Few directors have had a more varied and unpredictable career than Gus Van Sant. His latest passion project is the story of slain and openly gay San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk.

Karyn Kusama

Karyn Kusama got off to a great start with Girlfight but descended into studio hell with Aeon Flux. As she rebounds with a new film, she reflects on lessons learned.

Batman Begins

Christopher Nolan tried to shoot as much as he could the climatic chase in Batman Begins in camera. He explains how he did it.

ADs Setting Background

Whether it's a fashion show in New York or Skid Row in downtown L.A., setting background is an essential part of making a film come alive. Assistant directors explain the art of making it real.
Although he continues to be a master of special effects and new technology, James Cameron's focus is on storytelling, not flash. In the midst of shooting Avatar, his eagerly anticipated epic, he is exploring the potential of a digital 3-D feature.

Luxury Movie Theaters

New luxury theaters are featuring high-end amenities. But does this enhance or detract from the moviegoing experience?

Directing TV Movies for Kids

With the booming market for TV movies for teens and tweens, more and more directors are learning the secrets of working with young actors. A few of the leading practitioners share their experience on the set.

Chad Hurley

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley considers how the Internet site is trying to convert all those hits into a plan to make money.

James L. Brooks

William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives is a film that has remained lodged in James L. Brooks' head and heart for all these years. He explains its inexorable appeal.

Richard Schickel

Richard Schickel is best known as a film critic, but he has been making documentaries about movies for almost as long as he's written about them. His latest-and most ambitious-is a five-part history of Warner Bros. studio.

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Paul Zucker

Local News Beat

Whether it's broadcasting a policeman's funeral with a storyteller's eye for service and glory, or covering the 2008 Democratic primary, Zucker's passion for local news shines through.

Over the course of 50 years, legendary producer Walter Mirisch went from teenage theater usher to one of the most respected producers in Hollywood.

The most satisfying and epic movie biography of 2008 thus far, Brody's Everything is Cinema divides Godard's career into distinct creative periods, integrating the oft-told stories of the Nouvelle Vague with new research.

The Hollywood musical has been declared dead countless times, only to rise up again singing and dancing. We take a look at the genre in its various incarnations over the years.

Gabriela Vázquez

UPM on the Run

A former AD, this UPM has managed to balance her work and personal life as a mother by managing the LA units on major projects, including Sex and the City.

My Friend the Director

Owen Gleiberman

The reviewer for Entertainment Weekly muses about the relationship between directors and critics.

Election Coverage

Political Films

Hollywood has cast a cynical eye on the political process for years. We survey our changing national attitudes as reflected in films.

Richard Lester dresses for the occasion on Help! as he directs the Beatles in the Bahamas.

John Landis

Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan

An oddly assembled, highly entertaining mess of a book, John Landis drives you out to rent every last one of the director's movies.

The Power of Pranks

Garry Marshall

The director of The Princess Diaries and Pretty Woman writes about his unconventional methods for keeping things loose on the set.

Tim Harris

Windy City AD

Working on tabletop food commercials and network dramas, Harris says he'd rather work with a group of infants over a tray of deli meats any day and that there's a right way to AD beer.

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