Ariel Schulman

Ariel “Rel” Schulman and Henry Joost aren’t just the kind of directing duo who finish each other’s sentences—they actually make movies that stick around in your brain long after the credits roll. These guys kicked things off with Catfish, that buzzy documentary everyone and their grandma argued about after Sundance 2010. Yeah, the one that basically invented the term “catfishing” and blew up into an MTV show. Not a bad way to start, right? Oh, and they’re the executive producers on that, too. Then they jumped straight into the horror deep end with Paranormal Activity 3—no big deal, just the best horror opening weekend in box office history. These two aren’t just dabbling; they’re making waves. And if you’ve ever accidentally binge-watched commercials on YouTube, chances are you’ve seen their work—like that Google spot “Dear Sophie,” which Time Magazine actually crowned Best Commercial of the Year. Not to mention their artsy, offbeat short about John Baldessari, which Tom Waits narrates (yeah, Tom freakin’ Waits) and has made the rounds at more festivals than you can count. Supermarché, their NYC-based production company, has churned out shorts for Vogue featuring heavy-hitters like Lena Dunham, Margot Robbie, and Elle Fanning—those clips have racked up views in the tens of millions. And they’re not slowing down anytime soon. With a stack of film and TV projects cooking, plus the adaptation of Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang on the horizon, Rel and Henry are basically a creative hurricane. If you haven’t heard of them yet, you will.