Inferno
John Guillermin was born on November 11, 1925 in London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for The Towering Inferno (1974), Death on the Nile (1978) and King Kong (1976). He was married to Maureen Connell and Mary Guillermin. He died on September 27, 2015 in Topanga Canyon, ...
49. Randal Kleiser
Director | Grease
Randal Kleiser has been an internationally known film director since the release of his first feature, Grease (1978). Other features include The Blue Lagoon (1980) with Brooke Shields, Summer Lovers (1982) starring Peter Gallagher and Daryl Hannah, Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) with Jamie Lee Curtis, ...
50. Mark L. Lester
Director | Commando
Director, writer and producer Mark L. Lester has created high-action films throughout his career, including some of the world's biggest box office draws. His directorial expertise has garnered praise for such films as Arnold Schwarzenegger's box-office mega-hit Commando (1985), Stephen King's ...
51. Bill Bennett
Director | Kiss or Kill
Bill Bennett's career in film spans four decades. As a producer, director and writer he's made sixteen feature films and several documentaries. His work as a feature producer and director has been recognized with two Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Film and Best Director. Bill has been ...
52. Uli Edel
Director | Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
Uli Edel was born on April 11, 1947 in Neuenburg am Rhein, Germany. He is a director and writer, known for The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), Christiane F. (1981) and Das Adlon. Eine Familiensaga (2013).
53. Zalman King
Producer | Nine 1/2 Weeks
Zalman King was born on May 23, 1942 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. He was a producer and director, known for 9½ Weeks (1986), Galaxy of Terror (1981) and In God's Hands (1998). He was married to Patricia Louisianna Knop. He died on February 3, 2012 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
54. Sylvester Stallone
Actor | Rocky
Sylvester Stallone is an athletically built, dark-haired American actor/screenwriter/director/producer, the movie fans worldwide have been flocking to see Stallone's films for over 40 years, making "Sly" one of Hollywood's biggest-ever box office draws.
Sylvester Stallone was born on July 6, 1946, ...
55. Amy Heckerling
Writer | Clueless
Amy Heckerling studied Film and TV at New York University and got a Masters Degree in Film from The American Film Institute. Despite this education she couldn't get a break in Hollywood. However, in 1982, she made Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), and people started to take notice. In 1985, ...
56. Steven Seagal
Actor | On Deadly Ground
Steven Frederic Seagal was born in Lansing, Michigan, to Patricia Anne (Fisher), a medical technician, and Samuel Seagal, a high school math teacher. His paternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants, and his mother had English, German, and distant Irish and Dutch, ancestry. The enigmatic ...
57. Fred Savage
Actor | The Wonder Years
Fred Savage was born July 9, 1976. He began acting at age 9 in a production produced by Lorimar called Morningstar/Eveningstar (1986). He was found by Roger Damon Price to play the role of Alan Bishop. During production Fred auditioned for The Boy Who Could Fly (1986) which launched Jay Underwood's...
58. Brian Robbins
Producer | Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal
Brian Robbins is President of Kids & Family Entertainment for ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks, with oversight of all strategy, creative and business operations for the company's kids and young-adult focused brands including Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nickelodeon ...
59. William Shatner
Actor | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
William Shatner has notched up an impressive 70-plus years in front of the camera, displaying heady comedic talent and being instantly recognizable to several generations of cult television fans as the square-jawed Captain James T. Kirk, commander of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise.
Shatner was born ...
60. Charles Jarrott
Director | The Secret Life of Algernon
Charles Jarrott was born on June 16, 1927 in London, England, UK. He was a director and actor, known for The Secret Life of Algernon (1998), Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) and Encounter (1952). He was married to Suzanne Jarrott, Katharine Blake and Rosemary Palin. He died on March 4, 2011 in ...
61. Baz Luhrmann
Writer | Moulin Rouge!
Baz Luhrmann is an Australian writer, director and producer with projects spanning film, television, opera, theater, music and recording industries. He is regarded by many as a contemporary example of an auteur for his distinctly recognizable style and deep involvement in the writing, directing, ...
62. Kevin Costner
Actor | The Postman
Kevin Michael Costner was born on January 18, 1955 in Lynwood, California, the third child of Bill Costner, a ditch digger and ultimately an electric line servicer for Southern California Edison, and Sharon Costner (née Tedrick), a welfare worker. His older brother, Dan, was born in 1950. A middle ...
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