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Best Up and Coming Directors (2018 Edition)

Person list created by Stehako

Sort by: Showing 50 items

Rating: List Type:

David Lowery

a. Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013)
b. Pete's Dragon (2016)
c. A Ghost Story (2017)
d. Old Man and the Gun (2018)
e. Strange Angel (TV: 2018)

Stehako's rating:

6.6

Jordan Vogt-Roberts

2017 Rank: #54
2016 Rank: #54

a. The Kings of Summer (2013)
b. You're the Worst (TV: 2014)
c. Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Stehako's rating:

7.4

Barry Jenkins

a. Moonlight (2016)
b. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Stehako's rating:

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

2017 Rank: #55

a. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
b. The Current War (2018)

Stehako's rating:

7.5

Nicole Holofcener

2017 Rank: #52
2016 Rank: #52
2015 Rank: #48
2014 Rank: #48

a. Please Give (2010)
b. Parks and Recreation (TV: 2011 - 2013)
c. Enough Said (2013)
d. The Land of Steady Habits (2018)

Stehako's rating:

8.4

Luca Guadagnino

a. I Am Love (2010)
b. A Bigger Splash (2016)
c. Call Me By Your Name (2017)
d. Suspiria (2018)
e. Rio (2019)

Stehako's rating:

Sean Baker

a. Starlet (2012)
b. Tangerine (2015)
c. The Florida Project (2017)

Stehako's rating:

6.2

Michael Showalter

a. Hello, My Name is Doris (2016)
b. Love (TV: 2016, 2018)
c. The Big Sick (2017)
d. In the Dark (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.1

Joseph Kosinski

2017 Rank: #51
2016 Rank: #52

a. Tron: Legacy (2010)
b. Oblivion (2013)
c. Only the Brave: Granite Mountain Hot Shots (2017)
d. Top Gun: Maverick (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.5

Jordan Peele

a. Get Out (2017)

Stehako's rating:

7.3

Morten Tyldum

2017 Rank: #48
2016 Rank: #47

a. The Imitation Game (2014)
b. Passengers (2016)
c. Jack Ryan (TV: 2018)

Stehako's rating:

Brett Morgen

a. 30 for 30: June 17th, 1994 (2010)
b. Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015)
c. Jane (2017)

Stehako's rating:

5.3

Felix Van Groeningen

2017 Rank: #45
2016 Rank: #44

a. The Misfortunates (2010)
b. The Broken Circle Breakdown (2013)
c. Beautiful Boy (2018)

Stehako's rating:

7.1

Greta Gerwig

a. Lady Bird (2017)

Stehako's rating:

7.5

Jacques Audiard

2017 Rank: #46
2016 Rank: #45

a. Un prophète (2010)
b. Rust and Bone (2012)
c. Dheepan (2016)
d. The Sisters' Brothers (2018)

Stehako's rating:

7.7

Jason Bateman

2017 Rank: #49
2016 Rank: #51

a. Bad Words (2014)
b. The Family Fang (2016)
c. Ozark (TV: 2017 - 2018)

Stehako's rating:

7.2

Quentin Dupieux

2017 Rank: #43
2016 Rank: #43
2015 Rank: #47

a. Rubber (2010)
b. Wrong (2013)
c. Wrong Cops (2013)
d. Reality (2015)
e. Au Poste! (2018)
f. La Daim (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.8

Lynne Ramsay

2017 Rank: #44

a. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
b. You Were Never Really Here (2018)

Stehako's rating:

6.8

David Mackenzie

2017 Rank: #42

a. Perfect Sense (2011)
b. Starred Up (2014)
c. Hell or High Water (2016)
d. Outlaw King (2018)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

Stephen Chbosky

a. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
b. Wonder (2017)

Stehako's rating:

7.3

Lucy Walker

2017 Rank: #39
2016 Rank: #41
2015 Rank: #42

a. Waste Land (2010)
b. The Crash Reel (2013)
c. Buena Vista Social Club: Adios (2017)

Stehako's rating:

6.9

Leonard Abrahamson

2017 Rank: #41
2016 Rank: #44

a. Frank (2014)
b. Room (2015)
c. Chance (TV: 2016)
d. The Little Stranger (2018)

Stehako's rating:

6.8

David Leitch

a. John Wick (Co-Director) (2014)
b. Atomic Blonde (2017)
c. Deadpool 2 (2018)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

Pablo Larrain

2017 Rank: #40

a. No (2013)
b. The Club (2015)
c. Neruda (2016)
d. Jackie (2016)
e. The True American (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.1

Taylor Sheridan

a. Wind River (2017)
b. Yellowstone (TV: 2018)

Stehako's rating:

5.5

Tom McCarthy

2017 Rank: #30
2016 Rank: #31
2015 Rank: #43

a. The Visitor (2008)
b. Win Win (2011)
c. Spotlight (2015)
d. 13 Reason Why (TV: 2017)

Stehako's rating:

8.1

Giorgos Lanthimos

2017 Rank: #38
2016 Rank: #53

a. Dogtooth (2010)
b. Alps (2012)
c. The Lobster (2016)
d. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
e. The Favourite (2018)

Stehako's rating:

8.1

Aaron Sorkin

a. Molly's Game (2017)

Stehako's rating:

5.7

Asif Kapadia

2017 Rank: #36
2016 Rank: #33

a. Senna (2011)
b. Amy (2015)
c. Ali & Nino (2017)
d. Mindhunter (TV: 2017)
d. Maradona (2019)

Stehako's rating:

Lone Scherfig

2017 Rank: #31
2016 Rank: #35
2015 Rank: #37
2014 Rank: #33
2013 Rank: #34
2012 Rank: #38
2011 Rank: #26
2010 Rank: #29

a. An Education (2009)
b. One Day (2011)
c. Their Finest (2017)
d. Secrets from the Russian Tea Room (2018)

Stehako's rating:

7.4

Ryan Coogler

2017 Rank: #37
2016 Rank: #34

a. Fruitvale Station (2013)
b. Creed (2015)
c. Black Panther (2018)

Stehako's rating:

4.8

Matt Ross

2017 Rank: #34

a. 28 Hotel Rooms (2012)
b. Captain Fantastic (2016)
c. Tomorrow and Tomorrow (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.7

Alex Garland

2017 Rank: #32
2016 Rank: #40

a. Ex-Machina (2015)
b. Annihilation (2018)
c. Devs (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

Joshua Oppenheimer

2017 Rank: #27
2016 Rank: #21
2015 Rank: #29

a. The Act of Killing (2012)
b. The Look of Silence (2015)
c. Untitled Documentary (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.5

Jeff Nichols

2017 Rank: #25
2016 Rank: #28
2015 Rank: #38
2014 Rank: #32

a. Shotgun Stories (2008)
b. Take Shelter (2011)
c. Mud (2013)
d. Midnight Special (2016)
e. Loving (2016)

Stehako's rating:

7.5

Asghar Farhadi

2017 Rank: #24
2016 Rank: #27

a. About Elly (2009)
b. A Separation (2011)
c. The Past (2013)
d. The Salesman (2016)
e. Everybody Knows (2018)

Stehako's rating:

7.8

David Michôd

2017 Rank: #22
2016 Rank: #24
2015 Rank: #25
2014 Rank: #37

a. Animal Kingdom (2010)
b. The Rover (2014)
c. Flesh and Bone (TV: 2015)
d. War Machine (2017)
e. Catch-22 (2018)
f. The King (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.4

Jonathan Levine

2017 Rank: #21
2016 Rank: #17
2015 Rank: #21
2014 Rank: #24
2013 Rank: #22
2012 Rank: #25
2011 Rank: #21
2010 Rank: #23
2009 Rank: #14

a. The Wackness (2008)
b. 50/50 (2011)
c. The Night Before (2015)
d. I'm Dying Up Here (TV: 2017)
e. Flarsky (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.3

Anne Fontaine

2017 Rank: #19
2016 Rank: #23
2015 Rank: #34
2014 Rank: #31
2013 Rank: #31
2012 Rank: #45
2011 Rank: #44

a. The Girl from Monaco (2008)
b. Coco Before Chanel (2009)
c. Gemma Bovary (2015)
d. The Innocents (2016)
e. Reinventing Marvin (2018)
f. Blanche-Neige (2019)

Stehako's rating:

6.4

Marc Webb

2017 Rank: #18
2016 Rank: #29
2015 Rank: #16
2014 Rank: #10
2013 Rank: #15
2012 Rank: #22
2011 Rank: #34
2010 Rank: #41
2009 Rank: #35

a. (500) Days of Summer (2009)
b. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
c. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
d. Limitless (TV: 2015)
e. Gifted (2017)
f. The Only Living Boy in New York (2017)
g. Instinct (TV: 2018)
h. The Code (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.4

James Ponsoldt

2017 Rank: #17
2016 Rank: #22
2015 Rank: #44
2014 Rank: #49

a. Smashed (2012)
b. The Spectacular Now (2013)
c. The End of the Tour (2015)
d. The Circle (2017)
e. Wild City (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

Damien Chazelle

2017 Rank: #13
2016 Rank: #37

a. Whiplash (2014)
b. La La Land (2016)
c. First Man (2018)
d. The Eddy (TV: 2019)

Stehako's rating:

Steve McQueen

2017 Rank: #12
2016 Rank: #9
2015 Rank: #12
2014 Rank: #14
2013 Rank: #32

a. Hunger (2008)
b. Shame (2011)
c. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
d. Widows (2018)

Stehako's rating:

8.7

Charlie Kaufman

2017 Rank: #11
2016 Rank: #6
2015 Rank: #18
2014 Rank: #18
2013 Rank: #25
2012 Rank: #32
2011 Rank: OUT
2010 Rank: #49
2009 Rank: #11

a. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
b. How and Why (2014)
c. Anomalisa (2015)

Stehako's rating:

Paolo Sorrentino

2017 Rank: #8
2016 Rank: #15
2015 Rank: #35

a. Il Divo (2009)
b. This Must Be the Place (2011)
c. The Great Beauty (2014)
d. Youth (2015)
e. The Young Pope (TV: 2017)
f. Loro (2018)

Stehako's rating:

8.1

Cary Fukunaga

2017 Rank: #6
2016 Rank: #13
2015 Rank: #15
2014 Rank: OUT
2013 Rank: OUT
2012 Rank: #44
2011 Rank: #47
2010 Rank: #36
2009 Rank: #29

a. Sin Nombre (2009)
b. Jane Eyre (2011)
c. True Detective (TV: 2014)
d. Beasts of No Nation (2015)
e. Maniac (TV: 2018)

Stehako's rating:

7.3

J.C. Chandor

2017 Rank: #5
2016 Rank: #11
2015 Rank: #31
2014 Rank: #44

a. Margin Call (2011)
b. All is Lost (2013)
c. A Most Violent Year (2014)
d. Triple Frontier (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.7

Duncan Jones

2017 Rank: #2
2016 Rank: #2
2015 Rank: #2
2014 Rank: #4
2013 Rank: #3
2012 Rank: #1
2011 Rank: #13
2010 Rank: #28
2009 Rank: #15

a. Moon (2009)
b. Source Code (2011)
c. Warcraft: The Beginning (2016)
d. Mute (2018)

Stehako's rating:

7.2

Scott Cooper

2017 Rank: #7
2016 Rank: #14
2015 Rank: #19
2014 Rank: #20
2013 Rank: #28
2012 Rank: #37

a. Crazy Heart (2009)
b. Out of the Furnace (2013)
c. Black Mass (2015)
d. Hostiles (2017)
e. Antlers (2019)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

Phil Lord

and Chris Miller

2017 Rank: #1
2016 Rank: #5
2015 Rank: #14
2014 Rank: #34

a. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
b. 21 Jump Street (2012)
c. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV: 2013)
d. The Lego Movie (2014)
e. 22 Jump Street (2014)
f. The Last Man on Earth (TV: 2015)
g. Artemis (2019)

Stehako's rating:

Voters of this person list - View all

The 10th Edition of this list

defining the somewhat young careers of very good directors who have potential to be a formidable director among the greats of the industry...
(Created by and in the opinion of Stephen H Koontz)

This list includes directors who...
-- Have at least one successful film finished and/or at least one promising film on the way
-- Have directed quality (rated 7/10) full-length features, that I've seen, for ten years or less.

The more promising films the director has on deck, the higher their rank.
But of course the quality in films they've completed is more important.

Italicized title indicates unreleased film

The other two lists in this series: Future Directing Greats (2018)
AND Most Accomplished ACTIVE Directors (2018)

Where did some directors move to?

Those who MOVED UP to Future Directing Greats:
MARTIN MCDONAGH
VALERIE FARIS/JON DAYTON
MIKE MILLS
SHANE BLACK
TAIKA WAITITI
GASPAR NOE
JOON-HO BONG

Those who were KNOCKED OUT from the List
CRAIG ZOBEL
JOHN HAMBURG
ANDREW DOMINIK
NEILL BLOMKAMP
SHANE CARRUTH
MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS
NEIL BURGER
CHARLES FERGUSON
TOMAS ALFREDSON

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