Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan (pronounced [ˈʃaməˈlan];Tamil:மனோஜ் நெல்லியட்டு சியாமளன்; Malayalam: മനോജ് നെല്ലിയട്ടു ശ്യാമളന് ; born August 6, 1970), known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Academy Award-nominated American filmmaker and script writer of major studio films, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that usually climax with a twist ending.
He has been chosen to direct the film adaption of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which will be released as The Last Airbender.
Though full American citizens, his parents traveled to India for his birth, giving him Indian citizenship before American. He began making home films at a young age, and clips from several are included on DVD releases of his feature films, typically with an introduction where he decries the poor skill he had at the time. Though he began making films professionally in 1992, it was not until the release of The Sixth Sense in 1999 that he found mainstream success.
Shyamalan was introduced to Avatar by his children, who were fans from the beginning and finally convinced him to start watching late in season two. He was immediately intrigued and bought the DVDs of season one, which quickly made the whole family fans of the show. His favorite character is Zuko due to the morally grey complexities of his personality.
