Alan Taylor

Alan Taylor (born c. 1959) 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.

Early life

Taylor's father, James J. Taylor, was a private in the U.S. army translating for Voice of America, stationed in Yokohama, who subsequently held numerous jobs before becoming a videographer in Washington, D.C.. Taylor's mother, Mimi Cazort, was curator emerita for the National Gallery of Canada. His sister is the indie rock musician Anna Domino.

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.

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". He returned as a director for the second season in 2005 and helmed the episode "Requiem for a Gleet". 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. Taylor directed Thor: The Dark World (2013), the sequel to 2011's Thor. His latest directorial venture was the 2015 film Terminator Genisys. He worked on a television adaptation of the Strugatsky brothers’ 1971 science fiction novel Roadside Picnic for the WGN America network. Taylor returned to direct for the seventh season of Game of Thrones.

Personal life

Taylor currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has three children, with award-winning makeup artist Nicki Ledermann, named Ginger, Willa and Jamieson.

Directing filmography

Film

• Palookaville (1995)
• The Emperor's New Clothes (2001, also writer)
• Kill the Poor (2003)
• Thor: The Dark World (2013)
• Terminator Genisys (2015)
• The Many Saints of Newark (2020)

Short film

• That Burning Question (1990, also writer)

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"
  • episode 4.10 "The Strong, Silent Type"
  • episode 5.02 "Rat Pack"
  • episode 6.04 "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh"
  • episode 6.09 "The Ride"
  • episode 6.12 "Kaisha"
  • episode 6.14 "Stage 5"
  • episode 6.18 "Kennedy and Heidi"
  • episode 6.20 "The Blue Comet"
• 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"
• 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"
  • episode 2.04 "Requiem for a Gleet"
• 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"
• Mad Men (2007) TV series
  • episode 1.01 "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"
  • episode 1.02 "Ladies Room"
  • episode 1.12 "Nixon vs. Kennedy"
  • episode 2.12 "The Mountain King"
• Boardwalk Empire (2010) TV series
  • episode 1.05 "Nights in Ballygran"
• 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.