In crafting ourBest of the Decade contenthere on Collider, we ran through the usual suspects—the best movies, the best TV shows, thebest action scenes. The industry changed radically over the last 10 years as superhero movies took over the box office, the idea of a “movie star” began to fade, and the advent of streaming opened up the floodgates for more television than you could possibly watch in several lifetimes.
With this influx of content, it became clear that the vitality of the entertainment industry hinged on storytellers with the capability of telling new or unique stories, or the ability to craft new ways of telling familiar stories. At the end of the day, a great film or TV show is, at its core, a story. And what’s a story without a storyteller?
So in addition to the usual lists you may see elsewhere, we took the opportunity to highlight what we perceive to be the breakout storytellers of the decade. These are writers, directors, producers, and performers who broke new ground, and in their wake paved the way for a more diverse range of stories to be told. From superheroes to teenagers, drug kingpins to hitmen, a protagonist is only as good as the writer behind him or her, and these storytellers are responsible for some of the most iconic characters to grace the screen (big and small) over the last 10 years. So without further ado, we present the breakout storytellers of the 2010s.
For more of Collider’s Best of the Decade content,click here.
Donald Glover
Donald Gloveris gifted at so many things, it’s almost intolerable. The polymath performer got his start in comedy whenTina Feyhired him as a writer on30 Rockout of college and soon after, a starring role onDan Harmon’s critical darlingCommunitymade him a household name. But the turn of the decade brought out new sides of Glover’s talents and with each new medium,he found different ways to unleash his one-of-a-kind voice and perspective.
2010 and 2011 brought stand-up comedy specials that showed off his gift for showmanship, live performance and timing while glimpsing the dark absurdist undercurrent to his sense of humor. 2010 also saw the release of three mixtapes under his stage name Childish Gambino and the release of his first studio album the following year. From there, it was a quick road the Grammys, numerous followup albums, and a series of surreal music videos that announced the powerful potential of his enduring creative partnership with directorHiro Murai(who went on to direct Glover’s zeitgeisty music video sensation “This Is America”.”
But somehow, even with all those accomplishments and talents, no one was prepared for the nuclear-grade absurdist genius of his FX seriesAtlanta, which he creates, writes, executive produces, stars in and occasionally directs. A hallucinatory and provocative meditation on black life in America,Atlantanever pulls a single punch, landing one insightful blow after the next.Atlantais an inspired show with a fearless commitment to gags that are equal parts batshit and brilliant and finding the most direct access to universal truths in Glover’s surreal world of magical realism. Nobody but Donald Glover could have given us Teddy Perkins, and nobody but Teddy Perkins could so concisely sum up the enigmatic terror and surreality of life in 2018. —Haleigh Foutch
Bill Hader
One of the most defining images ofmy2019 is walking out of a movie theater in Hollywood to see a billboard forBarryon one side of Sunset, a billboard forIT: Chapter Twoon the other, and thinking of how absurdly farBill Haderhas come. The dude started the decade as the most endearing part of everySaturday Night Livesketch he appeared in—Stefonalonebelongs inSNL’s Hall of Fame class—but soon got the chance to really stretch his creative muscles, first with the geniusDocumentary Now!on IFC and thenBarry, the multi-Emmy winning dark comedy that’s emerged in just two seasons as one of the best shows in years. Sure, Hader will still show up to flatline in something likePopstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, because Bill Hader is still funny as hell, but that’s also why he was able to so deftly channel but comedy and tragedy inIT: Chapter Two. The man contains multitudes, and this decade saw him tap in to every single one. (Note: If you’re still on the fence, please watchthis scenefrom theThe Skeleton Twinsseveral dozen times and thank me later.) –Vinnie Mancuso
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
In the midst of endless, tiresome discourse and debate about political correctness, woke culture, and how it’s all killing comedy,Phoebe Waller-Bridgeand her incisive voice emerged like a beacon of warm, welcome and “holy shit, hit pause because I’m laughing so hard I can’t breathe” relief. They say good comedy always punches up, but Waller-Bridge takes another track entirely – she finds her best material by punching inward. A gifted and trained actress with enough screen charisma to earn a storied career on the basis of her acting talent alone, Waller-Bridge is also endowed with a once-in-a-generation wit that makes a peer among wordsmith legends like Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker, not to mention a seemingly preternatural gift for tight storytelling with transformative character arcs. And she just makes it all look so damned easy.
As an actress, she earned some recognition in the early 2010s through a number of roles, most notably on 2015’sBroadchurch, but it wasn’t until her screenwriting career took off that her astronomical rise truly began. In 2016, she delivered a double whammy with both the woefully underseen Channel 4 seriesCrashingand the BBC/Amazon hitFleabag(based on her hit 2013 one-woman stage show), both of which applied her dangerously sharp scalpel/pen to flaying open the heartache and humor of messy, deeply fucked up people and humanity’s endless capacity for the punishments of love.Fleabagearned instant buzz for its torturously raw, impossibly funny look at grief and self-destruction, becoming the kind of lowkey critical darling you probably heard you “absolutely have to watch” from the biggest TV nerd you know.
Then came 2018, and another one-two knockout from Waller-Bridge. She starred in a profile-boosting gig inSolo: A Star Wars Storyas Lando Calrissian’s scene-stealing, outrageously thirsty droid L3-37. Reviews of the film were mixed across the board, but one thing everyone agreed on was Phoebe Waller-Bridge was the unequivocal highlight. At the same time, her Emmy and Golden Globe-winning BBC thriller seriesKilling Evebecame a wildfire sensation, dominating Twitter discourse and watercooler conversation with the captivating, queer, and utterly unconventional love story about the shared obsession between an assassin (Jodi Comer, exquisite) and the agent trying to bring her down (Sandra Oh, sublime).
2019 brought us the gift that isFleabagSeason 2, an actual masterpiece that packs a titanic span of the emotional spectrum into less than three hours.FleabagSeason 2 is, no bullshit, god-level writing. A break-the-bat, soaring out of the park home run that sent writers everywhere into an existential spiral knowing they’ll never do anything half as good. In six short episodes, Waller-Bridge delivers a sum total of the human heart with blistering candor and insight, yanking you from deep-belly laughter to wrenching, cathartic sobs with a twinkling, naughty grin and depth of compassion that’s legitimately profound. It tore through the zeitgeist with the force of the phenomenal. Hot Priest became an icon, and so did Phoebe Waller-Bridge, tapping into the purest, most protected parts of our capacity for goodness and reminding us that, if we can love Fleabag with all her hideous faults, maybe we can love ourselves too.
No one writes characters like Phoebe Waller-Bridge, nor dialogue, nor structure – the fourth-wall break has never met a more worthy match – because she is a truly singular voice and gifted storyteller, unparalleled by her peers. With a co-writing credit on 2020’sNo Time to Die, giving her the opportunity to put that unique stamp on the complicated legacy of James Bond, Waller-Bridge is poised to remain a vital storyteller in the decade to come, and it’s hard to remember the last time it was this exciting to wonder what someone will do next. —Haleigh Foutch
Kevin Feige
The most significant name on this list, in terms of impact throughout the decade, is probablyKevin Feige. The producer started the 2010s as the head of Marvel Studios, steering creatively tricky waters withIron Man 2and trying to build toThe Avengers. He ends the decade as Marvel’s chief creative officer (overseeing pretty much every creative aspect of Marvel Entertainment), producer of the highest-grossing film in history, producer of the first superhero movie nominated for Best Picture, producer of an upcomingStar Warsmovie, and a key figure in an unprecedented deal between two studios to share a popular character between them for the betterment of the creative vision.
Feige is the “showrunner” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—the most consistently successful franchise running right now—and the head of the braintrust that oversees each and every step in building the overall MCU story.The Avengersdoesn’t happen without Feige. HiringJames Gunnto directGuardians of the Galaxyprobably doesn’t happen without Feige.Black PantherandCaptain Marveldefinitely don’t happen without Feige’s insistence—to the point that he successfully lobbied to change his direct-report at the studio to get those films made. The guy cares deeply about these characters, about this story, and yes, about movies. He isthecentral figure for one of the most unprecedented and impressive runs in cinematic history, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down or breaking his streak anytime soon. –Adam Chitwood
Sean Baker
you may’t talk about independent film in the 2010s without also talking aboutSean Baker. The filmmaker’s 2015 comedyTangerinewas his breakout hit, but even then it’s a very low-budget movie about trans sex workers with zero recognizable stars, all shot entirely with an iPhone.That’san independent film, and yetTangerinehad tremendous crossover appeal, proving that no matter how “non-commercial” a studio may deem certain subject matter or tone or style, sometimes (all times?) traditional wisdom is worth fuck-all. Baker’s next film,The Florida Project, brought more recognizable stars to the forefront but didn’t leave behind its indie spirit, and this deeply felt story of growing up in poverty—told from the POV of a young girl—is at once full of possibility and despair. It’s one of the most emotionally devastating films of the 2010s, thanks in no small part to Baker’s commitment to capturing the story’s events in as genuine a manner as possible. –Adam Chitwood
Phil Lord & Chris Miller
The comedy ofPhil Lord & Chris Milleris absolutely on my wavelength, but it’s their storytelling acumen that sets them apart from their peers. Lord & Miller have made their mark taking ideas that should not work at all, and then surprising everyone with the results. They did it back in 2009 with their adaptation of the children’s bookCloudy with a Chance of Meatballsand then showed that doing the impossible was just their thing with a brilliant adaptation of21 Jump Streetand turning a toy line into a referendum on chosen one narratives withThe LEGO Movie. That’s not to mention their contributions to other great movies likeThe LEGO Batman MovieandSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. –Matt Goldberg
Ava DuVernay
SinceAva DuVernaybecame the first black woman to win Sundance’s Directing Award for her second feature,Middle of Nowhere, Ava Duvernay has emerged as an absolutely essential voice in both filmmaking and social justice, with both avenues often intertwining. DuVernay tells stories to shock your system, whether it be theMartin Luther King Jr.biopicSelma, prison system documentary 13th, or, recently, the searing Central Park Five seriesWhen They See Us. Considering all that, it almost seems unfair that she can also just craft one hell of a blockbuster; with herA Wrinkle in Timeadaptation, DuVernay became the first black female director to snag more than $100 million at the box office and is currently hard at work puttingNew Godstogether for Warner Bros.’ DC Universe. –Vinnie Mancuso
Few filmmakers have had as marked and measurable an impact on horror cinema asJames Wanhas in the last 10 years. The director and producer who just can’t seem to lose at the box office lately helped kick off the “torture porn” trend in the early 2000s withSaw, but in the 2010s, his reach was wider, more impactful, and resonant across genre boundaries.
Wan kicked off his decade with 2010’sInsidious, launching a top-grossing horror franchise that’s still booming to this day, and along with 2013’sInsidious: Chapter 2, cementing himself as a formative figure in the industry-altering success of Blumhouse’s low-low-budget strategy. 2013 also saw the release of New Line Cinema’sThe Conjuring, allowing Wan the opportunity to dig even deeper into the classicism of haunted house horror and swing to the other end of horror budgets. The film was a massive success, earning $319 million worldwide, and spawning a billion-dollar franchise of sequels and spinoffs that seems to get more popular by the year.
That’s also about the same time started leaning into producing, launching his Atomic Monster banner in 2014 with the firstConjuringspinoffAnnabelle, and soon after, the short-to-feature successLights Out. That film was directed byDavid F. Sandberg, who, like Wan, made the leap from New Line’s horror arm to Warner Bros. DC Universe.
So that’s record-shattering success in horror, two franchises launched within 3 years, and a killer eye for fostering up-and-coming talent. What’s next? Bonafide blockbuster filmmaking. In 2015, Wan directedFurious 7, threading an impossibly difficult needle after the tragic death ofPaul Walkerand working pure movie magic to give fans catharsis and closure without losing the gonzo action adrenaline rush that’s made the franchise an international sensation. And he worked his box office wizardry once again with 2018’sAquaman, delivering one of the highest-grossing DC films to date, once again pulling an unusually heavy weight by bearing the burden of the post-Justice Leaguemovie that helped chart a new course for the troubled cinematic universe.
Across genres and studios, Wan has reliably delivered a breakout hit every few years over the course of the decade, each helping to redefine the template and tropes of the stories he’s telling, each success bigger than the last. Few filmmakers can claim to have his success rate, and even fewer can claim such a wide-ranging reach of creative influence in the 2010s. —Haleigh Foutch
Vince Gilligan
Okay so ifBreaking Badis one of the best TV shows of the decade, it stands to reason that its creator/showrunner/mastermindVince Gilliganis at least marginally talented. TheX-Filesalum pitchedBreaking Badas a show that would take the lead character “from Mr. Chips to Scarface,” which is an arc that could be executed any number of ways. Gilligan and his insanely talented team of writers and filmmakers wrote themselves into corners time and again, slowly tracking the evolution of Walter White from sad middle-aged man to drug kingpin. As if that wasn’t enough, Gilligan then went and did something dumb: created aBreaking Badspinoff series calledBetter Call Saul. And wouldn’t you know it? That show is brilliant as well. You don’t create and run a show as consistently great asBreaking Badby accident, and that was no one-off. The mature, elegantly heartbreakingBetter Call Saulsolidifies Gilligan as one of the best storytellers of the decade. –Adam Chitwood
Damien Chazelle
Here’s something insane:Damien Chazellewas 32 years old when he won the Best Director Oscar forLa La Land. Here’s another thing that’s insane: Chazelle is now 36 and has already made threegreatmovies. The wunderkind first broke out with 2014’sWhiplash, a terrifying and intimate tale of ambition, before crafting a wildly ambitious musical with the downright lovelyLa La Land. Then, just to shake things up, he directed an incredibly visceral astronaut drama about Neil Armstrong in which he had to recreate the moon landing.First Manfeels like one of those films that will gain a more significant audience as time wears on, but across these three movies Chazelle has never made the same film twice. That mix of ambition and talent is rare, and while many could hang their hat on that trifecta of films right there, Chazelle is showing no signs of slowing down. –Adam Chitwood
