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Alan Taylor

Director, Producer, Writer, Additional CreditsBorn January 1, 1965 (60 years)
Alan Taylor (born January 13, 1959) is an American television director, film director, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known for his work on television series such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Mad Men, and Game of Thrones. He also directed films such as Palookaville, Thor: The Dark World, Terminator Genisys, and The Many Saints of Newark.

In 2007, Taylor won a 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 the Mad Men episode "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and the Game of Thrones episode "Beyond the Wall," respectively.

Taylor's father, James J. Taylor, was a private in the U.S. Army translating for Voice of America, stationed in Yokohama, who subsequently held numerous jobs before becoming a videographer in Washington, D.C. Taylor's mother, Mimi Cazort, was curator emerita for the National Gallery of Canada. His sister is the indie rock musician Anna Domino.

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 in his late 20s to study film under instructors including director Martin Scorsese.

Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most often on HBO.

Taylor's early work on television includes work on The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and The West Wing. Taylor joined the crew of the HBO western drama Deadwood as a director for the first season in 2004. Taylor directed the pilot episodes of Mad Men ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes") and Bored to Death, as well as subsequent episodes of each. He joined the HBO series Game of Thrones, directing seven episodes, including the critically acclaimed season 1 episode "Baelor." He worked on a television adaptation of the Strugatsky brothers' 1971 science fiction novel Roadside Picnic for the WGN America network. Besides his television work, Taylor's early films include Palookaville, The Emperor's New Clothes, and Kill the Poor.

In the 2010s, Taylor began working on large-budget blockbuster films. He was hired to direct Thor: The Dark World (2013), a superhero film and sequel to 2011's Thor. He was approached by Marvel producer Kevin Feige following director Patty Jenkins's exit from the project and hoped he would inject a darker tone into the project after seeing Taylor's work on Game of Thrones. Taylor's next film was Terminator Genisys, a film that Taylor hoped to fix following his reading of the script, citing his love of the first two Terminator films. After directing nine episodes for the HBO series The Sopranos, Taylor was approached by show creator David Chase to return to direct the 2021 prequel film The Many Saints of Newark.

In August 2022, it was announced that Taylor was hired to direct multiple episodes of the second season of House of the Dragon.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Alan Taylor, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
  • Thor: The Dark World
  • Game of Thrones
  • Terminator Genisys
  • The Sopranos
  • House of the Dragon
  • Rome
  • Sex and the City
  • Mad Men
  • Lost
  • Deadwood
  • Boardwalk Empire
  • Blue Eye Samurai
  • Bored to Death
  • The Crowded Room
  • Oz
  • The Many Saints of Newark
  • Homicide: Life on the Street
Featured Videos

    Filmography

    2023
    Blue Eye Samurai (TV Series)
    2023
    The Crowded Room (TV Series)
    2022
    2022
    2021
    2017
    2015
    2013
    2011
    The Playboy Club (TV Series)
    2011
    Game of Thrones (TV Series)
    2010
    Boardwalk Empire (TV Series)
    2010
    Rubicon (TV Series)
    2010
    2009
    Bored to Death (TV Series)
    2009
    Nurse Jackie (TV Series)
    2008
    2008
    In Treatment (TV Series)
    2007
    Mad Men (TV Series)
    2006
    Big Love (TV Series)
    2005
    Rome (TV Series)
    2004
    Lost (TV Series)
    2004
    Deadwood (TV Series)
    2003
    Carnivàle (TV Series)
    2003
    Keen Eddie (TV Series)
    2003
    2001
    2001
    Six Feet Under (TV Series)
    1999
    Now and Again (TV Series)
    1999
    The West Wing (TV Series)
    1999
    The Sopranos (TV Series)
    1998
    Trinity (TV Series)
    1998
    Sex and the City (TV Series)
    1997
    Oz (TV Series)
    1996
    Traders (TV Series)
    1995
    1993
    1992
    Catwalk (TV Series)
    1990
    Law & Order (TV Series)

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