Steven Soderbergh facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Steven Soderbergh
Soderbergh in 2024
Born	Steven Andrew Soderbergh (1963-01-14) January 14, 1963 (age 62) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Other names	Sam Lowry Peter Andrews Mary Ann Bernard
Occupation	Film director film producer screenwriter cinematographer film editor
Years active	1981–present
Works	Filmography
Movement	Independent cinema
Spouse(s)	Betsy Brantley ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 1994)​ Jules Asner ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	2

Steven Andrew Soderbergh (born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known for making movies that are often different from typical Hollywood films. He started with independent films and later made popular movies for big studios.

Soderbergh became famous with his independent drama ..., Lies, and Videotape (1989). At just 26, he won the top prize, the Palme d'Or, at the Cannes Film Festival. This movie was a big success worldwide. After a few less successful films, he made popular movies like the crime comedy Out of Sight (1998), Erin Brockovich (2000), and the crime drama Traffic (2000). He won an Academy Award for Best Director for Traffic.

He also directed the popular Ocean's movies (2001–18), Contagion (2011), and the Magic Mike movies (2012–23). Soderbergh has directed films in many different styles. He often specializes in psychological, crime, and heist films. His films have earned over $2.2 billion worldwide. They have also received many awards, including five Academy Awards.

Soderbergh's movies often use common Hollywood ideas. But he usually adds his own unique, artistic touch. Many of his films have complex stories with plot twists. They might not tell the story in a straight line. He also uses special sounds and different camera angles to create suspense.

Early Life and First Steps in Film

Steven Soderbergh was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 14, 1963. His father was a university administrator. His family moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, and then to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

As a teenager, Soderbergh discovered filmmaking. He made short films using small cameras. After high school, he moved to Hollywood to become a professional filmmaker. His first jobs included working on a game show. He also became a freelance film editor. In 1985, he directed a concert video for the rock band Yes. This video earned him a Grammy Award nomination.

Career Highlights

Early Success and Challenges

After returning to Baton Rouge, Soderbergh wrote the script for ..., Lies, and Videotape. He wrote it in just eight days. When the film was shown at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, Soderbergh, at 26, became the youngest solo director to win the top prize, the Palme d'Or. The film was a huge success, earning $36.7 million on a small budget of $1.2 million.

Because he was so young and became famous so quickly, people called him a "sensation" and a "prodigy." In 2006, ..., Lies, and Videotape was chosen to be kept in the United States National Film Registry. This means it was seen as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

After his big debut, Soderbergh made several low-budget films that did not do well at the box office. One of these was Kafka (1991), which did not earn much money. Two years later, he directed King of the Hill (1993). This film was liked by critics but also did not make much money. He later called his 1995 film The Underneath "dead on arrival."

Return to Mainstream and Ocean's Trilogy

Soderbergh's career picked up again in 1998 with Out of Sight. This stylish crime film starred George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. It was highly praised and started a long working relationship between Clooney and Soderbergh. He then made another crime film, The Limey (1999). This helped him become known for thrillers and heist movies.

In 2000, he directed Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts. Roberts won an Academy Award for her role as a single mom fighting a big company. Later that year, Soderbergh released Traffic. This social drama had many famous actors. Both Erin Brockovich and Traffic were nominated for Academy Awards in 2001. Soderbergh was the first director since 1938 to be nominated for Best Director for two different films in the same year. He won the award for Traffic.

Soderbergh supported director Christopher Nolan (pictured) in his move from independent to studio filmmaking.

In 2001, Soderbergh directed Ocean's Eleven. This was a new version of a 1960s movie. The film was a huge hit, earning over $450 million worldwide. It became Soderbergh's highest-grossing movie at the time. He then directed Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in 2007. These films completed the popular Ocean's trilogy.

In 2005, Soderbergh directed Bubble, a low-budget film with non-professional actors. It was released in theaters, on TV, and on DVD at the same time. This was unusual and caused some debate in the film industry.

Later Films and Brief Break

Soderbergh's 2009 film The Informant! was a black comedy starring Matt Damon. Damon played a corporate whistleblower. The film was well-received. In 2010, Soderbergh filmed the action-thriller Haywire, released in 2012.

Soderbergh (second from left) with cast and crew of Behind the Candelabra at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival

Also in 2010, he shot the virus thriller Contagion. This film, with a star-studded cast, showed a deadly pandemic spreading globally. It was a commercial and critical success. In 2011, he helped film parts of The Hunger Games. In 2011, he also filmed Magic Mike, which was released in 2012 and was very popular.

Soderbergh announced he would take a break from making feature films around 2012. His last film before this break was the psychological thriller Side Effects, released in 2013. He also directed Behind the Candelabra (2013) for HBO, starring Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon as his lover.

In 2013, Soderbergh announced he would direct a TV miniseries for Cinemax called The Knick. This series followed doctors in a hospital in the early 1900s. It starred Clive Owen and was filmed in 2013, airing in 2014. After two seasons, Soderbergh decided to step back from directing the show.

Soderbergh at the Deauville American Film Festival in 2014

During his break, Soderbergh worked on other projects. He directed an Off-Broadway play called The Library in 2014. He also released unique edits of famous films on his website, like a mash-up of Psycho and a black-and-white silent version of Raiders of the Lost Ark. In 2017, he released Mosaic, which was both an interactive app and a TV miniseries.

Return to Filmmaking

In 2016, Soderbergh officially returned to directing films. He made Logan Lucky, a NASCAR heist film. He produced this film himself without a big studio. It was released in 2017 and received great reviews.

In 2017, it was revealed that Soderbergh had secretly filmed a horror movie called Unsane using iPhones. This film, released in 2018, was praised by critics. Using an iPhone to film a movie was seen as inspiring for new filmmakers. He later filmed High Flying Bird (2019) and The Laundromat (2019) also using iPhones.

His 2020 film Let Them All Talk starred Meryl Streep and was filmed on a cruise ship. In 2021, he released the 1950s crime film No Sudden Move. In 2022, Kimi was released, starring Zoë Kravitz. The third Magic Mike film, Magic Mike's Last Dance, came out in 2023.

In 2023, Soderbergh also debuted a six-part miniseries called Full Circle. His haunted house thriller Presence premiered in 2024. He also filmed the 2025 spy thriller Black Bag.

Filmmaking Style

How He Makes Films

Soderbergh's films often show busy city settings and use natural light. His style is sometimes compared to the French New Wave film movement. He likes to experiment and believes there are always new ways to make movies.

Technically, Soderbergh often uses long close-ups and tracking shots. He might skip establishing shots and use sound to set the scene instead. Many of his films create suspense with different camera angles. In films like Contagion and the Ocean's trilogy, he uses a "hyperlink cinema" style. This means he tells multiple stories that connect. He also uses different colored filters, like yellow for open, normal situations and blue for illegal or secret activities. He uses montages often, believing they are as important as dialogue for storytelling.

Soderbergh has a unique relationship with Hollywood. He often challenges the usual ways of making studio films. He likes to cast actors in unexpected roles. For example, in Ocean's Twelve, Julia Roberts played a character who then pretended to be Julia Roberts. In Haywire, he cast professional mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano.

Soderbergh's films are known for their suspenseful and atmospheric sounds. He often introduces sound before the visuals in a scene. This alerts the viewer to a sudden change. He frequently works with composers like Cliff Martinez, David Holmes, and Thomas Newman.

His Method

Soderbergh's early films were shot on smaller film formats because he was young and had limited money. He has used many different types of cameras for his films. He filmed The Girlfriend Experience (2009) on a relatively inexpensive camera. He filmed all of Unsane (2018) and High Flying Bird (2019) using an iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8. He has even said he is interested in filming more movies with iPhones in the future.

Besides directing, he often writes the screenplays for his films. He is known for his experimental filmmaking. Since 2000, he has used different names when editing, writing, and arranging his films. This helps to hide that he does so many jobs.

When working with actors, Soderbergh prefers to let them do their work without too much interference. He tries to make sure they are comfortable and then lets them act freely. This approach has led many famous actors to work with him repeatedly.

What Inspires Him

Soderbergh has named several films as his favorites. These include All The President's Men, Annie Hall, Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and Jaws. He has said that the 1972 crime-comedy The Hot Rock inspired the feel of his Ocean's films. He also mentioned that the film Z inspired his movie Traffic. Soderbergh also looks to the French director Jean-Luc Godard for inspiration. He says Godard's films remind him of what is possible in filmmaking.

Other Ventures

In 2018, Soderbergh launched his own brand of a Bolivian grape spirit called "Singani 63." He partnered with a distillery in Bolivia and became the only exporter of this spirit. He doesn't like to call Singani a brandy. He even made a short video to show how people react differently to "brandy" versus "Singani 63."

People He Works With Often

Soderbergh, along with his most frequent collaborator Matt Damon (left), in 2009

Soderbergh has worked with many actors, composers, and writers throughout his career. Some of his most frequent collaborators include George Clooney (who has been in six of his films), Matt Damon (who has been in nine of his films), Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, and Channing Tatum. Other actors who have appeared in many of his films include Luis Guzmán, Jude Law, Benicio Del Toro, and Michael Douglas.

Julia Roberts won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Erin Brockovich. Benicio del Toro won an Academy Award for his work in Traffic.

Soderbergh often works with producer Jerry Weintraub. Composer Cliff Martinez has scored eleven of his films. David Holmes scored the Ocean's trilogy. More recently, Thomas Newman has scored four of Soderbergh's films. Soderbergh often edits his own films. He also frequently works with screenwriters like Scott Z. Burns, Lem Dobbs, David Koepp, and Ed Solomon.

Personal Life

Soderbergh with his wife, Jules Asner, at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival

Steven Soderbergh married actress Betsy Brantley in 1989. They had one daughter before they divorced in 1994. He has been married to Jules Asner since 2003. He often says she influences the female characters in his movies. He has another daughter, born in 2010. Soderbergh lives in New York City. His 2023 web series Command Z was filmed inside his own home.

Filmography

Awards and Recognition

Steven Soderbergh's films are often discussed by fans, critics, and other directors. His early film, ..., Lies, and Videotape (1989), is seen as very important for the independent film movement. When he directed his first film, Soderbergh was called a "sensation" and a "prodigy" because he was so young and became famous so quickly. In 2002, he was elected as the first Vice President of the Directors Guild of America.

After ..., Lies, and Videotape was shown at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, Soderbergh won the festival's top award, the Palme d'Or. At 26, he was the youngest solo director to win this award. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his script.

Soderbergh was nominated twice for Best Director for two different films at the 73rd Academy Awards. This was the first time this had happened since 1938. He won the award for Traffic. When the same thing happened at the Directors Guild of America Awards, people called it a "Soderbergh vs. Soderbergh" competition.

For his work on Erin Brockovich and Traffic, Soderbergh became one of only five directors to win "The Big Four" critics awards. These awards are from major film critic groups.

Images for kids

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  Soderbergh in 2024

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  Soderbergh supported director Christopher Nolan (pictured) in his move from independent to studio filmmaking.

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  Soderbergh (second from left) with cast and crew of Behind the Candelabra at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival

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  Soderbergh at the Deauville American Film Festival in 2014

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  Soderbergh, along with his most frequent collaborator Matt Damon (left), in 2009

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  Soderbergh with his wife, Jules Asner, at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival

See also

In Spanish: Steven Soderbergh para niños