Gareth Edwards (director)

Gareth Edwards

Edwards at the 2014 WonderCon.
Born (1975-06-01) 1 June 1975
Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom
Occupation Director, screenwriter, cinematographer, production designer, visual effects artist
Years active 2002–present

Gareth James Edwards (born 1 June 1975) is a British film director, film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, production designer, and visual effects artist. He is best known for directing the 2014 reboot of Godzilla but first gained widespread recognition for Monsters (2010), an independent film in which he served as writer, director, cinematographer, and visual effects artist.[1][2] He will next direct the epic space opera film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), the first in the Star Wars Anthology series.

Edwards is also the patron of the UK charity ASSERT. His niece Ella, born with the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome, has inspired him to help the charity raise awareness of this little known condition with the help of his growing profile.

Early life

Edwards was born on 1 June 1975 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. He is of Welsh parentage.[3] He attended Higham Lane School. Since childhood, he wanted to direct his own films, stating that "Star Wars is definitely the reason that I wanted to become a filmmaker".[4]

Edwards studied BA (Hons) Film & Video at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, formerly the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, graduating in 1996. In 2012, he received an honorary Master of Arts from UCA.[5]

Career

He got his start in visual effects; creating digital effects for prestigious shows such as Nova, Perfect Disaster and Heroes and Villains, the latter of which a series for which he made 250 visual effects which won international recognition. In 2008 he entered the Sci-Fi-London 48-hour film challenge, where a movie had to be created start-to-finish in just two days, within certain criteria. Edwards won the contest and went on to write and direct Monsters, his first feature. Edwards personally created the special effects for Monsters using off-the-shelf equipment. Besides the two main actors, the crew consisted of just five people.[6]

The success of Monsters brought enough awareness in Hollywood to land Edwards a few major projects. After the film's release, he did interviews in Hollywood with several studios, including Legendary Pictures.[7] In January 2011, Edwards landed his first major Hollywood feature, as the director of the 2014 Godzilla reboot from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.[8]

In May 2014 it was announced that Edwards would direct the first Star Wars stand-alone film with writer Gary Whitta, due to be released on 16 December 2016.[9] In March 2014, it was revealed that Edwards' spin-off Star Wars film, now written by Chris Weitz and starring Felicity Jones, would be titled Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, set for release on 16 December 2016.[10]

Three of his influences for film-making are George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino.[11]

In May 2016, Edwards exited Godzilla 2 in an amicable split with the studio to work on smaller scale projects.[12]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Director Screenwriter Producer Other Notes
2005 End Day Yes Yes No Television film
2005 Hiroshima No No No Digital artist Television documentary
2007 In the Shadow of the Moon No No No Visual effects Documentary
2010 Monsters Yes Yes No Director of photography, Visual effects, Production designer
2014 Godzilla Yes No No
2015 Monsters: Dark Continent No No Yes Executive producer
2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Yes No No

Television series

Year Show Director Other Notes
2002–2003 Nova No Animator 2 episodes
2003 Seven Wonders of the Industrial World No Visual effects 7 episodes
2005 Space Race No Digital effects artist and designer 2 episodes
2006 Perfect Disaster Yes Visual effects 2 episodes
2008 Heroes and Villains Yes Visual effects Episode: "Attila the Hun"

References

  1. ↑ Clarke, Cath (23 September 2010). "First sight: Gareth Edwards". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  2. ↑ Davis, Laura (2 December 2010). "Interview with Gareth Edwards, the Director of 'Monsters'". The Independent. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  3. ↑ "Godzilla and Star Wars director Gareth Edwards". Wales Online. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Hopkins, Jessica (27 February 2011). "The film that changed my life: Gareth Edwards". The Observer. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  5. ↑ http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/news/2012/july/honorary-degrees-2012#.U3MtXvldWyg
  6. ↑ Rose, Steve (27 November 2010). "Monsters: the bedroom blockbuster that's the anti-Avatar". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Godzilla: Meet The Director". Youtube. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Kit, Borys (4 January 2011). "EXCLUSIVE: 'Monsters' Director Stomps to 'Godzilla'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  9. ↑ Kit, Borys (22 May 2014). "'Star Wars' Spinoff Hires 'Godzilla' Director Gareth Edwards (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter.
  10. ↑ "Rogue One is the first Star Wars standalone film, Rian Johnson to write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII". Star Wars. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Jagernauth, Kevin (1 May 2014). "Gareth Edwards Names His 3 Filmmaking Heroes Plus New 'Godzilla' Featurette Goes Behind The Scenes". Indie Wire.
  12. ↑ Fleming Jr., Mike (13 May 2016). "Director Gareth Edwards Exits 'Godzilla 2'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 13 May 2016.

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