Wes Anderson, born in 1969, in Houston (Texas), studied at the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with a degree in Philosophy and where he met and became friends with Owen Wilson, with whom he began making short films. In 1994, one of these shorts was screened at the Sundance Festival, and the reception was so enthusiastic that it secured funding to make a feature version of this short (which, although not commercially successful, generated a cult following and attracted the attention of a demanding audience, with Martin Scorsese as one of the earliest fans). But success and recognition would come with films like Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) or The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Since 2002, he has won Oscar nominations for five films.