Catherine Hardwicke's first film as a director was the critically-acclaimed Thirteen, which won the Director's Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, and awards at numerous international film festivals. She has since become best known as the director of Twilight, which launched the worldwide blockbuster franchise, The Twilight Saga. Hardwicke previously worked as a Production Designer on films directed by Richard Linklater, David O. Russell, Cameron Crowe, and Lisa Cholodenko. Recently Hardwicke has directed television episodes for AMC and pilots for CBS, MTV and USA, all of which went to series. Additionally, she directed the music video for the Emmy award winning song 'Till It Happens To You' by Lady Gaga. Her most recent film, Sony's Miss Bala, an action thriller, stars Gina Rodriguez, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Anthony Mackie, and is slated for release in January 2019.