Robert Lee Zemeckis ( born May 14 , 1952 ) is an American filmmaker and screenwriter frequently credited as an innovator in visual effects . Credited as `` one of the greatest visual storytellers in filmmaking '' , he first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of Romancing the Stone ( 1984 ) and the science-fiction comedy Back to the Future film trilogy , as well as the live-action/animated comedy Who Framed Roger Rabbit ( 1988 ) . In the 1990s he diversified into more dramatic fare , including 1994 's Forrest Gump , for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director . The movies he has directed have ranged across a wide variety of genres , for both adults and families . Though Zemeckis has often been pigeonholed as a director interested only in effects , his work has been defended by several critics , including David Thomson , who wrote that `` No other contemporary director has used special effects to more dramatic and narrative purpose . ''
Robert Zemeckis has made movies for families and he is acclaimed.