Breakfast with Gosling, grilled by Spielberg, burned by Star Wars

Early in their careers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller had to persuade the Directors Guild of America to allow them to be credited as co-directors. They remember the panel as “like a Senate hearing,” with Steven Spielberg and Jon Favreau asking questions such as, “All right, but what happens if one of you gets sick?

What are you gonna do?” The pair, who met at Dartmouth and often finish one another’s ideas, won the verdict and have largely worked as a single creative unit ever since. Their films bear a recognisable stamp: surreal humour, wild tonal shifts and bold visual invention.

Whether directing or overseeing projects through Lord Miller Productions, they have left a mark on The Lego Movie, the Jump Street films and the Spider‑Verse franchise, smuggling consumer satire and unexpected skits into mainstream entertainment. Their latest, Project Hail Mary, stars Ryan Gosling as Dr Ryland Grace, a teacher who wakes up alone aboard a spaceship with no memory of how he got there.

United States

phil lord, christopher miller, directors guild, steven spielberg, jon favreau, ryan gosling, ryland grace, lego movie, spider-verse, jump street