Sam Mendes is an English film director, producer and screenwriter who was known for his innovative treatments of classic stage productions as well as for his thought-provoking films. He made his directorial debut with the drama American Beauty (1999), which earned him the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Further, Mendes directed films like Road to Perdition (2002), Revolutionary Road (2008), and the James Bond films Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015). For 1917 (2019), a war film, he received the BAFTA Award for Best Direction and a second Golden Globe Award for Best Director. The Telegraph, a British daily newspaper, ranked him 15 on the list of 100 most powerful people in British culture.