Gareth Edwards (director)

British film directorTemplate:SHORTDESC:British film director

**Gareth James Edwards** (born 13 July 1975) is a British film director, film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, production designer, and visual effects artist. 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).

## Career

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Gareth Edwards was born on 13 July 1975 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. He is of Welsh parentage. He attended Higham Lane School followed by college at North Warwickshire College (now NWSLC) under the AV department with lecturers like Graham Bird. Since childhood, he wanted to direct his own films, stating that "*Star Wars* is definitely the reason that I wanted to become a filmmaker". Edwards studied film and video at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design in Farnham, graduating in 1996.Template:Citation needed In 2012, he received an honorary Master of Arts from UCA. Edwards 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.Template:Citation needed 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 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 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. In January 2011, Edwards landed his first major Hollywood feature, as the 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 *True Love* for New Regency along with *Rogue One* co-producer Kiri Hart serving as producer for the project. The film is set to star John David Washington.

## Filmography

### Television

#### As director

 2006
 2008

## References

1. ↑ Clarke, Cath (23 September 2010). First sight: Gareth Edwards. *The Guardian*.
2. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Davis, Laura (2 December 2010). "Interview with Gareth Edwards, the Director of 'Monsters'". *The Independent*. Archived from the original on 11 December 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
3. ↑ Saperstein, Pat (May 6, 2014). 60 Years of Godzilla: Highlights From Monster's 29-Film Career. *Variety*.
4. ↑ Godzilla and Star Wars director Gareth Edwards. *Wales Online* (27 May 2014).
5. ↑ Hopkins, Jessica (27 February 2011). The film that changed my life: Gareth Edwards. *The Observer*.
6. ↑ Rose, Steve (27 November 2010). Monsters: the bedroom blockbuster that's the anti-Avatar. *The Guardian*.
7. ↑ Godzilla: Meet The Director. YouTube.
8. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Kit, Borys (4 January 2011). "EXCLUSIVE: 'Monsters' Director Stomps to 'Godzilla'". *The Hollywood Reporter*. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
9. ↑ Kit, Borys (22 May 2014). 'Star Wars' Spinoff Hires 'Godzilla' Director Gareth Edwards (Exclusive). *The 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).
11. ↑ Jagernauth, Kevin (1 May 2014). Gareth Edwards Names His 3 Filmmaking Heroes Plus New 'Godzilla' Featurette Goes Behind The Scenes. *Indie Wire*.
12. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Fleming, Mike Jr. (13 May 2016). "Director Gareth Edwards Exits 'Godzilla 2'". *Deadline Hollywood*. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
13. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Kroll, Justin (6 February 2020). "'Rogue One' Director Gareth Edwards Sets Sci-Fi Film at New Regency (EXCLUSIVE)". *Variety*. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
14. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Goffe, Nadira (6 May 2021). "John David Washington Cast In Rogue One Director's New Movie". *Screen Rant*. Retrieved 9 May 2021.

## External links

* Gareth Edwards at IMDb
* *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.

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