About Me
Paul Thomas Anderson was born in Studio City, California. Little is known about Paul's childhood, but we know that he always had an interest in film and entertainment, as his father, Ernie Anderson, was a legendary voiceover actor. At the age of 17, Paul wrote, produced, and directed his first film, "The Dirk Diggler Story," which was a mock-documentary about Dirk Diggler's rise and downfall in the 70's and 80's. He edited the film with two VCR's and a jumble of wires.Paul dropped out of Emerson college, and transferred to NYU Film School. Two days later he dropped out, and used his recovered tuition money to produce a short film entitled "Cigarettes & Coffee," which starred Philip Baker Hall. The film won honors at the Sundance Film Festival, and earned Paul the credit he deserved to make his first film--"Sydney," which he wrote for John C Reilly and Philip Baker Hall. Paul had to fight with Rysher for the final cut of Sydney, which he eventually won, but was forced to comrpimise and retitle Sydney as "Hard Eight," a title which Rysher deemed more "edgy." Paul warmly refers to Sydney/Hard Eight as his "bastard child."Paul's next film, "Boogie Nights," featured an ensemble cast, and won much acclaim among mainstream audiences and artistic audiences alike. Boogie Nights gave Paul the endurance and encouragement to write Magnolia, his most personal screenplay, which also featured an ensemble cast and won many prestigious awards and nomintations, including 3 Academy Award Nominations (Best Supporting Actor, Tom Cruise, Best Original Song, and Best Original Screenplay) and the Golden Berlin Bear award at the Berlin International Film festival. Magnolia is often named as the single best film of 1999, and is Paul's undisputed masterpiece. A few years later, Paul wrote and directed "Punch-Drunk Love," starring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson, an artistic piece that enthralled fans of Paul Thomas Anderson, but failed to catch on with mainstream audiences, despite the fact that critics absolutely loved Punch-Drunk Love. The film also demonstrated that Paul could write simply, as opposed to elaborate, and proved that Adam Sandler could dramatically act.Paul is currently going through pre-production stages of his next movie, "There Will Be Blood," an adaptation of Upton Sinclair's Oil! starring Daniel-Day Lewis. Filming is scheduled to begin in May of 2006.
