Paul Thomas Anderson worked.
Paul Thomas Anderson ( born June 26 , 1970 ) also known as P.T. Anderson , is an American filmmaker . After he attended the Sundance Institute , Anderson had a deal with Rysher Entertainment to direct his first feature film , a neo-noir crime thriller titled Hard Eight , in 1996 . Anderson received critical and commercial success for his film Boogie Nights ( 1997 ) , set during the Golden Age of Porn in the 1970s and 1980s . Anderson 's sixth film , the drama The Master ( 2012 ) , was released to critical acclaim .