Alan Taylor (director)

For other people named Alan Taylor, see Alan Taylor (disambiguation).

Alan Taylor
Taylor at the October 2013 world premiere of Thor: The Dark World at the Odeon Leicester Square in London
Born	c. 1959 (age 59–60) United States
Residence	Brooklyn, New York, United States
Occupation	Television director, film director
Years active	1988–present
Children	3

Alan Taylor (born c. 1959)^[1] is an American television and film director. He is known for his work on TV shows such as Lost, The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood, and Mad Men. He also directed films such as Palookaville, Thor: The Dark World, and Terminator Genisys. In 2007 Taylor won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for The Sopranos episode "Kennedy and Heidi". In 2008 and 2018 he was also nominated in the same category for the Mad Men episode "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and the Game of Thrones episode "Beyond the Wall" respectively.

Contents

• 
  1 Early life
  


• 
  2 Career
  


• 
  3 Personal life
  


• 
  4 Filmography
  


• 
  5 Reception
  


• 
  6 References
  


• 
  7 External links
  

Early life

Alan Taylor is the son of videographer James J. Taylor and curator Mimi Cazort; his sister is the indie rock musician Anna Domino.^[2]

He spent part of his life in Manor Park, Ottawa, Canada, and attended Manor Park Public School and Lisgar Collegiate Institute high school. As part of the Communications Club at Lisgar, he acted in its production of The Mouse That Roared. He went on to major in history at the University of Toronto and then at New York City's Columbia University before transferring to New York University to study film under instructors including director Martin Scorsese.^[1]

Career

Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most often on HBO. Besides his television work, Taylor has directed five feature films: Palookaville, The Emperor's New Clothes, Kill the Poor, Thor: The Dark World, and Terminator Genisys.

Taylor joined the crew of the HBO western drama Deadwood as a director for the first season in 2004. The series was created by David Milch and focused on a growing town in the American Old West. Taylor directed the episode "Here Was a Man".^[3] He returned as a director for the second season in 2005 and helmed the episode "Requiem for a Gleet".^[4] Taylor has directed the pilot episodes of Mad Men ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes") and Bored to Death as well as subsequent episodes of each. He has directed two episodes from season 1 of Game of Thrones and four episodes of season 2.^[5] Taylor directed Thor: The Dark World (2013), the sequel to 2011's Thor.^[6] His latest directorial venture was the 2015 film Terminator Genisys.^[7] He worked on a television adaptation of the Strugatsky brothers’ 1971 science fiction novel Roadside Picnic for the WGN America network.^[8] Taylor returned to direct for the seventh season of Game of Thrones.^[9]

Personal life

Taylor currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has three children named Ginger, Willa and Jamieson.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Film

• 
  Palookaville (1995)


• 
  The Emperor's New Clothes (2001)


• 
  Kill the Poor (2003)


• 
  Thor: The Dark World (2013)


• 
  Terminator Genisys (2015)


• 
  The Many Saints of Newark^[10] (2020)

Television

• 
  That Burning Question (1988)


• 
  Homicide: Life on the Street TV series
  
  
  
  • episode "Mercy"
  
  
  • episode "Blood Ties"
  
  
  • episode "The Wedding"
  
  
  • episode "A Dog and Pony Show"
  
  
  • episode "Autofocus"
  
  
  • episode "The True Test"
  
  
  • episode "Forgive Us Our Trespasses"
  
  
  
  


• 
  Oz (1997) TV series
  
  
  
  • episode 1.06 "To Your Health"
  
  
  • episode 2.06 "Strange Bedfellows"
  
  
  
  


• 
  Trinity (1998) TV series
  
  • episode "Breaking In, Breaking Out, Breaking Up, Breaking Down"
  
  


• 
  Sex and the City (1998) TV series
  
  
  
  • episode 2.09 "Old Dogs, New Dicks"
  
  
  • episode 2.14 "The Fuck Buddy"
  
  
  • episode 4.15 "Change of a Dress"
  
  
  • episode 4.16 "Ring a Ding-Ding"
  
  
  • episode 6.07 "The Post-it Always Sticks Twice"
  
  
  • episode 6.08 "The Catch"
  
  
  
  


• 
  Now and Again (1999) TV series
  
  • episode "Over Easy"
  
  


• 
  The Sopranos (1999) TV series
  
  
  
  • episode 1.06 "Pax Soprana"^[11]
    
  
  
  • episode 4.10 "The Strong, Silent Type"^[12]
    
  
  
  • episode 5.02 "Rat Pack"^[13]
    
  
  
  • episode 6.04 "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh"^[14]
    
  
  
  • episode 6.09 "The Ride"^[15]
    
  
  
  • episode 6.12 "Kaisha"^[16]
    
  
  
  • episode 6.14 "Stage 5"^[17]
    
  
  
  • episode 6.18 "Kennedy and Heidi"^[18]
    
  
  
  • episode 6.20 "The Blue Comet"^[19]
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  The West Wing (1999) TV series
  
  
  
  • episode 1.08 "Enemies"
  
  
  • episode 1.16 "20 Hours in L.A."
  
  
  
  


• 
  Six Feet Under (2001) TV series
  
  • episode 2.08 "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"^[20]
    
  
  


• 
  Keen Eddie (2003)
  
  • episode "Sticky Fingers"
  
  


• 
  Carnivàle (2003) TV series
  
  • episode 2.07 "Damascus, NE"
  
  


• 
  Deadwood (2004) TV series
  
  
  
  • episode 1.04 "Here Was a Man"^[3]
    
  
  
  • episode 2.04 "Requiem for a Gleet"^[4]
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  Lost (2004) TV series
  
  • episode 2.04 "Everybody Hates Hugo"
  
  


• 
  Rome (2005) TV series
  
  
  
  • episode 1.10 "Triumph"
  
  
  • episode 1.12 "Kalends of February"
  
  
  
  


• 
  Big Love (2006) TV series
  
  • episode 1.05 "Affair"^[21]
    
  
  


• 
  Mad Men (2007) TV series
  
  
  
  • episode 1.01 "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"^[22]
    
  
  
  • episode 1.02 "Ladies Room"^[23]
    
  
  
  • episode 1.12 "Nixon vs. Kennedy"^[24]
    
  
  
  • episode 2.12 "The Mountain King"^[25]
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  Boardwalk Empire (2010) TV series
  
  • episode 1.05 "Nights in Ballygran"^[26]
    
  
  


• 
  Game of Thrones (2011) TV series
  
  
  
  • episode 1.09 "Baelor"
  
  
  • episode 1.10 "Fire and Blood"
  
  
  • episode 2.01 "The North Remembers"
  
  
  • episode 2.02 "The Night Lands"
  
  
  • episode 2.08 "The Prince of Winterfell"
  
  
  • episode 2.10 "Valar Morghulis"
  
  
  • episode 7.06 "Beyond the Wall"
  
  
  
  

Reception

Below is the critical, public and commercial reception to films Taylor has directed, as of July 13, 2015.

Film	Rotten Tomatoes[27]	Metacritic[28]	CinemaScore[29]	Budget	Box office[30]
Palookaville	64% (11 reviews)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
The Emperor's New Clothes	73% (85 reviews)	60 (28 reviews)	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kill the Poor	25% (8 reviews)	52 (7 reviews)	N/A	N/A	N/A
Thor: The Dark World	67% (263 reviews)	54 (44 reviews)	A-	$170 million	$644.8 million
Terminator Genisys	26% (253 reviews)	38 (41 reviews)	B+	$155 million	$435.9 million

References

1. 
   ^ ^ab "Ottawa-educated director took Emmy for Sopranos' famed snuff-out episode". Canada.com. The Ottawa Citizen. September 20, 2007. Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-15. ...the 48-year-old TV director....mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ Estrada, Louie (February 13, 2005). "James Taylor Dies; Put Theater on Video". The Washington Post. p. C11. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
   


3. 
   ^ ^ab Sarnoff, Elizabeth (2004-04-11). "Here Was a Man". Deadwood. Season 1. Episode 4. HBO.
   


4. 
   ^ ^ab Mann, Ted (2005-03-27). "Requiem for a Gleet". Deadwood. Season 2. Episode 4. HBO.
   


5. 
   ^ Goldberg, Lesley (September 12, 2011). "'Game of Thrones': Neil Marshall Among Season 2 Directors". The Hollywood Reporter
   


6. 
   ^ Kroll, Justin (September 5, 2013). "'Thrones' and 'Thor: The Dark World' Helmer Eyed to Direct Next 'Terminator'". Variety. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
   


7. 
   ^ Kroll, Justin (September 5, 2013). "Terminator: Genisys". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
   


8. 
   ^ Schwartz, Terri (September 11, 2015). "Terminator Genisys Alan Taylor returning to TV with Roadside Picnic adaptation at WGN America". Zap2It.
   


9. 
   ^ Hibberd, James (June 29, 2016). "Game of Thrones season 7 directors revealed". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
   


10. 
    ^ McNary, Dave (July 3, 2018). "'Sopranos' Prequel Movie Taps Director Alan Taylor". Variety. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
    


11. 
    ^ ""Pax Soprana" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
    


12. 
    ^ HBO. ""The Strong, Silent Type" on The Sopranos episode guide". Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
    


13. 
    ^ ""Rat Pack" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
    


14. 
    ^ ""The Fleshy Part of the Thigh" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
    


15. 
    ^ ""The Ride" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
    


16. 
    ^ ""Kaisha" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
    


17. 
    ^ ""Stage 5" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
    


18. 
    ^ ""Kennedy and Heidi" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
    


19. 
    ^ ""Blue Comet" on The Sopranos episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
    


20. 
    ^ ""It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" on Six Feet Under episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
    


21. 
    ^ ""Affair" on Big Love episode guide". HBO. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
    


22. 
    ^ AMC. ""Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" on Mad Men episode guide". Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
    


23. 
    ^ AMC. ""Ladies Room" on Mad Men episode guide". Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
    


24. 
    ^ AMC. ""Nixon vs. Kennedy" on Mad Men episode guide". Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
    


25. 
    ^ AMC. ""The Mountain King" on Mad Men episode guide". Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
    


26. 
    ^ "Boardwalk Empire episode "Nights in Ballygran" synopsis". HBO. Archived from the original on 29 October 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
    


27. 
    ^ "Alan Taylor". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
    


28. 
    ^ "Alan Taylor". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
    


29. 
    ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
    


30. 
    ^ "Alan Taylor Movie Box office". boxofficemojo.com. Amazon.com. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
    

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alan Taylor.

• 
  Alan Taylor on IMDb

v t e Films directed by Alan Taylor
Palookaville (1995) The Emperor's New Clothes (2001) Kill the Poor (2003) Thor: The Dark World (2013) Terminator Genisys (2015) The Many Saints of Newark (2020)

Awards for Alan Taylor

v t e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Jack Smight for "Eddie" (1959) Robert Mulligan for The Moon and Sixpence (1960) George Schaefer for Macbeth (1961) Franklin J. Schaffner (1962) Stuart Rosenberg for "The Madman" (1963) Tom Gries for "Who Do You Kill?" (1964) Paul Bogart for "The 700 Year Old Gang" (1965) Sydney Pollack for "The Game" (1966) Alex Segal for Death of a Salesman (1967) Paul Bogart for "Dear Friends" (1968) David Greene for "The People Next Door" (1969) Paul Bogart for "Shadow Game" (1970) Daryl Duke for "The Day the Lion Died" / Fielder Cook for "The Price" (1971) Alexander Singer for "The Invasion of Kevin Ireland" (1972) Jerry Thorpe for "An Eye for an Eye" / Joseph Sargent for "The Marcus-Nelson Murders" (1973) John Korty for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman / Robert Butler for "Part III" (1974) Bill Bain for "A Sudden Storm" (1975) David Greene for Episode 8 (Rich Man, Poor Man) (1976) David Greene for Roots ("Part 1") (1977) Marvin J. Chomsky for Holocaust (1978) Jackie Cooper for "Pilot" (The White Shadow) (1979) Roger Young for "Cop" (1980) Robert Butler for "Hill Street Station"(1981) Harry Harris for "To Soar and Never Falter" (1982) Jeff Bleckner for "Life in the Minors" (1983) Corey Allen for "Goodbye, Mr. Scripps" (1984) Karen Arthur for "Heat" (1985) Georg Stanford Brown for "Parting Shots" (1986) Gregory Hoblit for "Pilot" (L.A. Law) (1987) Mark Tinker for "Weigh In, Way Out" (1988) Robert Altman for "The Boiler Room" (1989) Thomas Carter for "Promises to Keep" / Scott Winant for "The Go-Between" (1990) Thomas Carter for "In Confidence" (1991) Eric Laneuville for "All God's Children" (1992) Barry Levinson for "Gone for Goode" (1993) Daniel Sackheim for "Tempest in a C-Cup" (1994) Mimi Leder for "Love's Labor Lost" (1995) Jeremy Kagan for "Leave of Absence" (1996) Mark Tinker for "Where's 'Swaldo?" (1997) Mark Tinker for "Pilot" (Brooklyn South) / Paris Barclay for "Brain Salad Surgery" (1998) Paris Barclay for "Hearts and Souls" (1999) Thomas Schlamme for "Pilot" (The West Wing) (2000) Thomas Schlamme for "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part I" & "Part II" (2001) Alan Ball for "Pilot" (Six Feet Under) (2002) Christopher Misiano for "Twenty Five" (2003) Walter Hill for "Deadwood" (2004) J. J. Abrams for "Pilot" (Lost) (2005) Jon Cassar for "Day 5: 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m." (2006) Alan Taylor for "Kennedy and Heidi" (2007) Greg Yaitanes for "House's Head" (2008) Rod Holcomb for "And in the End..." (2009) Steve Shill for "The Getaway" (2010) Martin Scorsese for "Boardwalk Empire" (2011) Tim Van Patten for "To the Lost" (2012) David Fincher for "Chapter 1" (2013) Cary Joji Fukunaga for "Who Goes There" (2014) David Nutter for "Mother's Mercy" (2015) Miguel Sapochnik for "Battle of the Bastards" (2016) Reed Morano for "Offred" (2017) Stephen Daldry for "Paterfamilias" (2018) v t e Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series 1971–2000 Daniel Petrie for "Hands of Love" (1971) Robert Butler for "Dust Bowl Cousins" (1972) Charles S. Dubin for "Knockover" (1973) David Friedkin for "Cross Your Heart, Hope to Die" (1974) James Cellan Jones for Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1975) Glenn Jordan for "Rites of Friendship" (1976) John Erman for "Second Hour" (1977) Gene Reynolds for "Prisoner" (1978) Roger Young for "Cop" (1979) Roger Young for "Lou" (1980) Robert Butler for "Hill Street Station" (1981) David Anspaugh for "Personal Foul" (1982) Jeff Bleckner for "Life in the Minors" (1983) Thomas Carter for "The Rise and Fall of Paul the Wall (1984) Will Mackenzie for "My Fair David" (1985) Will Mackenzie for "Atomic Shakespeare" (1986) Marshall Herskovitz for "Pilot" (thirtysomething) (1987) Marshall Herskovitz for "Therapy" (1988) Eric Laneuville for "I'm in the Nude" (1989) Michael Zinberg for "Vietnam" (1990) Eric Laneuville for "All God's Children" (1991) Rob Thompson for "Cicely" (1992) Gregory Hoblit for "Pilot" (NYPD Blue) (1993) Charles Haid for "Into That Good Night" (1994) Christopher Chulack for "Hell and High Water" (1995) Christopher Chulack for "Fear of Flying" (1996) Barbara Kopple for "The Documentary" (1997) Paris Barclay for "Hearts and Souls" (1998) David Chase for "The Sopranos" (1999) Thomas Schlamme for "Noël" (2000) 2001–present Alan Ball for "Pilot" (Six Feet Under) (2001) John Patterson for "Whitecaps" (2002) Chris Misiano for "Twenty Five" (2003) Walter Hill for "Deadwood" (2004) Michael Apted for "The Stolen Eagle" (2005) Jon Cassar for "Day 5: 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m." (2006) Alan Taylor for "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (2007) Daniel Attias for "Transitions" (2008) Lesli Linka Glatter for "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency" (2009) Martin Scorsese for "Boardwalk Empire" (2010) Patty Jenkins for "Pilot" (The Killing) (2011) Rian Johnson for "Fifty-One" (2012) Vince Gilligan for "Felina" (2013) Lesli Linka Glatter for "From A to B and Back Again" (2014) David Nutter for "Mother's Mercy" (2015) Miguel Sapochnik for "Battle of the Bastards" (2016) Reed Morano for "Offred" (2017) Adam McKay for "Celebration" (2018)

Authority control	BNF: cb15728936w (data) GND: 130663441 ISNI: 0000 0003 7358 4863 LCCN: no2003065201 NKC: xx0205042 SUDOC: 177415665 VIAF: 164514406 WorldCat Identities (via VIAF): 164514406

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