Directors are People Too!

We all know that twitter creates a lot of noise, despite the fact you’re limited to 140 characters, some people still manage to say more than they should. However, sometimes, there are people worth following and fortunately for us, the TV and film industry has a lot of those people. Twitter is an amazing place to gain insight into the workings of life as a director. So if you want to learn about what directors do, you should follow these accounts.

Nash Edgerton

Nash Edgerton is an Australian director turned stunt man. He started making films in 1996 and quickly amassed a decent following, his short films ‘Spiders’ from 2007 and ‘Bear’ from 2011 are particular favorites of ours. Now, Nash Edgerton is a stunt man for the likes of American Ultra and The Wolverine, not too shabby. We’re hoping he continues to make some more shorts alongside his stunt man duties.

Graham Linehan

Graham Linehan is probably more widely know for his superb writing than directing, he has written Father Ted, Black Books and the The IT Crowd, to name a few. The comedies he has written and directed are so ingrained in British studio sitcoms that it’s hard to talk about any sitcom, without eventually arriving at the name, Linehan. Which is fine by us, anyone who can direct a sitcom to these standards probably deserves the odd mention…and a follow.

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David Lynch

Possibly the politest man on twitter, David Lynch starts most tweets with “Dear Twitter Friends” which is just delightful, I think you’ll agree. Lynch is clearly going to be on most of these kinds of lists as he is a well known and respected director, for good reason too. The director is best know for his surreal cinematic style from Twin Peaks (which is coming back!), Mullohond Drive, The Elephant Man etc. Another great director sharing director things.

Edgar Wright

Another director that comes from British TV, we’ve been a huge fan’s of Edgar Wright since Big Train and Spaced. Little did we know the upward trend of his career would take him to direct (and write) some great films. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End make up The Cornetto trilogy, three instant British classics that are superb examples of how to direct comedy. Follow him on twitter and you might catch a glimpse of a set or a script he’s working on. Maybe.

Ron Howard

Ron Howard started out his career as an actor, most notably for appearing in Happy Days, ehhhhh, no, not that guy. He even appeared in George Lucas’s second film American Graffiti, how about that for pub quiz trivia? Ron Howard is now more known as a successful director and rightfully so. Cocoon, Backdraft, Rush, Made in America and more, so if you want to follow directors on twitter then it’d be silly of you not to follow him, he’s very active and shares some insightful knowledge for directors.

Jason Winer

A director best known for his work on US sitcoms, like Modern Family, New Girl, Arthur, Don’t Trust The B in Apt 23, 1600 Penn, The Crazy Ones, and now Life in Pieces. As you can see, Jason is fairly well practiced in the art of directing a sitcom and he’s a busy guy! So you can imagine what kind of things he’ll be sharing on twitter…cats, of course. It’s not really cats, why would he be on this list if it was cats? He’s a director you should be following on twitter, especially if you want direct cats, I mean sitcoms.

Darren Aronofsky

He’s a serial re-tweeter, so be warned this won’t be a 100% original account to learn about directing, but it will give you a small insight into the mind of one of the most unique directors around. Do you remember Requiem for a Dream? The film that shattered your soul for a good few days? That film manages to do something to people, to really make then dig deep and think about…stuff. Since then, he has directed more dark and twisted tales, like Black Swan.

Spike Lee

Now here’s a name you surely would have expected to see on this list. Spike Lee is a director, writer, actor and he owns a production company that creates a lot of movies. 25th Hour, Inside Man and Oldboy are just a few of his huge back catalog of films, which you should absolutely check out if you’re serious about being a director, why would you be here otherwise? Window shopping? Carry on. Spike Lee is a very busy man and he usually shares with us what it is that he’s busy with.

Rian Johnson

Rian Johnson is on this list because he typifies what can happen if you work hard. He makes it look simple. After winning the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival with his debut feature film, Brick, Rian Johnson has gone from strength to strength as a director. Next up was The Brothers Bloom, then Looper and then over to AMC to direct a few episodes of Breaking Bad, before agreeing to direct Star Wars Episode VIII. That’s not a bad CV at all really.

Kevin Smith

What list like this would really be complete without this man. The man who churns out more podcasts with stories upon stories about life and film than anyone else on the internet. Seriously, go and listen to his podcasts, they’re great and so is his twitter. Kevin Smith is a sharing man, he has created some of the biggest cult classics in modern history and continues to make more, with his recent film, Tusk, he’s either a genius at directing films, or a genius at getting people to give him money to make films. Either way, he’s worth a follow.

Let’s wrap it up!

That’s ten excellent accounts for you to follow on twitter to learn about directing and to study directors. Of course, there are far more directors out there worth following so we’ve created a list you can follow along with which we’ll be adding to each day, so keep checking back!

Let us know who you recommend following in the comments below.