Quentin Tarantino was born on March 27, 1963, in Knoxville, Tennessee. He moved to California with his mother at the age of three. In California he started to take acting classes in school and eventually dropped out at fifteen to attend acting classes full-time at James Best Theater Company. After two years, he dropped out to pursue other career paths. Tarantino then worked at Video Archives where he developed a love for writing screenplays. Tarantino's first film, My Best Friend's Birthday, was released in 1987, the screenplay of which would be the basis for a later film True Romance (1993). He established himself as an independent filmmaker, and gained notoriety, with the releases of his neo-noir crime films Reservoir Dogs in 1992 and Pulp Fiction in 1994. These incipient films are often categorized by critics and the public as cult classics. These films and the rest of his subsequent filmography to present day have received excellent critical, commercial, and public reception, as seen through a plethora of awards as well as consistently high ratings. Known for their highly-stylized and dialogue-driven compositions, Tarantino’s films are frequently noted for their non-linear plots, aestheticization of violence, satirical nature, elements of neo-noir, pop culture references, and ensemble casts that contain a mix of established and lesser-known actors. Beyond directing, Tarantino has written, produced, and acted in numerous movies and television shows.

Released in 1994, Tarantino’s iconic motion picture, Pulp Fiction, weaves together the stories of three interrelated protagonists (a mob contract killer, his partner, and a boxer) in a non-linear fashion. Their lives intersect through seven different narrative sequences told out of chronological order. The movie premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May 1994 and was released publically in theaters on October 14, 1994. It quickly garnered significant critical and public publicity and praise. Nominated for 26 awards following its release, Pulp Fiction won eight awards: First, Tarantino won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In the Academy Awards, Tarantino and Roger Avary won Best Original Screenplay. In the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, Tarantino and Avary again won Best Original Screenplay and Samuel L. Jackson won Best Supporting Actor. At the Golden Globe Awards, Tarantino won Best Screenplay of a Motion Picture. Finally, the National Society of Film Critics awarded Tarantino and Avary three awards for Pulp Fiction: Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. It is consistently ranked by critics and fans as one of the greatest and best-written films of all time. In 2013, it was selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved by the National Film Registry.