Chris Joseph Columbus is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Columbus is known for such movies as Gremlins, The Goonies, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Home Alone, the last receiving a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Film. He initiated his career in cinema as a screenwriter for the film Gremlins (1984), produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. He is recognized for directing family films that have been successful both critically and at the box office.

His most famous works include the first two films in the Harry Potter series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and Mrs. Doubtfire, among others.