Film director lands first in Europe, after securing second (8)
I believe the answer is:
scorsese
'film director' is the definition.
(Martin Scorsese)
'lands first in europe after securing second' is the wordplay.
'lands' becomes 'Corses' (Corse is an example).
'first in europe' becomes 'e' (sst letter of 'europe').
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'securing second' becomes 's' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'corses'+'e'='corsese'
'corsese' put after 's' is 'SCORSESE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scorsese that I've seen before include "Martin ___, director of Goodfellas and Raging Bull" , "Martin . . . . . . . ., film-maker" , "Hit (by an idea)" , "Martin -, US film director (Taxi Driver)" .)