[Slow_Hand]

I think perhaps your friends need to expand their circle of interest when it comes to film. The film industry is full brilliant up-and-comers with very distinct voices doing original works:

Ari Aster, The Safdie Brothers, Robert Eggers, Daniels, Greta Gerwig, Rose Glass

[lordfrito]

I love this list... especially fond of Aster.. these are some great young directors, when given the opportunity they'll deliver something worth watching. Notice there is a lot of overlap with A24 here.

As important as these voices are, they aren't "up and coming" directors in the classic sense. The studio system isn't interested in giving anyone here the chance to do something larger with more mainstream impact. These directors seem to be relegated to indie films, as Hollywood is no longer interested in risk taking.

To clarify: I'm not saying these aren't great directors, they are. I'm saying Hollywood doesn't want to work with this kind of talent, is no longer capable of developing this kind of talent, and wont take the kind of risks necessary to deliver the kinds of films they used to be able to using this kind of talent.

Spielberg and Tarantino are household names, because of the studio films they made. These other directors will likely never have that much mainstream appeal.

[Slow_Hand]

I suppose another thing that the people on my list have in common is that they're all writer/directors.

You could also say that most of them also fall into the category of "auteur" as well. Though that can be a little bit of a loaded term, so the individuals might reject that designation, even if they do embody it.

One director who does stand out as doing well-regarded indie stuff and now blockbuster films is Chloe Zhao. I haven't actually seen any of her films and couldn't comment on the content of her work, but she seems to check your criteria, if only on a surface level (nothing against Chloe).

What about Christopher Nolan? He seems to be winning all fronts as someone who is in bed with major studios, has wide critical acclaim, commercial success, and makes bold, creative movies. I guess he's not up-and-coming, though.