10 Promising & Big-Name Directors Who Turned To The Small Screen

10. Ted Kotcheff

You've probably seen the name Ted Kotcheff more times than you even realize. For true cinephiles, he's the director of First Blood, the surprisingly thoughtful, harrowing tale of John Rambo's PTSD after coming back from Vietnam. But to anyone who has ever zoned out in front of a Law & Order marathon (and we're assuming everyone has done this at least once in their life, if not nightly), he's the name under the "Executive Producer" credit.

Kotcheff is a Canadian filmmaker who moved to England to direct British television before returning to his country to helm The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz - Mordechai Richler's Montreal-centric novel about a young Richard Dreyfuss trying to make it on his own. When Dreyfuss saw his performance, he was so mortified he jumped at the role of Matt Hooper in Jaws, fearing he had killed his career.

Kravitz, nonetheless, remains a landmark in Canadian film history, being the most successful of its time. But even those unfamiliar with Canuck cinema will know his other major features other than First Blood including the 80s corpse comedy Weekend at Bernie's and Fun With Dick and Jane.

Last year at Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival, he was awarded a lifetime achievement award, though most of his later work has been producing television, notably the aforementioned Law & Order and its spinoffs and