At age 8, began shooting action-oriented short films using his father's 8mm camera.
Played in a band called the Coupe de Villes during college.
While attending USC, helped produce a short, The Resurrection of Broncho Billy, which won an Oscar in 1970.
Made his feature-film directing debut with the 1974 sci-fi/comedy Dark Star, which was an expanded version of his Master's thesis project.
His commercial breakthrough was the 1978 horror classic Halloween, which he wrote, directed and scored. The film was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2006.