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Alan Taylor
File:Alan Taylor 2013 crop.jpg
Taylor at the October 2013 world premiere of Thor: The Dark World at the Odeon Leicester Square in London
BornTemplate:Bda
Alma materNew York University
OccupationTelevision director, film director
Years active1988–present
Spouse(s)Nicki Ledermann
Children3

Template:Wikidata image

Alan Taylor (born May 8, 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 the Mad Men episode "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and the Game of Thrones episode "Beyond the Wall" respectively.

Early life[]

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.[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, with award-winning makeup artist Nicki Ledermann, named Ginger, Willa and Jamieson.Template:Fact

Directing filmography[]

Film

Short film

  • That Burning Question (1990, also writer)

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"[11]
    • episode 4.10 "The Strong, Silent Type"[12]
    • episode 5.02 "Rat Pack"[13]
    • episode 6.04 "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh"[14]
    • episode 6.09 "The Ride"[15]
    • episode 6.12 "Kaisha"[16]
    • episode 6.14 "Stage 5"[17]
    • episode 6.18 "Kennedy and Heidi"[18]
    • episode 6.20 "The Blue Comet"[19]
  • 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"[20]
  • Keen Eddie (2003)
    • episode "Sticky Fingers"
  • Carnivàle (2003) TV series
    • episode 2.07 "Damascus, NE"
  • Deadwood (2004) TV series
    • episode 1.04 "Here Was a Man"[3]
    • episode 2.04 "Requiem for a Gleet"[4]
  • 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"[21]
  • Mad Men (2007) TV series
    • episode 1.01 "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"[22]
    • episode 1.02 "Ladies Room"[23]
    • episode 1.12 "Nixon vs. Kennedy"[24]
    • episode 2.12 "The Mountain King"[25]
  • Boardwalk Empire (2010) TV series
    • episode 1.05 "Nights in Ballygran"[26]
  • 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[27] Metacritic[28] CinemaScore[29] Budget Box office[30]
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% (274 reviews) 54 (44 reviews) A- $170 million $644.8 million
Terminator Genisys 27% (264 reviews) 38 (41 reviews) B+ $155 million $435.9 million

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Ottawa-educated director took Emmy for Sopranos' famed snuff-out episode", The Ottawa Citizen, September 20, 2007. Retrieved on 2013-12-15. “...the 48-year-old TV director...” 
  2. Estrada, Louie. "James Taylor Dies; Put Theater on Video", The Washington Post, February 13, 2005, p. C11. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Sarnoff, Elizabeth (2004-04-11). "Here Was a Man". Deadwood. Season 1. Episode 4. HBO.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  4. 4.0 4.1 Mann, Ted (2005-03-27). "Requiem for a Gleet". Deadwood. Season 2. Episode 4. HBO.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  5. Goldberg, Lesley (September 12, 2011). "'Game of Thrones': Neil Marshall Among Season 2 Directors". The Hollywood Reporter
  6. Kroll, Justin. "'Thrones' and 'Thor: The Dark World' Helmer Eyed to Direct Next 'Terminator'", Variety, September 5, 2013. Retrieved on 2013-11-03. 
  7. Kroll, Justin. "Terminator: Genisys", Bloody Disgusting, September 5, 2013. Retrieved on 2013-11-03. 
  8. "Terminator Genisys Alan Taylor returning to TV with Roadside Picnic adaptation at WGN America", Zap2It, September 11, 2015. 
  9. Hibberd, James (June 29, 2016). Game of Thrones season 7 directors revealed. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on June 29, 2016.
  10. McNary, Dave (July 3, 2018). ‘Sopranos’ Prequel Movie Taps Director Alan Taylor. Retrieved on October 23, 2018.
  11. "Pax Soprana" on The Sopranos episode guide. HBO. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 11, 2010.
  12. HBO. "The Strong, Silent Type" on The Sopranos episode guide. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 11, 2010.
  13. "Rat Pack" on The Sopranos episode guide. HBO. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 11, 2010.
  14. "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh" on The Sopranos episode guide. HBO. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 11, 2010.
  15. "The Ride" on The Sopranos episode guide. HBO. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 11, 2010.
  16. "Kaisha" on The Sopranos episode guide. HBO. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 11, 2010.
  17. "Stage 5" on The Sopranos episode guide. HBO. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 11, 2010.
  18. "Kennedy and Heidi" on The Sopranos episode guide. HBO. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 11, 2010.
  19. "Blue Comet" on The Sopranos episode guide. HBO. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved on February 11, 2010.
  20. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" on Six Feet Under episode guide. HBO. Archived from the original on January 30, 2010. Retrieved on February 11, 2010.
  21. "Affair" on Big Love episode guide. HBO. Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved on February 12, 2010.
  22. AMC. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" on Mad Men episode guide. Archived from the original on January 28, 2010. Retrieved on February 12, 2010.
  23. AMC. "Ladies Room" on Mad Men episode guide. Archived from the original on February 4, 2010. Retrieved on February 12, 2010.
  24. AMC. "Nixon vs. Kennedy" on Mad Men episode guide. Archived from the original on February 4, 2010. Retrieved on February 12, 2010.
  25. AMC. "The Mountain King" on Mad Men episode guide. Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved on February 12, 2010.
  26. Boardwalk Empire episode "Nights in Ballygran" synopsis. HBO. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved on October 24, 2010.
  27. Alan Taylor. Retrieved on May 11, 2015.
  28. Alan Taylor. Retrieved on May 11, 2015.
  29. CinemaScore. cinemascore.com. Retrieved on May 11, 2015.
  30. Alan Taylor Movie Box office. boxofficemojo.com. Amazon.com. Retrieved on May 11, 2015.

External links[]

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Template:Alan Taylor

v - e - dAwards for Alan Taylor

Template:EmmyAward DirectingDrama 2001-2025 Template:DirectorsGuildofAmericaOutstandingDirectingDramaSeries 1990–2009

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