Alexander Proyas was born in Egypt on 23 September 1963. His parents moved to Sydney when he was 3 years old. He is a Greek-Australian filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for directing the science fiction films The Crow, Dark City, I, Robot and Knowing. At 17 he went to film school and began directing music videos. He moved to Los Angeles in the United States to further his career, working on MTV music videos and TV commercials. At the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, Proyas was nominated for a Golden Palm award for his short film, Book of Dreams: 'Welcome to Crateland'.