Born May 10, 1962, in Denver, David Fincher honed his distinctive visual eye as an 18-year-old employee with Industrial Light & Magic before delving into music videos and directing television commercials for clients such as Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Converse.

After a rocky experience helming his first feature, Alien 3 (1992), during which he clashed frequently with studio executives, Fincher found his voice with Seven (1995), a crime thriller that reveled in his dark vision and cemented his reputation as a purveyor of übercool cinema.

Fincher went on to release a string of well-received thrillers, including Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which earned him his first Golden Globe and Oscar nominations as Best Director. In 2011, he garnered another Oscar nod and won a Golden Globe for the gripping biopic The Social Network.