Danny Cannon

Born: 1968
Where: Luton, England, UK

The British director has made a name for himself in Hollywood, helming movies ranging from the sci-fi drama Judge Dredd to soccer movie Goal!

He is also the man behind the success of the gritty American cop TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Cannon began making films at the age of 16 and attended Hitchin Arts Centre, producing, writing and directing 21 films and videos by the time he was 19.

He also co-founded and acted in Cast of Thousands, a successful experimental youth theatre group.

In 1987, he won the BBC Young Filmmaker of the Year Award for his powerful, gritty 40-minute short Sometimes.

With the help of competition judge Alan Parker, Cannon was awarded a place at the National Film and Television School where he wrote and directed the drama Play Dead.

After graduating in 1990 with the full-length LA-set Strangers, he landed the backing for the crime thriller The Young Americans with Harvey Keitel.

Next up was 1995's Sylvester Stallone vehicle, the $70m sci-fi adventure yarn Judge Dredd.

In 1998, he directed the Ray Liotta crime thriller Phoenix and switched styles the same year to make the horror sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer with Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Two years later he began working on CSI and moved on to the spin-offs CSI: Miami and CSI: New York.

Recent work includes the the soccer movie Goal! starring Kuno Becker as a Mexican footballer playing for Newcastle Utd.