TONY SCOTT (Director/Producer) is a master of the visceral, balancing technical virtuosity with an exuberant sense of tempo to create a series of landmark action films. With another high-profile project set for release, Scott shows no sign of slowing the pace that has made him one of Hollywood’s most successful directors.
In 2001, Scott was at the helm with two other big-name stars in SPY GAME. The taut, ambitious thriller reunited Robert Redford and Brad Pitt for the first time since 1992’s A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT. Scott’s ability to mine box office gold from a deft blending of material and talent was evident in his last film, ENEMY OF THE STATE. Starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the political thriller became one of biggest hits of 1998. That same year, Scott directed one episode of the cable series “The Hunger” trilogy, with Giovanni Ribisi and David Bowie, an adaptation of his 1983 feature film.
In 1996, Scott joined a very short list of billion-dollar-grossing directors thanks to the success of his two previous films. Starring Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman as rival commanders of a nuclear submarine, CRIMSON TIDE was an intense, claustrophobic thriller that garnered both critical and popular acclaim. Scott followed that with THE FAN, in which Robert De Niro starred as an obsessed fan who stalks baseball star Wesley Snipes.
Born in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, England, Scott attended the Sunderland Art School, where he received a fine arts degree in painting. While completing a yearlong post-graduate study at Leeds College, he developed an interest in cinematography and made ONE OF THE MISSING, a half-hour film financed by the British Film Institute and based on an Ambrose Bierce short story. He then went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree at the Royal College of Arts, completing another film for the British Film Institute, LOVING MEMORY, from an original script financed by Albert Finney.
In 1973, Scott partnered with brother Ridley to form London-based commercial production company, RSA. Over the next decade, Scott created some of the world’s most entertaining and memorable commercials, honing his film vocabulary and picking up every major honor in the field, including a number of CLIO awards, several Silver and Gold Lion Awards from the Cannes International Television/Cinema Commercials Festival and London’s prestigious Designers & Art Directors Award.
While working as a commercial director, Scott also made three movies for television: two documentaries and a one-hour special entitled AUTHOR OF BELTRAFFIO, from the story by Henry James. Scott made his feature debut in 1983 with the modern vampire story THE HUNGER, starring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon. Three years later he directed Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis in the mega-blockbuster TOP GUN, whose stunning aerial sequences helped make it a global success. Scott confirmed his place as one of Hollywood’s premiere action directors the following year with BEVERLY HILLS COP II, starring Eddie Murphy.
Over the next five years, Scott directed four more movies, including REVENGE (1988), with Kevin Costner and Anthony Quinn; DAYS OF THUNDER (1990), starring Tom Cruise and Robert Duvall; THE LAST BOY SCOUT (1991), with Bruce Willis; and the critically acclaimed TRUE ROMANCE (1993), starring Christian Slater, Roseanna Arquette and Christopher Walken, with a script by Quentin Tarantino.
In early 1995, the Scott brothers provided a big boost for the British film industry by purchasing the legendary Shepperton Studios in West London, where more than 600 feature films have been made.
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