Michel Hazanavicius is a French film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing the 2011 film, The Artist, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director. He also directed spy film parodies OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) and OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009). Before directing films, Hazanavicius worked in television, beginning with the Canal+ channel, where he started as a director in 1988. He began directing commercials for companies such as Reebok, and then, in 1993, he made his first feature-length film, "La Classe Américaine", for television. He then went on to direct his first short film, Echec Au Capital, and followed it up with his first theatrically released feature, Mes Amis, which starred his brother, actor Serge Hazanavicius.