Age: 45
Occupation: Director
In writing the script for the silent black-and-white movie The Artist, Hazanavicius was convinced that audiences used to relentless action, spectacular stunts and mind-blowing special effects would flip for a quiet, simple story with a lot of heart. Five Oscars and millions of theater tickets later, Hazanavicius has been proved right, as The Artist attained a unique back-to-the-future cinematic-phenom status. That success means Hollywood will be expecting Frenchmen Hazanavicius and the film's lead actor Jean Dujardin to find a new way to say Encore.