Jonathan Demme

Jonathan Demme was doing rock journalism and advertising work in London when he met Roger Corman, the king of exploitation cinema, and with Joe Viola he wrote and produced two biker films. His first directing job was the women's prison film Caged Heat in 1974, and even there the features that would later be his signature were showing. Melvin and Howard is the true story of Melvin Dummar's claim to be an heir in Howard Hughes's will. With Stop Making Sense he set a high standard for filming a rock concert, with Talking Heads. The Silence of the Lambs won five Oscars, one of them his. In later years he made documentaries on the political struggle in Haiti, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Jimmy Carter. Independent Spirit made him a directing nominee twice, at the 1988 ceremony for Swimming to Cambodia and at the 2009 ceremony for Rachel Getting Married.