Alan Taylor | |
|---|---|
 Taylor at the October 2013 world premiere of Thor: The Dark World at the Odeon Leicester Square in London | |
| Born | c. 1959 (age 65–66) |
| Occupation | Television director, film director |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Children | 3 |
Alan Taylor (born c. 1959)[1] is an American television and film director. He is known for his work on TV shows such as Lost, The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood, and Mad Men. He also directed films such as Palookaville, Thor: The Dark World, and Terminator Genisys. In 2007 Taylor won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for The Sopranos episode "Kennedy and Heidi". In 2008 and 2018 he was also nominated in the same category for Mad Men episode "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and Game of Thrones episode Beyond the Wall respectively.
Early life[]
Alan Taylor is the son of videographer James J. Taylor and curator Mimi Cazort; his sister is an indie rock musician named Anna Domino.[2]
He spent part of his life in Manor Park, Ottawa, Canada, and attended Manor Park Public School and Lisgar Collegiate Institute high school. As part of the Communications Club at Lisgar, he acted in its production of The Mouse That Roared. He went on to major in history at the University of Toronto and then at New York City's Columbia University before transferring to New York University to study film under instructors including director Martin Scorsese.[1]
Career[]
Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most often on HBO. Besides his television work, Taylor has directed five feature films: Palookaville, The Emperor's New Clothes, Kill the Poor, Thor: The Dark World, and Terminator Genisys.
Taylor joined the crew of the HBO western drama Deadwood as a director for the first season in 2004. The series was created by David Milch and focused on a growing town in the American Old West. Taylor directed the episode "Here Was a Man".[3] He returned as a director for the second season in 2005 and helmed the episode "Requiem for a Gleet".[4] Taylor has directed the pilot episodes of Mad Men ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes") and Bored to Death as well as subsequent episodes of each. He has directed two episodes from season 1 of Game of Thrones and four episodes of season 2.[5] Taylor directed Thor: The Dark World (2013), the sequel to 2011's Thor.[6] His latest directorial venture was the 2015 film Terminator Genisys.[7] He worked on a television adaptation of the Strugatsky brothers’ 1971 science fiction novel Roadside Picnic for the WGN America network.[8] Taylor returned to direct for the seventh season of Game of Thrones.[9]
Personal life[]
Taylor currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has three children named Ginger, Willa and Jamieson.[citation needed]
Filmography[]
Film
| Year | Title | Credit(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Palookaville | Director |
| 2001 | The Emperor's New Clothes | Director |
| 2003 | Kill the Poor | Director |
| 2013 | Thor: The Dark World | Director |
| 2015 | Terminator Genisys | Director |
Television
- That Burning Question (1988)
- Homicide: Life on the Street TV series
- episode "Mercy"
- episode "Blood Ties"
- episode "The Wedding"
- episode "A Dog and Pony Show"
- episode "Autofocus"
- episode "The True Test"
- episode "Forgive Us Our Trespasses"
- Oz (1997) TV series
- episode 1.06 "To Your Health"
- episode 2.06 "Strange Bedfellows"
- Trinity (1998) TV series
- episode "Breaking In, Breaking Out, Breaking Up, Breaking Down"
- Sex and the City (1998) TV series
- episode 2.09 "Old Dogs, New Dicks"
- episode 2.14 "The Fuck Buddy"
- episode 4.15 "Change of a Dress"
- episode 4.16 "Ring a Ding-Ding"
- episode 6.07 "The Post-it Always Sticks Twice"
- episode 6.08 "The Catch"
- Now and Again (1999) TV series
- episode "Over Easy"
- The Sopranos (1999) TV series
- episode 1.06 "Pax Soprana"[10]
- episode 4.10 "The Strong, Silent Type"[11]
- episode 5.02 "Rat Pack"[12]
- episode 6.04 "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh"[13]
- episode 6.09 "The Ride"[14]
- episode 6.12 "Kaisha"[15]
- episode 6.14 "Stage 5"[16]
- episode 6.18 "Kennedy and Heidi"[17]
- episode 6.20 "The Blue Comet"[18]
- The West Wing (1999) TV series
- episode 1.08 "Enemies"
- episode 1.16 "20 Hours in L.A."
- Six Feet Under (2001) TV series
- episode 2.08 "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"[19]
- Keen Eddie (2003)
- episode "Sticky Fingers"
- Carnivàle (2003) TV series
- episode 2.07 "Damascus, NE"
- Deadwood (2004) TV series
- Lost (2004) TV series
- episode 2.04 "Everybody Hates Hugo"
- Rome (2005) TV series
- episode 1.10 "Triumph"
- episode 1.12 "Kalends of February"
- Big Love (2006) TV series
- episode 1.05 "Affair"[20]
- Mad Men (2007) TV series
- Boardwalk Empire (2010) TV series
- episode 1.05 "Nights in Ballygran"[25]
- Game of Thrones (2011) TV series
- episode 1.09 "Baelor"
- episode 1.10 "Fire and Blood"
- episode 2.01 "The North Remembers"
- episode 2.02 "The Night Lands"
- episode 2.08 "The Prince of Winterfell"
- episode 2.10 "Valar Morghulis"
- episode 7.06 "Beyond the Wall"
Reception[]
Below is the critical, public and commercial reception to films Taylor has directed, as of July 13, 2015.
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes[26] | Metacritic[27] | CinemaScore[28] | Budget | Box office[29] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palookaville | 64% (11 reviews) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| The Emperor's New Clothes | 73% (85 reviews) | 60 (28 reviews) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Kill the Poor | 25% (8 reviews) | 52 (7 reviews) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Thor: The Dark World | 66% (256 reviews) | 54 (44 reviews) | A- | $170 million | $644.8 million |
| Terminator Genisys | 26% (242 reviews) | 38 (41 reviews) | B+ | $155 million | $435.9 million |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Ottawa-educated director took Emmy for Sopranos' famed snuff-out episode". The Ottawa Citizen. September 20, 2007. Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131115184825/http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=4fb74f07-32b3-4e88-98fc-960d447e8750. Retrieved 2013-12-15. "...the 48-year-old TV director..."
- ↑ Estrada, Louie (February 13, 2005). "James Taylor Dies; Put Theater on Video". The Washington Post: p. C11. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070928155102/http://www.thewashingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20021-2005Feb12.html.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sarnoff, Elizabeth (2004-04-11). "Here Was a Man". Deadwood. episode 4. season 1. HBO.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mann, Ted (2005-03-27). "Requiem for a Gleet". Deadwood. episode 4. season 2. HBO.
- ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (September 12, 2011). "'Game of Thrones': Neil Marshall Among Season 2 Directors". The Hollywood Reporter
- ↑ Kroll, Justin (September 5, 2013). "'Thrones' and 'Thor: The Dark World' Helmer Eyed to Direct Next 'Terminator'". Variety. https://variety.com/2013/film/news/game-of-thrones-thor-the-dark-world-terminator-1200599988/. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
- ↑ Kroll, Justin (September 5, 2013). "Terminator: Genisys". Bloody Disgusting. http://bloody-disgusting.com/videos/3337868/terminator-genisys-reimagines-james-camerons-terminator-films/. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
- ↑ Schwartz, Terri (September 11, 2015). "Terminator Genisys Alan Taylor returning to TV with Roadside Picnic adaptation at WGN America". Zap2It. http://zap2it.com/2015/09/alan-taylor-roadside-picnic-adaptation-wgn-america/.
- ↑ Hibberd, James (June 29, 2016). "Game of Thrones season 7 directors revealed". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ ""Pax Soprana" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ HBO. ""The Strong, Silent Type" on The Sopranos episode guide". Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ ""Rat Pack" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ ""The Fleshy Part of the Thigh" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ ""The Ride" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ ""Kaisha" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ ""Stage 5" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ ""Kennedy and Heidi" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ ""Blue Comet" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ ""It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" on Six Feet Under episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ ""Affair" on Big Love episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ ""Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" on Mad Men episode guide". Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ AMC. ""Ladies Room" on Mad Men episode guide". Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ AMC. ""Nixon vs. Kennedy" on Mad Men episode guide". Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ AMC. ""The Mountain King" on Mad Men episode guide". Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ "Boardwalk Empire episode "Nights in Ballygran" synopsis". HBO. Archived from the original on 29 October 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
{{cite web}}: ; deadurl - ↑ "Alan Taylor". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "Alan Taylor". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "Alan Taylor Movie Box office". boxofficemojo.com. Amazon.com. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
{{cite web}}:
External links[]
| Films directed by Alan Taylor | ||
|---|---|---|
| Palookaville (1995) • The Emperor's New Clothes (2001) • Kill the Poor (2003) • Thor: The Dark World (2013) • Terminator Genisys (2015) • The Many Saints of Newark (2021) | ||
Template:EmmyAward DirectingDrama 2001-2025 Template:DirectorsGuildofAmericaOutstandingDirectingDramaSeries 1990–2009