List of directorial debuts

This is a list of notable directors and their first commercial cinematic films, listed chronologically by release date.

Many of the listed filmmakers, including Orson Welles, directed earlier works that were not commercially released, such as film-school projects, movies that failed to find distribution, or others that were never intended for release. Beginning in the 1940s and 1950s, some directors learned their trade in the medium of television, including Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, and Alfonso Cuarón. Later directors such as Alan Parker and Ridley Scott did their first professional work in commercial television advertising, which became more cinematic in the 1960s and 1970s. The success of MTV and the popularity of music videos from the early 1980s drew first work from David Fincher, Jonathan Glazer, Michel Gondry, and Spike Jonze.

♦ Indicates a director who created other earlier works for television.

# Indicates a director whose earlier work is uncredited.

† Indicates a director whose earlier work has not been released in cinemas—for example, film school productions, short films, or music videos.