# Paul Thomas Anderson filmography

Paul Thomas Anderson is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed nine feature-length films, five short films, twenty three music videos, one documentary, one television episode as a guest segment director, and one theatrical play. He made his directorial debut with the mockumentary short film The Dirk Diggler Story (1988), at the age of 18, about a pornographic actor in the 1970s. Anderson followed it five years later with another short film, Cigarettes & Coffee (1993). Anderson wrote and directed the crime film Hard Eight (1996), starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson. The film was well received. Using the basis of The Dirk Diggler Story, Anderson wrote and directed an expansion of the film, Boogie Nights (1997). It stars Mark Wahlberg as an actor in the Golden Age of Porn from the 1970s to the 1980s. The film received acclaim from critics and was a commercial success; at the 70th Academy Awards ceremony, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including for Best Supporting Actor (Burt Reynolds), Best Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore) and Best Original Screenplay.
His 1999 ensemble film Magnolia followed four intertwined and peculiar stories in the San Fernando Valley. The film was another critical success for Anderson and at the 72nd Academy Awards, it was nominated for three Academy Awards, including for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tom Cruise), Best Original Song for "Save Me" by Aimee Mann and Best Original Screenplay. Anderson directed the romantic comedy-drama Punch-Drunk Love (2002), starring Adam Sandler as a lonely man with anger issues. He went on to write and direct There Will Be Blood (2007), based loosely on Upton Sinclair's novel Oil! The film was critically acclaimed, winning numerous awards. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture, with Daniel Day-Lewis winning Best Actor. After a five-year hiatus, he directed the 2012 film The Master starring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The film's fictional movement "The Cause" was widely compared to the real-life religion of Scientology in the media, despite not directly referencing it.
Anderson adapted Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel Inherent Vice into a film of the same name in 2014. Joaquin Phoenix played a stoner hippie and private investigator investigating a case involving the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and her wealthy boyfriend. In 2015, he directed the documentary Junun about the making of album of the same name in Mehrangarh Fort, Rajasthan, India by the Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur, English composer and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, Indian ensemble the Rajasthan Express, and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. Phantom Thread (2017), starred Day-Lewis as a renowned dressmaker in the 1950s. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards. Anderson's ninth film, Licorice Pizza, was released to great acclaim in 2021, earning three Academy Award nominations.
He has directed music videos for such artists as Fiona Apple, Haim, Aimee Mann, Joanna Newsom and Radiohead.

## Film
### Feature films

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | DoP | Notes |
| 1996 | Hard Eight | Yes | Yes | No | No | Original title: Sydney |
| 1997 | Boogie Nights | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1999 | Magnolia | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2002 | Punch-Drunk Love | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2007 | There Will Be Blood | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Based on Oil! by Upton Sinclair |
| 2012 | The Master | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2014 | Inherent Vice | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon |
| 2017 | Phantom Thread | Yes | Yes | Yes | Uncredited | |
| 2021 | Licorice Pizza | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-cinematographer with Michael Bauman |
| 2025 | One Battle After Another | Yes | Yes | Yes | TBA | Post-production |
Documentary
| Year | Title | Credit | Ref(s) |
| 2015 | Junun | Director and camera operator | |

### Short films

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 1988 | The Dirk Diggler Story | Yes | Yes | No | Also cinematographer |
| 1992 | Production Assistant | Yes | Yes | Yes | Released in 2012 |
| 1993 | Cigarettes & Coffee | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1998 | Flagpole Special | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2002 | Couch | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2003 | Blossoms and Blood | Yes | Yes | Yes | Compilation of deleted scenes from Punch-Drunk Love |
| 2003 | 12 Scopitones | Yes | Yes | Yes | Compilation of unused artwork from Punch-Drunk Love |
| 2003 | Mattress Man Commercial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Deleted scene from Punch-Drunk Love |
| 2013 | Back Beyond | Yes | Yes | Yes | Compilation of deleted scenes from The Master |
| 2015 | Everything in This Dream | Yes | Yes | Yes | Compilation of deleted scenes from Inherent Vice |
| 2017 | Valentine | Yes | No | No | |
| 2018 | For the Hungry Boy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Compilation of deleted scenes from Phantom Thread |
| 2019 | Anima | Yes | No | Yes | |

### Miscellaneous

| Year | Title | Credit |
| 2001 | Corky Romano | Uncredited rewrite |
| 2006 | A Prairie Home Companion | Stand-by director |
| 2018 | Waterlily Jaguar | Executive producer |
| 2023 | Napoleon | Uncredited rewrite |

### Cameo and documentary appearances

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1999 | Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes | Himself | |
| 1999 | Magnolia | Man confiscating sign | Uncredited |
| 2000 | That Moment: Magnolia Diary | Himself | |
| 2002 | Minority Report | Passenger on Train | Uncredited |
| 2010 | In Search of Ted Demme | Himself | |
| 2014 | Altman | Himself | |

## Television

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Actor | Thanks | Notes |
| 2000 | The Jon Brion Show | Yes | No | No | No | Variety show Unaired TV pilot |
| 2000 | Saturday Night Live | Yes | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Ben Affleck/Fiona Apple" Segment: "SNL FANatic" |
| 2016 | Documentary Now! | No | No | Yes | No | Voice role: Harrison Renzi Episode: "Final Transmission" |
| 2018 | Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh | No | No | No | Yes | Stand-up special Filmed segments |

## Music videos

| Year | Title | Performer | Notes |
| 1997 | "Try" | Michael Penn | |
| 1998 | "Across the Universe" | Fiona Apple | |
| 1998 | "Fast as You Can" | Fiona Apple | |
| 1999 | "Save Me" | Aimee Mann | |
| 2000 | "Limp" | Fiona Apple | |
| 2000 | "Paper Bag" | Fiona Apple | |
| 2002 | "Here We Go" | Jon Brion | |
| 2013 | "Hot Knife" | Fiona Apple | |
| 2015 | "Sapokanikan" | Joanna Newsom | |
| 2015 | "Divers" | Joanna Newsom | |
| 2016 | "Daydreaming" | Radiohead | |
| 2016 | "Present Tense" | Radiohead | Live video |
| 2016 | "The Numbers" | Radiohead | Live video |
| 2017 | "Right Now" | Haim | Live video |
| 2017 | "Valentine" | Haim | Live video |
| 2017 | "Little of Your Love" | Haim | |
| 2018 | "Night So Long" | Haim | Live video |
| 2019 | "Summer Girl" | Haim | |
| 2019 | "Now I'm in It" | Haim | |
| 2019 | "Hallelujah" | Haim | |
| 2020 | "The Steps" | Haim | Co-directed by Danielle Haim |
| 2020 | "Man From the Magazine" | Haim | |
| 2022 | "Lost Track" | Haim | |
| 2023 | "Wall Of Eyes" | The Smile | |
| 2024 | "Friend of a Friend" | The Smile | |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Theatre | Principal Cast | Ref(s) |
| 2008 | Untitled original theatrical play | Yes | Yes | Largo Theatre | Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen | |