Gareth James Edwards (born 13 July 1975) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

filmmaker. He first gained widespread recognition for ''

Monsters A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

'' (2010), an independent film in which he served as writer, director, cinematographer, and visual effects artist. He subsequently directed ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films prod ...

'' (2014), a reboot of

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

's ''Godzilla'' franchise and the first film in

Legendary Legendary may refer to: * Legend, a folklore genre * Legendary (hagiography) ** Anjou Legendarium * J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium Film and television * ''Legendary'' (film), a 2010 American sports drama film * ''Legendary'', a 2013 film fea ...

MonsterVerse The MonsterVerse is an American multimedia franchise and shared fictional universe featuring Godzilla, King Kong, and other monster characters owned and created by Toho Co., Ltd. The franchise is produced by Legendary Pictures and co-produced ...

, 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

Gareth Edwards was born on 13 July 1975 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. He is of Welsh parentage. He attended

Higham Lane School Higham Lane School is a Secondary school, secondary Academy (English school), academy school in Weddington, Nuneaton, Weddington, Nuneaton, England. Appointed in 2006, the school's headteacher is Nick Haddon. The school teaches students aged b ...

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 Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (SIAD) was an art college in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2005. It was formed from the merger of West Surrey College of Art and Design (1969–1995) and Epsom School of Art and Design (1893� ...

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 prestigious shows such as '' Nova'', ''

Perfect Disaster ''Perfect Disaster'' is a one-hour American documentary television mini-series that ran from March 19 until April 9, 2006 on the Discovery Channel. The program depicted the worst-case scenario that major cities could expect in the near future ...

'' and ''

Heroes and Villains "Heroes and Villains" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album '' Smiley Smile'' and their unfinished ''Smile'' project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Wilson envisioned the song as an Old West-the ...

'', 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 Sci-Fi-London (stylised as SCI-FI-LONDON), also known as The London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film or simply SFL, is an annual United Kingdom-based film festival dedicated to the science fiction and fantasy genres. ...

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 ''

'', 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 ''

'' reboot from

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

and Legendary Pictures. Edwards directed ''

Rogue One ''Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (or simply ''Rogue One'') is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards. The screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy is from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. It was produced by L ...

'', the first '' Star Wars'' stand-alone film, written by

Chris Weitz Christopher John Weitz (born November 30, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his work with his brother Paul on the comedy films '' American Pie'' and '' About a Boy''; the latter earned the Weit ...

and

Tony Gilroy Anthony Joseph Gilroy (born September 11, 1956) is an American filmmaker. He wrote the screenplays for the original '' Bourne'' trilogy (2002–2007) and wrote and directed the fourth film of the franchise, '' The Bourne Legacy'' (2012). He also ...

, based on a story by

John Knoll John Knoll (born October 6, 1962) is an American visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer (CCO) at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). One of the original creators of Adobe Photoshop (along with his brother, Thomas Knoll), he has also ...

and

Gary Whitta Gary Leslie Whitta (born 21 July 1972) is an English screenwriter, author, game designer, and video game journalist. He was editor-in-chief of both the UK and US editions of ''PC Gamer'' magazine and contributor to gaming magazine ''ACE''. Whit ...

, starring

Felicity Jones Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the tel ...

, and released on 16 December 2016. Three of his influences for filmmaking are George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

. 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 Regency Enterprises (commonly referred to as Regency onscreen and copyrighting as Regency Entertainment (USA), Inc. in the U.S. and Monarchy Enterprises S.á.r.l. overseas) is an American entertainment company formed by Arnon Milchan. It was foun ...

along with ''

'' co-producer Kiri Hart serving as producer for the project. The film is set to star

John David Washington John David Washington (born July 28, 1984) is an American actor and former professional football player. He played college football at Morehouse College and signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Professionally, Wash ...

Filmography

Films

Other credits

Television

Other credits

References

External links

*
''Factory Farmed''
winner of the

2008 film festival 48 Hour Film Challenge, on Dailymotion.
''Gareth Edwards: Indie Filmmaker''
See how Gareth created his independent film with "pro-sumer" equipment. {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Gareth 1975 births Welsh film directors Living people People from Nuneaton British film directors English film directors English film producers English screenwriters English cinematographers Science fiction film directors Production designers English people of Welsh descent