Christopher Nolan - Early Life

Early Life

Nolan was born in London, to a British father, who worked as an advertising copywriter, and an American mother, a flight attendant. As a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States, he spent his childhood in both London and Chicago. He began making films at the age of seven using his father's Super 8 camera and his toy action figures. While living in Chicago, he made short films with film director Roko Belic. They collaborated on a surreal 8mm short, Tarantella (1989), which was shown on Image Union, an independent film and video showcase on the Public Broadcasting Service. He was also briefly affiliated with Dan Eldon's African charity projects in the early 1990s.

Nolan was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, an independent school on Hertford Heath in Hertfordshire, and later read English literature at University College London (UCL). He chose the university specifically for its filmmaking facilities, which consisted of a Steenbeck editing suite and 16mm film cameras. Nolan was president of the college film society from 1992 to 1994; a contemporary described him as talented and focused on learning as much as possible about the mechanics and technology of filmmaking. Nolan graduated in 1993, but continued to associate with the film society. Meanwhile he earned a living by producing corporate training videos, before moving to Los Angeles and getting a freelance job reading scripts. In 1997, Nolan married Emma Thomas, his girlfriend at UCL and long-time film producer. They have four children.