Director: Sidney Lumet

Sidney Lumet directed more than forty features across five decades and came out of live television, which shaped everything about his method. He rehearsed extensively before shooting, blocked scenes like theatre, and could bring films in fast and under budget because the work was done before the camera arrived.

His subject was institutions and the people inside them who try to do the right thing anyway. 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network and The Verdict are all about a system operating exactly as designed while a person inside it objects. He filmed New York more consistently and less romantically than almost anyone.

He was nominated for Best Director five times without winning and received an honorary Academy Award in 2005. His book Making Movies is one of the few genuinely useful accounts of how a director actually spends the day.