Van Sant was nominated for a Best Director Academy Award in 1998 for Good Will Hunting, and won Best Director and Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for his film Elephant. He has written the screenplays for most of his early movies as well as a novel "Pink" ISBN 0385493533. A book of his photography has also been published called "108 Portraits" ISBN 0944092225.
He has released two CDs entitled "Gus van Sant" and "18 Songs About Golf". He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.