(born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Biography Early life Kitamura was born in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He dropped out of high school at age 17 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, where he attended a school for visual arts. His first film as director was the short Exit, which he made as his graduation piece at age 19. Career After graduating, he returned to Japan to establish Napalm Films, his independent production studio. His featurettes Down to Hell and Heat after Dark were successful in film festivals, and he soon found his first mainstream success with the cult film Versus. The film launched the career of stars Tak Sakaguchi and Hideo Sakaki, and brought Kitamura international recognition when it was released on DVD outside Japan in 2004. In 2002, Kitamura directed the short film The Messenger: Requiem for the Dead as part of the Jam Films project, as well as Alive. In 2003, he directed a feature film adaptation of the manga Azumi, and Sky High, a prequel to the popular Japanese television drama. He collaborated with director Yukihiko Tsutsumi in the Duel Project, in which the two challenged one another to produce the best dueling movie with minimal production time and budget, with Aragami being Kitamura's contribution. Also in 2003, Kitamura served as producer for the film Battlefield Baseball, the directorial debut of Versus co-writer Yūdai Yamaguchi. Kitamura directed 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars, the 28th installment in the renowned kaiju franchise. The film was the first of Kitamura's projects to hold its premiere in Hollywood. In 2006, Kitmura directed LoveDeath, before relocating to Los Angeles, California. In 2003, he directed the in-game cutscenes for Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, a remake of the iconic Metal Gear Solid for the Nintendo GameCube. Unlike previous titles in the series, The Twin Snakes was developed by Silicon Knights and produced by Konami. The game featured similar mechanics to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty due to having been made on the same engine. Kitamura's direction of the cutscenes was viewed as controversial, criticism leveled at its Matrix-like action tone and unrealistic stunts performed by the characters. Regardless, it went on to receive positive reviews from video game review sites. In 2008, Kitamura made his American filmmaking debut with Midnight Meat Train based on Clive Barker's short horror story of the same name. The film (starring Bradley