Paul Thomas Anderson

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Paul Thomas Anderson

Born:	June 26, 1970 Studio City, California, US
Occupation:	Film Director and Screenwriter.

Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970^[1] in Studio City, California) is an Oscar-nominated American filmmaker.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Film style, themes, and trademarks 4 Personal life 5 Trivia 6 Filmography 6.1 Feature films as writer and director 6.2 Music videos 6.3 Other 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early life

Anderson was born in Studio City, California. His father, Ernie Anderson, was the voice of the American Broadcasting Company and a Cleveland television late-night horror movie host known as "Ghoulardi". Anderson attended New York University, but dropped out before completing a degree.^[2] Anderson also grew up in the San Fernando Valley.

The Valley may have been immortalized in the 1980s for its mall-hopping "Valley Girls", but for Anderson it was a seedy part of suburban America populated by would-bes and burnouts. Anderson's experiences growing up in "The Valley" have no doubt shaped his artistic self; three of his four theatrical features are set in "The Valley".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Career

Anderson was involved in filmmaking at a young age; his first piece was a 30-minute mockumentary Dirk Diggler Story (1988) which he produced in high school. Inspired by an article he had read on porn star John Holmes, Anderson's short – about a well-endowed male porn star – would later become the inspiration for Boogie Nights. After a brief stint as an English major at Emerson College and an even shorter time at the New York Film School, Anderson began his career as a production assistant on TV movies, videos, and game shows in Los Angeles and New York. He later made Cigarettes & Coffee (1992), a short with five vignettes set in a diner. After it was screened at the 1993 Sundance Festival, where it received acclaim. Soon after, Anderson made his first full-length feature, Sydney retitled Hard Eight.

Anderson's breakout film Boogie Nights, revisiting the "Dirk Diggler Story" in a full-length major motion picture was released on October 10, 1997 to widespread acclaim and box-office success. It was hailed by many critics as the "best film of the year, if not the decade". Boogie Nights is considered to be one of the finest depictions of the porn film industry. The film revived the careers of Burt Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg, and made Julianne Moore an A-list actress.

Anderson's next film was the ensemble piece Magnolia (1999), which tells the story of a peculiar interaction among several individuals during one day in the San Fernando Valley, California. Interweaving nine separate yet connected storylines, Magnolia was self-consciously produced with heavy independent film influences, in a style quite far from what is currently common in mainstream Hollywood films — although it was given a large budget by New Line Cinema. Magnolia was featured on over 150 critics top 10 list of 1999, and received three Academy Award nominations, one for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tom Cruise), Best Original Song and Best Original Screenplay. It is currently ranked at #177 on IMDB.com Top 250 Films.

Anderson returned with the Comedy/Romance feature Punch-Drunk Love (2002), with Adam Sandler. It centers around a beleaguered small-business owner who embarks on a romantic journey with a mysterious woman (Emily Watson). Sandler won positive reviews for his role in his first major departure from the mainstream comedies which made him a star; Roger Ebert wrote that "Sandler, liberated from the constraints of formula, reveals unexpected depths as an actor. Watching this film, you can imagine him in Dennis Hopper roles. He has darkness, obsession and power."^[3] Although the film was well received by critics it was not successful at the US box-office, grossing only $17 million domestically despite its $25 million budget.

Anderson's upcoming film, There Will Be Blood began filming in May 2006, and is set for a 2007 release. The film stars Daniel Day Lewis in an adaptation of Oil!, a novel by Upton Sinclair.

[edit] Film style, themes, and trademarks

Anderson is perhaps best known for his movies with large ensemble casts and complex, independent film inspirations and styles, interweaving storylines, namely Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999). He is part of the first generation of "VCR filmmakers"; directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, who learned their craft not in film schools, but by viewing thousands of movies on video in their adolescence and thus gaining a vast knowledge of film technique and culture.

The films of Paul Thomas Anderson typically deal with the significance of familial relationships over time, especially with regard to fathers and their children. Themes concerning divine fate, the serendipitous nature of love, and the role of media in contemporary life are also common. The director stresses the interconnections between his characters as these forces unpredictably, and even chaotically, weave in and out of their fragile lives. Anderson's stylistic trademarks include the frequent use of logistically difficult steadicam-based long takes, such as the opening shot in Boogie Nights (which lasts approximately 3 minutes without a cut), and an aggressively bombastic use of sound and music.

In addition to films, Anderson has also directed several music videos, including several Fiona Apple videos. Anderson was also a "ghost" director for Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion, presumably for insurance purposes, as Altman was 80 years old. Anderson was not formally credited in the film.^[4][5]

Anderson's next film, There Will Be Blood, is an adaptation of the Upton Sinclair novel Oil!. The novel is set during the oil scandals of the Harding administration, providing in the process a detailed picture of the development of the oil industry in Southern California; it will star Daniel Day-Lewis.

[edit] Personal life

Anderson and singer Fiona Apple had a relationship for several years; she appears with him in the making-of video diary on the DVD of the film Magnolia. Anderson's current relationship is with Saturday Night Live cast member Maya Rudolph. The couple have a daughter, Pearl Bailey Anderson, born on October 15, 2005.

[edit] Trivia

• Philip Seymour Hoffman has appeared in all four of Anderson's features. Other actors with multiple appearances in Anderson films include Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Luis Guzmán, Ricky Jay, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Melora Walters and Robert Ridgely.
• Anderson served as standby director for Robert Altman on the film A Prairie Home Companion, due to Altman´s illness. The studio demanded for a standby director, and Altman´s choice was none other than one of his biggest fans; Anderson.
• His cinematic influences include Stanley Kubrick, Blake Edwards, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Jacques Tati, Sidney Lumet, and Jonathan Demme.
• Claims Network as his all-time favorite film.
• His production company is named after his father's "Ghoulardi" late-night Cleveland television show host character.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Feature films as writer and director

• Hard Eight (also known as Sydney) (1996)
• Boogie Nights (1997)
• Magnolia (1999)
• Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
• There Will Be Blood (2007)

[edit] Music videos

• "Here We Go" by Jon Brion
• "Paper Bag" by Fiona Apple
• "Limp" by Fiona Apple
• "Fast as You Can" by Fiona Apple
• "Save Me" by Aimee Mann
• "Across the Universe" by Fiona Apple
• "Try" by Michael Penn

[edit] Other

• The Dirk Diggler Story (1988) - short film, inspired Boogie Nights
• Cigarettes & Coffee (1993) - short film, inspired Hard Eight (Sydney)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• cigarettes and red vines - the p.t. anderson web resource

• Paul Thomas Anderson at the Internet Movie Database