David Gordon Green (born April 9, 1975) is an American filmmaker.

Green began his career in 1997 and gained fame with the independent film George Washington (2000). He directed two additional independent dramas, All the Real Girls (2003) and Snow Angels (2007), as well as the thriller Undertow (2004), all of which he wrote or co-wrote.

In 2008, Green transitioned into Hollywood studio comedies, directing the films Pineapple Express (2008), Your Highness and The Sitter (both 2011).

He briefly returned to his dramatic roots with the independent films Prince Avalanche (2013), Joe (2013), and Manglehorn (2014). Following this departure, he returned to studio films with Our Brand Is Crisis (2015) and Stronger (2017). Beginning in 2018, Green directed a trilogy of slasher films in the Halloween franchise: Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022), which he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Danny McBride. Most recently, Green directed The Exorcist: Believer (2023), with two additional sequels planned.

Green has also directed episodes of the comedy series Eastbound & Down (2009–2013), Red Oaks (2014–17), Vice Principals (2016–17), and The Righteous Gemstones (2019–present), on all of which he additionally served as executive producer.

Green, one of four children, was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and grew up in Richardson, Texas. His mother, Jean Ann (née Hunter), was a Lamaze instructor, and his father, Hubert Gordon Green, Jr., was a medical school dean.^[1][2] Green attended Richardson High School, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied film directing.^[3] He currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina.^[4]

As a college student, Green made the two short films, Pleasant Grove and Physical Pinball, at the North Carolina School of the Arts prior to his feature film debut in 2000, the critically acclaimed George Washington, which he both wrote and directed. He followed that with All the Real Girls in 2003 and Undertow in 2004. In 2007, he directed Snow Angels, his first adaptation, based on the Stewart O'Nan novel. The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival^[5] and stars Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale. It was released by Warner Independent Pictures.^[6]

In 2008, Green’s career transitioned when he directed the Seth Rogen buddy comedy Pineapple Express, and the HBO series Eastbound & Down, for which he directed twelve episodes and served as a consulting producer. In 2011, he co-created the animated series Good Vibes and directed the comedies Your Highness and The Sitter, both of which received negative reviews.

In 2013, Green briefly returned to independent film when he directed and co-wrote Prince Avalanche and Joe. He followed these films with Manglehorn (2014), Our Brand Is Crisis (2015), and Stronger (2017).

In 2018, Green directed the horror sequel Halloween, produced by Jason Blum, executive produced by John Carpenter, and co-written by Green and Danny McBride.^[7][8] He also directed its sequels Halloween Kills, released in October 2021, and Halloween Ends, released in October 2022.

In April 2020, HBO was announced to be developing a Hellraiser television series that would serve as "an elevated continuation and expansion" of its mythology with Mark Verheiden and Michael Dougherty writing the series and Green directing several episodes; the three will also be executive producing the series with Danny McBride, Jody Hill, Brandon James and Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment.^[9] In December 2020, it was announced Green will direct a new installment of The Exorcist franchise which will be a direct sequel to William Friedkin's 1973 film adaptation of the 1971 novel.^[10][11][12]

Green's favorite films are, in order, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Gravy Train, The Bad News Bears, Deliverance, Nashville and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.^[13]

It has been suggested, even by the director himself, that Green's early films (most notably George Washington) take influence from the works of Terrence Malick.^[14] Malick himself served as an executive producer of Green's 2004 film Undertow.

• David Gordon Green's unrealized projects