Armenian-American Steven Zaillian Wins Outstanding Directing for Netflix’s ‘Ripley’

LOS ANGELES — Armenian American Steven Zaillian garnered an Emmy Award on Sunday for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Netflix’s Ripley, Deadline reports.

In his speech, Zaillian said he was enamored by the beautiful landscapes that Italy provided, alongside being grateful for his cast and crew.

“Making Ripley in Italy was its own reward. It was like a dream. I didn’t need anything after that,” the director said.

“The work is its own reward and I still really appreciate this honor though, and I share it with literally hundreds of people who worked on Ripley, the actors, Andrew [Scott], Dakota [Fanning], Elliot [Sumner], Johnny [Flynn], Maurizio [Lombardi], and all the other wonderful Italian actors, the producers, the incredible department heads and crew—all of ’em artists in their own right. I thank them. The Academy, Netflix and my family.”

Steven Zaillian born born in Fresno, California on January 30, 1953 is an Armenian-American screenwriter, film director and producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for his screenplay Schindler’s List (1993) and has earned Oscar nominations for the films Awakenings, Gangs of New York, Moneyball and The Irishman. He was presented with the Distinguished Screenwriter Award at the 2009 Austin Film Festival and the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild of America in 2011. Zaillian is the founder of Film Rites, a film production company.