Catherine Hardwicke

Born: 1955 Where: McAllen, Texas, USA

The production design veteran made her directorial debut with the controversial coming-of-age drama Thirteen.

The director, who teamed up with 13-year-old actress and family friend Nikki Reed to write the screenplay, won the Director's Award at the Sundance Festiv

As an architect-turned-production designer, Hardwicke worked with some of Hollywood's top directors, including Cameron Crowe, Richard Linklater and Costa Gavras.

Working mostly on independent projects and cult films such as Tapeheads and Tank Girl, she graduated to bigger movies in the late 1990s such as David O Russell's Three Kings and Crowe's Vanilla Sky.

Recent work includes Stacy Peralta's skateboard saga Lords of Dogtown with Emile Hirsch.