American film director David Fincher was born on this day in 1962. Aged eight and inspired by one of his favourite films, 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1969), David Fincher picked  up an 8mm camera and began making movies. He began working in the film industry aged 18 and by the end of the 1980s was an established director of TV commercials and music videos where he worked with Madonna, Sting, The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Billy Idol and Iggy Pop.

His feature directorial debut came with 'Alien 3' (1992) which opened to mixed reviews having been beset with studio interference and numerous re-writes. After the disappointment of 'Alien 3' Fincher returned to music videos before directing his breakthrough film, the dark and brilliant psychological thriller 'Seven' (1995). He soon gained a reputation for directing stylish and gripping thrillers including 'The Game' (1997), 'Fight Club' (1999), 'Panic Room' (2002) and 'Zodiac' (2007).

A change of direction came with the Facebook biographical drama 'The Social Network' (2010) which was a major success both critically and at the box office. A return to the thriller genre came with 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' (2011) and 'Gone Girl' (2014) as well as directing, producing and serving as showrunner for the Netflix series 'Mindhunter' (2017-2019).

More recently his long awaited project based on a script his father Jack Fincher had written in the 1990s came to fruition with 'Mank' (2020) the story of 'Citizen Kane' screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. With his films receiving a staggering 40 Academy Award nominations including three for Best Director and a return to the thriller genre with 'The Killer' (2023), David Fincher remains at the forefront of modern American cinema. Happy Birthday David.