Aronofsky will direct an HBO series pilot called Hobgoblin.

In July 2011, it was voted the # 1 film school in the world by The Hollywood Reporter which called it “ among the most selective film schools in America ,” with its Fellows benefiting from “ speakers and teachers drawn from the highest levels of the industry, supported by the full weight of AFI itself ... AFI's glittering parade of alumni, from David Lynch to Darren Aronofsky, remains unrivaled when it comes to auteur filmmakers ... If you know where you're going, AFI can get you there .”

Among the notable alumni of AFI are: Darren Aronofsky, Jon Avnet, Keith D. Black, Wally Pfister, Stuart Cornfeld, Bill Duke, Edward James Olmos, Carl Colpaert, Rodrigo García, Steve Golin, Patrick Creadon, Amy Heckerling, Marshall Herskovitz, Janusz Kamiński, Matthew Libatique, Mimi Leder, David Lynch, Terrence Malick, John McTiernan, Paul Schrader, Frank Spotnitz, Mark Waters, Gary Winick, Edward Zwick, and Susannah Grant.

In 2010 Aronofsky was an executive producer on The Fighter and his fifth feature film, Black Swan, received further critical acclaim and many accolades, being nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

Aronofsky with the cast and crew of Black Swan

It was also announced that Aronofsky will also produce an upcoming horror film, XOXO, written by Black Swan writer Mark Heyman.

" About the psychological thriller nature of Black Swan, actress Natalie Portman compared the film's tone to Polanski's 1968 film Rosemary's Baby, while Aronofsky said Polanski's Repulsion ( 1965 ) and The Tenant ( 1976 ) were " big influences " on the final film.

Darren Aronofsky defended Portman's performance in Black Swan, stating that she had, in fact, performed a majority of her own dancing.

* π ( 1998 ), by Darren Aronofsky, alludes to the film, and Aronofsky's Black Swan ( 2010 ) certainly contains thematic allusions to it.

In 2010, Stewart and Sharma wrote and performed the song " Outside The Lines ," for The Black Swan, by director Darren Aronofsky.

Recently, characters in the 2006 Darren Aronofsky film The Fountain search for the Tree of Life to cure a brain tumor.

Darren Aronofsky ( born February 12, 1969 ) is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer.

After turning down an opportunity to direct Batman Begins and writing the World War II horror film Below, Aronofsky began production on his third film, The Fountain.

Aronofsky had enrolled into Harvard University, which is where his interest in film first took shape.

Producing the film with an initial budget of $ 60, 000, Aronofsky premiered Pi at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, where he won the Best Director award.

Aronofsky followed his debut with Requiem for a Dream, a film based on Hubert Selby, Jr .' s novel of the same name.

Clint Mansell's soundtrack for the film was also well-regarded, and since their first collaboration in 1996, Mansell has composed the music to every Aronofsky film.

In mid-2000, Warner Bros. hired Aronofsky to write and direct Batman: Year One, which was to be the fifth film in the Batman franchise.

In April 2001, Aronofsky entered negotiations with Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow to direct a then-untitled science fiction film, with Brad Pitt in the lead role.

In June 2001, actress Cate Blanchett entered talks to join the film, which Aronofsky, wanting the title to remain secret, had given the working title of The Last Man.

He had approached actor Christian Bale for the film, but Aronofsky dropped out because of its similarities to The Wrestler and to work on MGM's RoboCop remake.

Aronofsky himself, when asked about the film, replied, " I think I'm still attached.

" Later during 2007, Aronofsky said he was planning to film a movie about Noah's Ark.

The film starred actress Natalie Portman, whom Aronofsky had known since 2000.

The film will adapt a serialized graphic novel written by Aronofsky and Ari Handel, published in French in October 2011 by the Belgian publisher Le Lombard.

Cinematographer Matthew Libatique has collaborated with Aronofsky on 3 films together, and film composer Clint Mansell has worked with him on all five films.

When Aronofsky saw The Matrix in 1999, he considered it a film that redefined the science fiction genre.

Aronofsky had in mind a science fiction film that would go beyond the other films whose plots were driven by technology and science.

Aronofsky had the idea for The Wrestler for over a decade.

In the Toronto International Film Festival interview conducted by James Rocchi, Aronofsky credited the 1957 Charles Mingus song " The Clown " as a major influence on The Wrestler.

In 2008, Tomei played Cassidy / Pam, a struggling stripper in the Darren Aronofsky independent film The Wrestler opposite Mickey Rourke.

Aronofsky preferred to use one camera whenever possible, only using a second camera if the scene was more about the setting and could be shot from two distinctly different axes.

In early 2003, Darren Aronofsky, director of the low-budget success, π, signed a three-year contract with Regency Enterprises.

A large version of the ecosphere ( about 60 ft. in diameter ) is featured as a spacecraft in The Fountain, a 2006 science fiction / fantasy film directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Darren Aronofsky described the core of the film as " a very simple love story " about a man and a woman in love, with the woman dying young.

For The Fountain, Aronofsky was inspired by a research trip he took to Guatemala with Handel to learn about Mayan history and philosophy.

Aronofsky also published a book about the film that contained production stills, the original script, original art, and observations by the film's creators.

" Lane complained about the film's up-close and far-away shots, " What fails to concern or attract Aronofsky is the place where most of us hang out — the in-between, the midshot of everyday existence.

Often with his films, Aronofsky alternates between extreme closeups and extreme distance shots to create a sense of isolation.

Aronofsky realized that since writing in 2000 the battle scene between the armies of Mayans and conquistadors, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Troy, King Arthur, and other films had featured massive battle scenes.

The tree set itself had been a collaboration between Chinlund, Aronofsky, and cinematographer Matthew Libatique to create the appropriate design, particularly the palette in comparison to the biospheric ship that carries the tree in the astronaut period.