A graduate of London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Art, Ridley Scott began his directing career at the BBC, working on some of the network’s popular television programmes, as well as commercials. After three years, he formed his own company, RSA, which soon became one of the most successful commercial production houses. In 1977, Scott made his directorial feature debut with The Duellists, for which he won the Best First Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival. His next two films were cinematic landmarks: Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982), which was added to the US Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 1993. In 1995, he and his younger brother Tony Scott formed Scott Free Productions, which has produced a wide range of film and television projects. Their numerous small-screen projects include the hit series The Good Wife and The Pillars of the Earth, and the Golden-Globe winning HBO film RKO 281. He has been honored with three Academy Award nominations for Best Director (Thelma & Louise, The Gladiator, Black Hawk Down).