David Fincher

David Fincher went from being a director of flashy TV commercials and music videos in the 1980s and '90s to being one of Hollywood's best-known auteur filmmakers, with an Oscar nomination for 2008's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Fincher grew up in Marin County, California and started in the movie business with Industrial Light and Magic, the company owned by George Lucas. Fincher went into making TV commercials and music videos -- famously for Paula Abdul ("Straight Up"), Madonna ("Vogue"), and George Michael ("Freedom") -- then got his shot at directing a feature film, the ill-fated production of Alien 3 (1992, starring Sigourney Weaver). Since then he's had mixed results at the box office, but gained a loyal fan base and the guarded admiration of critics for dark and stylish thrillers that include Se7en and Fight Club (1995 and 1999, both starring Brad Pitt), The Game (1997, starring Michael Douglas), Panic Room (2002, starring Jodie Foster) and Zodiac (2007, starring Jake Gyllenhaal).

Extra credit: Fincher served as executive producer for the BMW series of short films known as The Hire (2001-02, starring Clive Owen).