Paul Thomas Anderson
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Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the preeminent filmmakers of his generation, his accolades include a BAFTA Award and nominations for eleven Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy. He is the only person to have won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and the Silver and Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Many of Anderson's films are psychological dramas characterized by depictions of desperate characters and explorations of dysfunctional families, alienation, loneliness, and redemption, alongside a bold visual style that uses constantly moving cameras and long takes. After his directorial debut, Hard Eight (1996), Anderson had critical and commercial success with Boogie Nights (1997), and received further accolades with Magnolia (1999) and Punch-Drunk Love (2002). There Will Be Blood (2007), Anderson's fifth film, is regarded as one of the greatest films of the 21st century. It was followed by The Master (2012) and Inherent Vice (2014), an adaptation of the 2009 novel by Thomas Pynchon. Anderson's next two films, Phantom Thread (2017) and Licorice Pizza (2021), were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. His tenth film, One Battle After Another, was released in 2025, and became Anderson's highest-grossing film. Anderson is noted for his collaborations with the cinematographer Robert Elswit, the costume designer Mark Bridges, the composers Jon Brion and Jonny Greenwood, and actors including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Daniel Day-Lewis, John C. Reilly, and Joaquin Phoenix. He has directed music videos for artists including Fiona Apple, Haim, Aimee Mann, Joanna Newsom, Michael Penn, Radiohead, and the Smile. He also directed a 2015 documentary about Greenwood's album Junun, and the short music film Anima (2019) for the Radiohead singer Thom Yorke.