Film director, screenwriter and novelist John Sayles was born on September 28, 1950.

An icon of independent filmmaking, Sales began his career working for B-movie legend Roger Corman.

David Shumway, author of the Contemporary Film Directors series title John Sayles, says that due to the alternate funding sources the director has used for his films, Sayles has been able to explore subjects that Hollywood often avoids.

Shumway says, “Among the controversial topics Sayles has addressed that are not typically taken up by products of the major studios are a Lesbian’s realization of her sexuality, life in the African American community in Harlem, the Matewan Massacre (an incident in the labor strife known as the Stone Mountain Coal War), the effects on indigenous peoples of civil wars in Latin America, and the control of politicians and the media that cover them by the very rich.”