Gareth Edwards (director)

Gareth Edwards (director)
Gareth James Edwards (born 13 July 1975) is a British filmmaker. He first gained widespread recognition for Monsters (2010), an independent film in which he served as writer, director, cinematographer, and visual effects artist. He subsequently directed Godzilla (2014), a reboot of Toho's Godzilla franchise and the first film in Legendary's MonsterVerse, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), the first installment of the Star Wars anthology series and an immediate prequel to Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). He would return to making original films with the science fiction thriller The Creator (2023).
Career
Gareth Edwards was born on 13 July 1975 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. He is of Welsh parentage. Edwards wanted to direct his own films since childhood, stating that "Star Wars is definitely the reason that I wanted to become a filmmaker". He attended Higham Lane School, followed by college at North Warwickshire College of Technology and Art (now NWSLC), completing a BTEC National Diploma in Audio Visual Studies. Edwards studied film and video at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College in Farnham, graduating in 1996. In 2012, he received an honorary Master of Arts from UCA. Edwards got his start in visual effects, creating digital effects for shows including Nova, Perfect Disaster and Heroes and Villains, for which he created 250 visual effects. In 2008 he entered the Sci-Fi-London 48-hour film challenge, for which a movie had to be created start-to-finish in two days and within certain criteria. Edwards won the contest with his short film Factory Farmed and went on to write and direct Monsters, his first feature. Edwards created the visual effects for Monsters using off-the-shelf equipment. Besides the two main actors, the crew consisted of just five people.
The success of Monsters brought sufficient awareness in Hollywood to land first major projects. After the film's release, he did interviews in Hollywood with several studios, including Legendary Pictures. In January 2011, Edwards acquired his first major Hollywood feature, as director of the 2014 Godzilla reboot from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.
Edwards directed Rogue One, the first Star Wars stand-alone film, written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, based on a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta, starring Felicity Jones, and released on 16 December 2016.
Three of his influences for filmmaking are George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino. In May 2016, Edwards exited Godzilla: King of the Monsters in an amicable split with the studio to work on smaller scale projects.
In February 2020, it was reported that Edwards was set to direct and write a film with the working titled True Love for New Regency, with Rogue One co-producer Kiri Hart serving as producer for the project. The movie has since been renamed and released in 2023 as The Creator. The film stars John David Washington. It notably marked his second collaboration with Rogue One cinematographer Greig Fraser and his first collaboration with composer Hans Zimmer. It was released on 29 September 2023.
Filmography
Films
Short film
Other credits
Television
TV movie
Documentary series
Other credits
References
External links
Factory Farmed, winner of the Sci-Fi-London 2008 film festival 48 Hour Film Challenge, on Dailymotion.
Gareth Edwards: Indie Filmmaker, See how Gareth created his independent film with "pro-sumer" equipment.
1975 births
Living people
People from Nuneaton
English film directors
English film producers
English screenwriters
English cinematographers
Science fiction film directors
British production designers
English people of Welsh descent