Born in Denver in 1962, David Fincher honed his distinctive visual eye as an 18-year-old employee of George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic before delving into television commercials and music videos, producing award-winning work for artists such as Aerosmith ("Janie's Got a Gun") and Madonna ("Vogue").

After a rocky experience helming his first feature, Alien 3 (1992), in which he clashed repeatedly with studio executives, Fincher found his voice with the horror thriller Seven (1995), a film that reveled in the darkness of the young director's vision and cemented his reputation as a purveyor of übercool cinema.

Fincher went on to release a string of well-received, nuanced thrillers, including The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), Zodiac (2007) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), earning him his first Oscar nod.