Gregor "Gore" Verbinski (born March 16, 1964) is an American film director and writer.

Biography

He was born the third of five children to Vic and Laurette Verbinski in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. His siblings are Janine, Claire, Diane and Steven. His father was of Polish descent and worked as a nuclear physicist at the Oak Ridge Lab. In 1967 the Verbinski family moved to Southern California, where a young Gregor grew up in the town of La Jolla. Gregor was an active Boy Scout and surfed regularly. He went to Torrey Pines Elementary, Muirlands Junior High, and La Jolla High before attending UCLA Film School. His first band was Thelonius Monster, which included drummer Danny Heifetz, he also played in the local band "The Drivers", and Allstar band "The Cylon Boys Choir". His first films were a series of 8mm films called "The Driver Files" circa 1979, when he was a young teen. Although most associate Verbinski with feature films, he started his career directing music videos for bands like Bad Religion, NOFX, 24-7 Spyz and Monster Magnet working at Palomar Pictures. This was not surprising to his friends in LA, since he also played music for various punk and rock bands including The Little Kings, Bulldozer and the Daredevils, which included then-departed member of Bad Religion Brett Gurewitz.