Instead of going for favorites, I'm going for most influential for me on a personal filmmaking level. Besides, Sofia Coppola is my personal favorite but for this list. She's not #1.
1. Lars von Trier
2. Sergio Leone
3. Terrence Malick
4. Akira Kurosawa
5. Todd Haynes
6. Gus Van Sant
7. Mike Leigh
8. The Coen Brothers
9. Robert Altman
10. Pedro Almodovar
11. Bernardo Bertolucci
12. Wong Kar-Wai
13. Ingmar Bergman
14. Sofia Coppola
15. Federico Fellini
16. Paul Thomas Anderson
17. Krzystof Kieslowski
18. Stanley Kubrick
19. Michelangelo Antonioni
20. Michael Winterbottom
Honorable Mentions: Wes Anderson, Werner Herzog, Richard Linklater, Francois Ozon, Woody Allen, Alfonso Cuaron, Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Soderbergh, and Clint Eastwood.