Fact: Martin Scorsese and George A. Romero frequented the same store in Bronx, New York as children for one specific reason.
Martin Scorsese directed his first feature film in 1967 from a famous darkly comic The Big Shave, which features Peter Bernuth. Since then, the films he has directed are in a league of their own. That is why he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and influential filmmakers in cinema history. Just to list a modest few, Scorsese directed Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (which he plays a part in; 1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), The Departed (2006), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Gangs of New York (2002).
To this data Martin Scorsese has directed a total of 59 films, 8 of which included Robert De Niro. In fact, when asked about Robert De Niro, Scorsese stated that his creative collaboration with De Niro is very deep and that they can often understand one another without speech. Scorsese would even as far as be showing De Niro every script he wrote or considered directing even if ultimately De Niro had no involvement.
As a teenager in Bronx, Scorsese frequently rented Michael Powell’s The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) from a store that one had one copy of the reel. When it wasn’t available, the owner often told Scorsese,
that Romero kid has it,
referring to George A. Romero. Today, the both of them as directors cite the film as a major influence.