Gary Ross

Born: November 3 1956
Where: Los Angeles, California, USA

Ross made his name as a screenwriter before turning his hand to directing with the critically lauded Pleasantville.

His first writing success was the Tom Hanks hit Big in 1988, which he followed with scripts for Mr Baseball, Dave and Lassie.

His work on both Big and Dave landed him an Academy Award nomination for best screenplays.

In 1998 he wrote and directed the Oscar-nominated hit fantasy Pleasantville, starring William H Macy and Jeff Daniels.

Recent work includes the critically lauded horseracing drama SeaBiscuit, starring Tobey Maguire and Jeff Bridges.