David Lowery (director)

American filmmakerTemplate:SHORTDESC:American filmmaker

**David Lowery** (born December 26, 1980) is an American filmmaker.

His original work *Ain't Them Bodies Saints* (2013), starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. In 2016, he directed the Disney film *Pete's Dragon* (2016), a live-action film which he had co-written. It was a new work loosely based on the same original story as the Disney 1977 musical of the same name. In 2018, he directed *The Old Man & the Gun*. In 2021, he directed the fantasy epic *The Green Knight*.

## Early life

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on December 26, 1980, David Lowery is the eldest of nine children born to Madeleine and Mark Lowery. When he was seven, his family moved to Irving, Texas for his father's work. Lowery attended Irving High School.

At the age of 19, Lowery wrote and directed his first film, a short entitled *Lullaby*. In this period, he met some others interested in film, and they have worked together on some projects.

## Career

Lowery's first feature film, *St. Nick*, which follows two runaway children abandoned by their guardians, premiered at the 2009 South by Southwest festival. It won the Texas Filmmaker Award at the 2009 AFI Dallas International Film Festival.

In 2011 Lowery started his own production company, Sailor Bear. That same year, he wrote and directed the short film entitled *Pioneer*, which played at the Sundance Film Festival that year.

In 2013, Lowery wrote, directed and edited his second feature film, *Ain't Them Bodies Saints*, starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. It was selected to compete at the International Critics' Week section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Lowery has said that he drew from great directors and their works for this film, citing Claire Denis's *35 Shots of Rum*, Robert Altman's *McCabe & Mrs. Miller*, and Paul Thomas Anderson and David Fincher as influences.

In addition to having edited films such as Amy Seimetz's *Sun Don't Shine* and Shane Carruth's *Upstream Color*, Lowery co-wrote *Pit Stop* with director Yen Tan. At the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that Lowery would write and direct the film adaptation of the novel *The Yellow Birds*, written by Iraq War veteran Kevin Powers; it was a 2012 National Book Award finalist. The film was eventually directed by Alexandre Moors and stars Jack Huston, Tye Sheridan, Alden Ehrenreich and Jennifer Aniston.

In April 2016, Lowery directed a remake of Disney's *Pete's Dragon*, which was met with positive reviews. Lowery also co-wrote the screenplay alongside Toby Halbrooks. In July 2016, it was announced Lowery would direct an episode of *Breakthrough* for National Geographic Channel. In November 2016, it was announced Lowery had shot a new film, *A Ghost Story*, over the summer with Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck as a secret project.

Lowery next directed the 2018 drama film *The Old Man & the Gun*, starring Robert Redford as bank robber, Forrest Tucker, and Casey Affleck.

Lowery next directed the medieval fantasy *The Green Knight* which stars Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Barry Keoghan, Ralph Ineson and Sean Harris. The film was scheduled to world premiere at South by Southwest in March 2020, and release on May 29, 2020, but the premiere and release were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released on July 30, 2021.

Lowery directed a segment of the anthology film *The Year of the Everlasting Storm* which is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in July 2021.

## Personal life

Lowery married filmmaker Augustine Frizzell in 2010. As of 2013[update], they live in Dallas. Lowery identifies as an atheist, and has been a vegan since approximately 1996.

## Filmography

### Film

#### Writer

* *Alexander the Last* (additional material)
* *Pit Stop*
* *The Yellow Birds*

#### Executive producer

* *Person to Person* (2017)
* *Never Goin' Back* (2018)
* *Light from Light* (2019)
* *Miss Juneteenth* (2020)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lin, Kristian (January 28, 2013). North Texas Films at Sundance: How'd They Do?. *Fort Worth Weekly*.
2. ↑ Aquino, Tara (August 16, 2013). Rethinking the West with "Ain't Them Bodies Saints," David Lowery's Artful Sophomore Feature. *Complex*.
3. ↑ Mead, Rebecca (January 2012). "Into the Deep". *Allure*. pp. 103–106.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kelly, Christopher (August 2013). How David Lowery Became Dallas' Most Important Filmmaker. *D Magazine*.
5. ↑ Schager, Nick (April 17, 2011). St. Nick - Film Review. *Slant Magazine*.
6. ↑ Siegel, Tatiana (January 16, 2013). Sundance 2013: 5 Faces to Watch. *The Hollywood Reporter*.
7. ↑ Kay, Jeremy (April 6, 2009). Gigantic, Skin among key winners at AFI Dallas festival. *Screen International*.
8. ↑ David Lowery.
9. ↑ Kohn, Eric (January 20, 2013). Sundance Interview: 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' Director David Lowery Explains Making More Accessible Movies and Why He Can't Stop Editing Them. *IndieWire*.
10. ↑ Smith, Derek (August 20, 2013). Ain't Them Bodies Saints - Film Review. *Tiny Mix Tapes*.
11. ↑ Smith, Nigel M. (April 22, 2013). Cannes Reveals International Critics' Week Lineup; 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' Makes the Cut. *IndieWire*.
12. ↑ Harrison, Eddie (September 4, 2013). Interview: David Lowery, director of Ain't Them Bodies Saints. *The List*.
13. ↑ Gibson, Anthony (February 21, 2014). David Lowery: I wanted to capture the essence of the great directors, such as Robert Altman, for Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. *Metro*.
14. ↑ Cox, Gordon (January 7, 2013). Lowery: Texan talent is Sundance-bound. *Variety*.
15. ↑ Aquino, Tara (August 17, 2013). David Lowery - 25 Directors Who Are 35 and Under You Should Know. *Complex*.
16. ↑ Olsen, Mark (August 17, 2013). David Lowery's rapid rise with 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints'. *Los Angeles Times*.
17. ↑ McNary, Dave (May 17, 2014). CANNES: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tye Sheridan in Iraq War Drama 'Yellow Birds'. *Variety*.
18. ↑ Pete's Dragon (2016) *Rotten Tomatoes*.
19. ↑ "After Gritty Sundance Debut On ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’, David Lowery To Reinvent ‘Pete's Dragon’ For Disney." *Deadline Hollywood* (March 19, 2013).
20. ↑ National Geographic Channel Greenlights Second Season of Critically Acclaimed Series BREAKTHROUGH (July 25, 2016).
21. ↑ Raup, Jordan (November 22, 2016). Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara Secretly Shot a New Feature With David Lowery This Summer.
22. ↑ Murthi, Vikram (November 22, 2016). Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck Shot A Secret New Film With David Lowery.
23. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 23, 2017). Fox Searchlight Landing Robert Redford & Casey Affleck Starrer ‘Old Man And The Gun’.
24. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (November 6, 2018). ‘The Old Man & The Gun’ Director David Lowery, A24 Team On Fantasy Epic ‘Green Knight’ (en).
25. ↑ Sharf, Zack (February 13, 2020). ‘The Green Knight’ Trailer: Dev Patel, David Lowery Dazzle With Indie Fantasy Epic.
26. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 2, 2020). A24’s Fantasy Film ‘The Green Knight’ To Make World Premiere At SXSW.
27. ↑ City of Austin Cancels SXSW March Events (March 6, 2020).
28. ↑ Ferme, Antonio (May 11, 2021). ‘The Green Knight’ Trailer: Watch Dev Patel Slay Monsters in A24’s Medieval Fantasy.
29. ↑ Kay, Jeremy (May 19, 2021). Jafar Panahi, Laura Poitras among directors on secret Neon film ‘The Year Of The Everlasting Storm’.
30. ↑ The films of the Official Selection 2021 (June 3, 2021).
31. ↑ Mariani, Anthony (March 21, 2012). Second Annual Visionary Awards. *Fort Worth Weekly*.
32. ↑ Hernandez, Eugene (January 25, 2013). Daily Buzz: Sundance Episode 8. *Film Society of Lincoln Center*.
33. ↑ Director David Lowery talks fluffy dragons and Taika Waititi.
34. ↑ A Ghost Story Director David Lowery Embraces Death To Transcend Nihilism.
35. ↑ AFS Goes a Long Way Back with A GHOST STORY Director David Lowery (en) (2017-07-20).
36. ↑ SOMA Magazine » Archive » David Lowery Starts Talking (en-US).
37. ↑ Pioneer by David Lowery | Short Film.
38. ↑ MCU Times.
39. ↑ WATCH: Freedom to Marry’s “Until We Could,” by inaugural poet Richard Blanco | Freedom to Marry (en).
40. ↑ David Lowery Set to Direct TV Show About a Sex Occultist Who Helped Invent Rocket Science.

## External links

* David Lowery at IMDb

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