David Fincher
(Director)

David Fincher became enthralled with moviemaking as a boy growing up in Marin County, Calif. Among his neighbors at the time was one George Lucas. By the time Fincher was 18 years old, he was working for Korty Films in Mill Valley, but soon landed a job at Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), where he remained from 1981-83. Fincher left ILM to direct television commercials and music videos. He founded Propaganda Films in 1987 with fellow directors Dominic Sena, Greg Gold and Nigel Dick. His music videos include work with such artists as Madonna, Don Henley, Sting, Paula Abdul, The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith and many others. He jumped at the chance to direct his first feature, Aliens 3. Feeling less than prepared and clashing with studio executives, Fincher completed the film, but felt he might not direct another feature and returned to music video work, earning a Grammy for the Rolling Stone's "Love Is Strong" (1994). After reading the screenplay for Se7en, Fincher was excited about directing a feature again and proceeded to deliver a gripping, unrelenting story that sustains its dark, moody and unsettling style from the opening credits straight through to the end. The film's box-office success made Fincher Hollywood's hot director. He followed with The Game (1997), a Twilight Zone-style thriller that starred Michael Douglas and Sean Penn and managed to project the same sense of suffocating enclosure and mounting despair that Se7en had achieved. With Fight Club (1999), Fincher again worked with actor Brad Pitt and delivered an adrenaline-charged satire of both corporate-consumer culture and the men's movement. Fincher, whose path to directing always eschewed formal training, commented on his approach to the work: "Directing ain't about drawing a neat little picture and showing it to the cameraman. I didn't want to go to film school. I didn't know what the point was. The fact is, you don't know what directing is until the sun is setting, and you've got to get five shots and you're only going to get two." Fincher's Panic Room (2002) achieved one of the biggest ever opening grosses in the U.S. His choice of projects continues to be guided by his unique perspective. "I don't know how much movies should entertain," he says. "To me I'm always interested in movies that scar. The thing I love about Jaws is the fact that I've never gone swimming in the ocean again." Fincher's upcoming projects include Mission: Impossible 3 and Rendezvous With Rama (both 2004).