Yoshimitsu Banno

Yoshimitsu Banno (坂野 義光, Banno Yoshimitsu; March 30, 1931 – May 7, 2017) was a Japanese film director, best known for the cult-classic Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), which he directed and co-wrote. Banno was a special guest at G-Fest XII in 2005. He was an executive producer on Legendary Pictures' Godzilla (2014), and has received posthumous executive producer credit for subsequent projects in the MonsterVerse. He died of a subarachnoid hemorrhage on May 7, 2017 at his home in Kawasaki at the age of 86. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) was dedicated to his memory along with Haruo Nakajima's.