Director Profile: David Fincher

Articulated, polished and complex – these are the three words I’d use to describe the work of David Fincher. Critically acclaimed and recognised as one of the finest directors working today, David Fincher is notorious for his ruthless quest for perfection.

With a wide range of genres under his belt, Fincher’s style is instantly recognisable and consistently reaching a high standard in every aspect of filmmaking. Fincher works meticulously with his actors as well as making sure the technical aspects of the film match the performances given. He has won a BAFTA for Best Director and has earned both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.

Fincher’s Point of View

David Fincher’s career began as a production assistant working for John Korty, before being hired a few years later by Industrial Light & Magic as an assistant cameraman, working on Return of the Jedi and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. After directing a commercial for the American Cancer Society, which featured a fetus smoking, he garnered attention from producers in Los Angeles. This led to a directing job on the 1985 Rick Springfield documentary, The Beat of the Live Drum. This led to more commercial directing for large companies such as Coca-Cola, as well as many highly acclaimed music videos for artists such as Madonna.

Forming Propaganda Films, David Fincher continued to follow directing as a career path. The company was also the place where many other directors started their careers directing music videos, such as Michael Bay, Spike Jonze, and Michel Gondry. His first Hollywood feature as a director was Alien 3, which was not met with high praise due to disputes over the film’s script and budget. Famously, David Fincher hates the film and went back to directing music videos until directing the critically acclaimed Seven in 1995. Since then, he has directed many highly praised films such as The Social Network, Gone Girl, Zodiac, and cult classic Fight Club.