Question: Who was the director of the 2008 American war thriller film starring the actor who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his much-praised performance in "The Town"?

Context articles: Empire Award for Best Supporting Actor
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
Aaron Paul
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
List of Best Supporting Actor winners by age
The Hurt Locker
BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor
Robert Loggia
Pasupathy
Jeremy Renner

The Empire Award for Best Supporting Actor is an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine "Empire" to honor an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry.
 The Empire Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of two ongoing awards which were first introduced at the 19th Empire Awards ceremony in 2014 (along with Best Supporting Actress) with Michael Fassbender receiving the award for his role in "12 Years a Slave".
 Winners are voted by the readers of "Empire" magazine.
The following is a list of Saturn Award winners and nominees for Best Supporting Actor (in a film).
 Burgess Meredith, Ian Mckellen and Andy Serkis are the only actors that have won the award twice, while only Javier Bardem and Heath Ledger have won both the Saturn Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the same performance.
Aaron Paul Sturtevant (born August 27, 1979), known as Aaron Paul, is an American actor.
 He is best known for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series "Breaking Bad", for which he won several awards, including the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2014), the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film (2013), and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
 This made him the only actor to win the latter category three times (2010, 2012, 2014), since its separation into drama and comedy.
 He has also won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television three times (2009, 2011, 2013), more than any other actor in that category.
The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (often referred to as the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
 It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry.
This is a list of winners of the Academy Award of Merit for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry.
 More popularly known as the Academy Award (or the Oscar) for Best Supporting Actor, this award was initially presented at the 9th Academy Awards ceremony for 1936 and was most recently presented at the 88th Academy Awards ceremony for 2015.
 Throughout the past 80 years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, AMPAS has presented a total of 81 Best Supporting Actor awards to 73 different actors.
 This list is current as of the 89th Academy Awards ceremony held on February 26, 2017.
The Hurt Locker is a 2008 American war thriller film about an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are being targeted by insurgents with booby traps, remote control detonations and ambushes.
 Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce.
 The film shows soldiers' varying psychological reactions to the stress of combat, which though intolerable to some, is addictive to others.
 The story unfolds after a staff sergeant is killed by an insurgent trap and an apparently calm veteran is brought in to head the squad.
 His comrades suspect that their new team leader is being driven to take terrifying risks.
 Writer Mark Boal drew on his experience during embedded access to provide an authentic background for the production, although certain army procedures were portrayed with artistic licence.
The British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual award given to the Best Supporting Actor in a British film.
 The award was introduced at the 2008 ceremony.
 Previously, there had been a single award given for Best Supporting Actor/Actress starting in 2003.
Salvatore "Robert" Loggia (January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor and director.
 He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for "Jagged Edge" (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for "Big" (1988).
Pasupathy (born 18 May 1969) is an Indian film actor.
 He appeared in critically acclaimed roles in many noted films in Tamil cinema, playing supporting, antagonistic, comedic as well as protagonistic roles.
 His performance in "E" (2006) earned him a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.
 He also won an ITFA Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in "Kuselan" (2008).
 He has also appeared in Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada films.
Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor.
 He appeared largely in independent films, such as "Dahmer" (2002) and "Neo Ned" (2005).
 Renner appeared in supporting roles in bigger films, such as "S.W.A.T." (2003) and "28 Weeks Later" (2007).
 He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his much-praised performance in "The Town" (2010).