A resident of Reno, Nevada, Curtis Hanson had a long love affair with film, dating back to his teenage years. He first started working for Cinema as a freelance photographer and editor.

His first motion picture role was co-writer for a film adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft short story, The Dunwich Horror. He gathered up major roles, eventually culminating in his most famous work, L.A. Confidential, which he directed. Since then, he worked on other popular movies, such as 8 Mile and Wonder Boys.

Hanson suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, which forced him to hand off directorial work of Chasing Mavericks to Michael Apted. He passed away in his Hollywood Hills home on 20 September, 2016.