Luc Besson

Often casts Jean Reno
Music mostly by composer Éric Serra.
Typically, during the opening-titles, the camera moves towards something important for the movie, but looks down until the important part of credits was shown, then swings up, now looking at a place or character.
Often features fully enclosed sets with no natural lighting
Frequently has a shot of someone being slapped, focusing on the slapper's hand momentarily beforehand (Fifth Element, The Messenger, The Professional, La Femme Nikita)

In 1977, Luc Besson was rejected by La Fémis, the national film school of France. Besson later told in interviews, that he was 18 years old, when he applied, and in a preliminary interview an administrator asked him which directors he most admired. Besson named Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Milos Forman, before the interviewer cut him off, saying: "That's enough. I don't think you belong here".
Often casts Gary Oldman (Leon, Das fünfte Element (1997)) and they are very close friends. He produced Gary's movie Nil by Mouth (1997).
Refuses to do interviews or audio commentaries for DVD releases. This is because he believes that they ruin the impact of the film.
Jean-Pierre Melville had a heavy influence on him. He made Léon: Der Profi (1994) after seeing Melville's masterpiece Der eiskalte Engel (1967).
Grew up in Greece, Bulgaria, and former Yugoslavia, where his parents were diving instructors for Club Med.

Cinema never saved anyone's life, it is not a medicine that will save anyone's life. It is only an aspirin.
What's so special about all those amazing British children's writers, those who gave us Alice in Wonderland and Robinson Crusoe and Pooh Bear and Peter Pan and Peter Rabbit and the rest, was that they didn't set out to seduce. The great children's writers were authentic, they copied no one, they didn't set out to make money or to preach ideas. They just transcribed their dreams.
I do think that kids today miss out on a lot of those guidelines. Parents are always at work; school doesn't necessarily give the framework; politicians are all corruption and scandal; even sporting heroes are tainted with drugs and what have you. Rules are important for kids.
People often say I'm a child at heart. In fact, I think I just have access to [my childhood], I have a very clear memory of it. We were all children once. We just need to show a bit of respect for it.
Why did I make Subway (1985)? Why did I do all that crazy undersea stuff in Im Rausch Der Tiefe (1988)? Why did I go all black and nasty with Nikita (1990)?. I don't know. Because I did. I do what I do because I want to do it, because I want to explore, go looking for things.