Rob Nowell (Rob625 at en.wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 2.5

Co-founded BBS Productions and helped launch the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s, directing Five Easy Pieces (1970) and The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) while producing Easy Rider (1969) and The Last Picture Show (1971) — three films from his circle that entered the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. Before turning to serious drama, Rafelson had co-created The Monkees, the pop group and its accompanying television series, with his BBS partner Bert Schneider, giving him a hand in both the manufactured pop of the 1960s and the director-driven cinema that displaced it.