Alan Taylor

Alan Taylor (born 1965) is an American television and film director, television producer, and screenwriter. Taylor spent his teen years in Ottawa, Canada, and graduated from Lisgar Collegiate Institute (high school) in 1976. Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most notably on HBO. Besides his television work, Taylor has directed three feature films: Palookaville, The Emperor's New Clothes and Kill the Poor. Taylor's parents are videographer James J. Taylor and curator Mimi Cazort; his sister is indie rocker Anna Domino. He currently resides in New York City and rural Pennsylvania with his wife, make-up artist Nicki Ledermann, and their daughters, Ginger and Willa, and son, Jem. 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 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. On December 24, 2011, it was announced that he would direct Thor: The Dark World, the sequel to 2011'sThor.