Steven Soderbergh

Producer / Director

Birthdate – January 14, 1963 (62 Years Old)

Birthplace – Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Steven Soderbergh (birthname: Steven Andrew Soderbergh) is one of the most important and prolific American independent filmmakers, and one of the few who have worked in experimental modes inside the commercial system as a director, writer, producer, cinematographer and editor (the latter two jobs which he always takes pseudonym credits).

Soderbergh has had a remarkably successful—almost unique—filmmaking career alternating between features and the television long form medium, and launched this career with the seminal indie feature, Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989), starring James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher and Laura San Giacomo, and grossing a knockout $36.7 million (on $1 million costs) for Miramax Films after premiering to acclaim (and the audience award) at the Sundance Film Festival.

Soderbergh made the unpredictable switch of subjects to a movie blending elements of the life and the fictions of Frank Kafka in Kafka (1991), starring Jeremy Irons in the title role, with Theresa Russell, Joel Grey, Ian Holm, Jeroen Krabbé, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Alec Guinness and released by Miramax for a loss. Soderbergh was director/writer/editor of the drama, King of the Hill (1993), starring Krabbé, Lisa Eichhorn, Karen Allen, Spaulding Gray, Elizabeth McGovern and Jessie Bradford, and released to a poor $1.2 million return for Gramercy Pictures.

Steven Soderbergh turned to the crime genre for his next feature as director only again backed by Gramercy, The Underneath (1995), a remake of the noir movie Criss Cross (1949), and which starred Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, William Fichtner, Joe Don Baker, Paul Dooley, Shelley Duvall and Elisabeth Shue, but again proved a commercial loser.

Soderbergh then made his first of several experimental narrative movies (and his only as star/director/writer/cinematographer/editor and with his name advertised above the title), Schizopolis (1996), with Betsy Brantley and David Jensen, premiering as a surprise entry at the Cannes Film Festival and given a limited release by Northern Arts before it gained cult status as a home video release by The Criterion Collection.

Soderbergh directed his only concert movie, Gray’s Anatomy (1996), capturing a one-man performance by actor/playwright Spalding Gray, which was produced by BBC Films and released by IFC Films after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Soderbergh directed his first successful studio-backed movie and one of the few excellent movie versions of an Elmore Leonard novel, Out of Sight (1998), starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, with Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Dennis Farina and Albert Brooks, and grossing a good $77.7 million for Universal Pictures.

Steven Soderbergh continued in the crime fiction vein as director of The Limey (1999), starring Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzman, Barry Newman and Peter Fonda, and which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and earning four Independent Spirit Awards, but earning a poor $3.2 million for distributor Artisan Entertainment. Soderbergh enjoyed a phenomenal 2000 as director of both the huge ($256 million gross) hit for Universal and Columbia Pictures, Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts (winning the Best Actress Oscar) and Albert Finley; as well as director/cinematographer of the epic about the international drug trade, Traffic, starring Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicia Del Toro, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Guzman, and winning four Oscars (including Best Director for Soderbergh, who was also nominated in the same category for Erin Brockovich), and grossing an excellent $207.5 million for USA Films.

Soderbergh continued his box-office roll as director/cinematographer with the hit franchise starter and remake backed by producer Jerry Weintraub and Village Roadshow Pictures and distributor Warner Bros.,  Ocean’s Eleven (2001), starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, returning a knockout $451 million (against $85 million costs) for Warner Bros.; Soderbergh directed and photographed (again, under the pseudonym “Peter Andrews”) the hit sequel, Ocean’s Twelve (2004), reprising the same cast and newcomer Bernie Mac, as well as the successful finale of the trilogy, Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), with new cast member Al Pacino.

Steven Soderbergh once again made an unexpected turn toward experimental cinema with Bubble (2005), his striking movie as director/cinematographer/editor (his first taking both the “Peter Andrews” credit and the “Mary Ann Bernard” credit for editor, as well as his first feature shot on digital video), and with actors Debbie Doebereiner, Dustin James Ashley and Misty Dawn Wilkins, and released by Magnolia Pictures after premiering at the Venice Film Festival. Soderbergh as director/cinematographer reunited with star George Clooney for the post-WWII crime drama, The Good German (2006), starring Cate Blanchett, Toby Maguire and Beau Bridges, and losing money for Warner Bros. ($6 million return on a $32 million budget).

Soderbergh again collaborated with actor-producer Benicio Del Toro on a 20th century-based epic, this time his artful two-part 4-hour-plus biopic (based in part on a Terrence Malick screenplay with co-writers Peter Buchman and Benjamin A. van der Veen), Che Part One (titled “The Argentine”) and Part Two (“Guerilla”) with Del Toro in the title role with a sprawling supporting cast, including Demian Bichir, Rodrigo Santoro, Santiago Cabrera, Franka Potente, Julia Ormond, Lou Diamond Phillips, Joaquim de Almeida, Edgar Ramirez, Jordi Molla, Matt Damon and Oscar Isaac, and after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival (where Del Toro won the Best Actor prize) was released as separate features by several distributors in different international territories, including IFC Films for the U.S.

Steven Soderbergh continued his unpredictable switch from huge to small projects as director/cinematographer/editor of the low-budget, digitally shot The Girlfriend Experience (2009), starring then-porn star Sasha Grey, film critic Glenn Kenny and Peter Zizzo, and released by Magnolia Pictures after a Sundance Film Festival premiere. Soderbergh as director/cinematographer cast Matt Damon for their fifth feature together (but for the first time as lead) in the black comedy, The Informant! (2009), with Scott Z. Burns basing his screenplay on Kurt Eichenwald’s book of the same title, and co-starring Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Melanie Lynskey, and grossing $42 million for Warner Bros.

Soderbergh continued his collaboration with screenwriter Burns and star Damon on the acclaimed medical thriller, Contagion (2011), co-starring Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle and Sanaa Lathan, and grossing $136.5 million for Warner Bros. following a Venice Film Festival premiere—and then regained considerable attention during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic for its technical accuracy. Soderbergh was director/cinematographer/editor of the conspiracy thriller, Haywire (2011), with Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas and Michael Douglas, and grossing $34.5 million for distributors Relativity Media/Paramount Pictures/Momentum Pictures after premiering at AFI Fest Los Angeles.

Steven Soderbergh had one of his biggest successes as director/cinematographer/editor of the hit comedy-drama, Magic Mike (2012), starring Channing Tatum, and with Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, Matt Bomer, Riley Keough, Joe Manganiello and Adam Rodriguez, and grossing a phenomenal $167.2 million (against $7 million costs), as well as the second sequel, Magic Mike’s Last Dance (2023), which earned a disappointing $57 million (on a $45 million budget); Soderbergh was cinematographer/editor only on the first sequel, Magic Mike XXL (2015).  Soderbergh was again director/cinematographer/editor, and also again collaborating with screenwriter/producer Scott Z. Burns, for the crime thriller, Side Effects (2013), starring Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Tatum, and released by Open Road Films to a $66.7 million return.

Soderbergh had announced his retirement from filmmaking (to the surprise of many), but then came out of it to be director/cinematographer/editor of the heist comedy, Logan Lucky (2017), starring Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Seth MacFarlane, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, Katherine Waterston and Sebastian Stan, and earning $48.5 million gross for Bleecker Street/Fingerprint Releasing. Soderbergh reinforced his non-retirement as director/cinematographer/editor of the psychological thriller (shot on an iPhone 7 Plus), Unsane (2018), starring Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple, Aimee Mullins and Amy Irving, and delivering a very profitable $14.3 million for distributors Fingerprint Releasing/Bleecker Street/20th Century Fox after premiering at the Berlin Film Festival.

Steven Soderbergh credited himself under his actual name as director/cinematographer/editor of his first supernatural horror movie written by David Koepp, Presence (2025), co-starring Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang and Julia Fox, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 and then released by Neon almost exactly a year later.

Soderbergh—again as director/cinematographer/editor continued to collaborate with screenwriter Koepp, but in a different genre (spy thriller) for Black Bag (2025), starring Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Regé-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris and Pierce Brosnan, and released by Focus Features/Universal Pictures. Soderbergh switched genres once again to the family comedy as director/cinematographer of The Christophers (date to be announced), co-starring Ian McKellan, James Corden and Michaela.

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Personal Details

Steven Soderbergh was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and was raised in Atlanta, Charlottesville, Virginia and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by his parents Mary Ann and Peter (university administrator and educator). Soderbergh has five siblings. Soderbergh attended and graduated from Louisiana State University Laboratory School, while making his own films with Super 8 and 16mm cameras. Soderbergh was married to actor Betsy Brantley from 1989 to 1994, when they divorced; the couple has one child. Soderbergh has been married to screenwriter/author/journalist Jules Asner since 2003. Soderbergh had a child with a woman while separated for a period of time from Asher. Soderbergh’s height is 6’ 1”. Soderbergh’s estimated net worth is $80 million.

Filmography

Presence

(2025)

Magic Mike’s Last Dance

(2023)

Kimi

(2022)

No Sudden Move

(2021)

Unsane

(2018)

Logan Lucky

(2017)

Magic Mike XXL

(2015)

Side Effects

(2013)

Magic Mike

(2012)

Haywire

(2012)

The Informant!

(2009)

Traffic

(2000)

Presence

(2025)

Magic Mike’s Last Dance

(2023)

Kimi

(2022)

No Sudden Move

(2021)

Unsane

(2018)

Logan Lucky

(2017)

Side Effects

(2013)

Magic Mike

(2012)

Haywire

(2012)

The Informant!

(2009)

Traffic

(2000)

Presence

(2025)

Magic Mike’s Last Dance

(2023)

Kimi

(2022)

No Sudden Move

(2021)

Unsane

(2018)

Logan Lucky

(2017)

Magic Mike XXL

(2015)

Side Effects

(2013)

Magic Mike

(2012)

Haywire

(2012)

Divinity

(2023)

Ocean’s Eight

(2018)

Criminal

(2016)

Criminal

(2016)

Black Bag

(2025)

Some Facts About Steven Soderbergh

What’s in a Name?: Steven Soderbergh took his father’s first and middle name for his pseudonym as a cinematographer—Peter Andrews—and his mother’s name for his pseudonym as editor—Mary Ann Bernard.

Anti-auteur: Soderbergh refuses to take the possessory (“a film by”) credit, saying that he doesn’t want to be identified as a brand since “people get tired of brands and they switch brands. I’ve never had a desire to be out in front of anything, which is why I don’t take a possessory credit.”

Against Studios: Steven Soderbergh has been outspoken about his dislike of Hollywood studios, stating that “cinema is under assault by the studios and, from what I can tell, with the full support of the audience.”