Roland Emmerich

Often features an object crashing into the camera (Independence Day : Le Jour de la riposte (1996))
Often features an insert or close-up shot of a villain's eyes widening just before the villain dies (Stargate : La Porte des étoiles (1994), Independence Day : Le Jour de la riposte (1996), The Patriot : Le Chemin de la liberté (2000)).
Several of his major films have featured a silhouetted couple kissing in front of a luminous background.
Often features the number "44" somewhere in his films in reference to his movie Moon 44 (1990).
Movies frequently feature a scene with rain

Credits Sylvester Stallone with giving him his big break. Stallone was impressed with Moon 44 (1990) and began recommending Emmerich to producers all around Hollywood.
His five favorite films are Lawrence d'Arabie (1962), Rencontres du troisième type (1977), Cinéma Paradiso (1988), Le Parrain (1972) and Citizen Kane (1941).
Is one of the few openly gay directors in Hollywood. Although he claims to have encountered a certain degree of homophobia from studios, he nevertheless feels that as a director, coming out has not harmed his career in the way that it did for some high-profile actors (who had difficulties finding work afterwards). By his own admission, he can still do the movies that he wants to make.
Donated $150,000 to the Outfest's Legacy Project, which is dedicated to the gay and lesbian film preservation, the largest gift in the festival's history (2006).
Along with other celebrities, he raised money for women's rights in the developing world.

I'm making movies for the masses.
I came to film school in 1977 when directors like Fassbinder and Wenders were everybody's heroes. But it was also the time that Star Wars and Close Encounters came out, and these were the seminal movies for me. Everybody is always so careful about these things. I mean, I'm good friends with Wim Wenders, but it doesn't mean I have to like his movies. Some of them, I like. Most of them, I find boring. And I would tell him that to his face.
When you're not loved by the critics, it's very hard for anyone to say anything good about your movie. For me, it's more important that the audience enjoys it and embraces it, anyway. You get something that does well, but is criticized. So you say, 'OK, they just didn't get it. There's 1% or 2% who didn't like it. But there's 98% who did.
... all my movies are created because I'm fascinated by a subject. Sometimes I think there's just a certain obsession about it all - when you want to do something just for the sake of it. A lot of directors are like that. I'm just very fortunate that most of my movies get made.