Brett Ratner

Born: March 28 1969
Where: Miami, Florida, USA

The former rap video director established himself with the Rush Hour movies featuring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan.

Switching genres, he also adapted Thomas Harris' novel for the Silence of the Lambs prequel Red Dragon with Anthony Hopkins.

He went to New York University's prestigious film school at the age of 16, becoming the department's youngest film major.

Funded by a $500 donation from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, his thesis film Whatever Happened to Mason Reese won various student awards.

Ratner made his feature debut with the hit comedy Money Talks, and following that, he directed Chan and Tucker in Rush Hour, which grossed over £175m worldwide.

On top of his movie credits, Brett has directed more than 100 music videos, for the likes of Madonna, Mariah Carey, D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige, and Jay Z among others.

He landed a 1999 MTV Video Award for Best Video from a film for Madonna's Beautiful Stranger from the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack.

In 2000, he directed Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni in the romantic comedy Family Man and delivered more Hong Kong-style action with Rush Hour 2.

Red Dragon (which had already been made by Michael Mann as Manhunter) was Ratner's first foray into the thriller genre.

Recent work includes the lightweight heist caper After The Sunset with Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek.