Gregg Godfrey (born May 26, 1969) is an American writer, producer and director. His first short film was ''Children of a Metal God'', and he is most noted for his work on

Nitro Circus ''Nitro Circus'' was an "action sport collective" led by Travis Pastrana, featuring his friends and him traveling around the world riding dirtbikes, BASE jumping, and performing stunts. Co-founded in 2003 by Pastrana, Nitro Circus became a medi ...

, a video series he created in his garage with motocross racer

Travis Pastrana Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American professional athlete known for his success across multiple disciplines, including freestyle motocross, rally racing, NASCAR, and stunt performance. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s ...

in 2003. The show also inspired '' Nitro Circus: The Movie'' and Nitro Circus Live, a live show and reality television program.

Biography

Born in

Draper, Utah Draper is a city in Salt Lake and Utah counties in the U.S. state of Utah, about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. As of the 2020 census, the population is 51,017, up from 7,143 in 1990. Draper is part of two metropolitan area ...

to Dic, a long-haul trucker, and Diane, a

stay-at-home mother A stay-at-home mother (alternatively, stay-at-home mom or SAHM) is a mother who is the primary caregiver of the children. The male equivalent is the stay-at-home dad. The gender-neutral term is stay-at-home parent. Stay-at-home mom is distinct ...

, Godfrey attended

Ricks College Ricks may refer to: People * Andre Ricks (born 1996), American basketball player * Bob Ricks (21st century), American police chief * Christopher Ricks (born 1933), British literary critic and scholar * Desmond Ricks, American football player * ...

on a wrestling scholarship before serving a mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. After returning home, Godfrey attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, where he earned a degree in film. Godfrey first worked as a stuntman for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

but soon left to pursue his own film career. He made his first short

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, ''Legacy'' in 1995. The video chronicled Godfrey's travels around the country learning about and participating in high action sports such as

base jumping BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (radio), antenna ...

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

off-road racing Off-road racing is a form of motorsports consisting of specially-modified vehicles including cars, SUVs, trucks, motorbikes, quadbikes and buggies racing in off-road environments (e.g. snow, dirt, mud, etc.). North America Desert racing D ...

and more. Over the next three years, he made three other short documentaries for Fox Head: ''Children of a Metal God'', ''Children of a Metal God: Scar Tissue'', ''Children of a Metal God: Redemption'', all about action sports. In the early 2000s, Godfrey continued to make documentaries, including ''Global Addiction'', ''Travis Pastrana's Baja Diaries'' and ''Supercross Exposed'', before transitioning into television with ''Nitro Circus'' and ''Thillbillies''. His work on developing the Beyond Pro format, an EnduroCross racing style, with Edge PowerSports founder Bryan Green quickly became a motocross fan favorite. In November 2007, he won the

Baja 1000 The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula, with a course of up to about 850 or more miles. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from ...

, setting a world record for his 1280-mile, 40-hour-and-22-minute solo motorbike run of the off-road race. Later that month, Godfrey's nephew Tanner was paralyzed in a motocross accident. On November 17, 2008, Godfrey set the world record for the longest semi-truck ramp jump, the first of its kind, measuring 50 ft, 6 in. Godfrey, along with other members of Nitro Circus, appeared in the 2009

Puddle of Mudd Puddle of Mudd is an American post-grunge band formed in Kansas City, Missouri in 1992. The band has sold over seven million albums. Their major-label debut, '' Come Clean'' (2001), spawned the single " Blurry", which peaked at number 5 on the ...

music video for the song Spaceship. On May 10, 2011, Godfrey suffered a serious crash doing a loop-the-loop in

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

while rehearsing for a live performance. In 2015, he was recognized by

Forbes Magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...

for his work on Nitro Circus Live, which ranked 22nd as Forbes Magazine’s Most Promising Companies. Godfrey began producing Nitro Circus DVDs in 2003,

Fuel TV Fox Sports 2 (branded on-air as FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in ...

picked it up as a miniseries in 2006, and MTV picked up the series in 2009. The company has since grown into a multimillion-dollar television, movie and live-action show franchise. Godfrey and his wife own the production company, Godfrey Entertainment. As of August 8, 2015, Greg Godfrey and the Godfrey Clan left Nitro Circus and performed at the Inaugural Mastercraft Throwdown, an X-Games event.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Gregg Living people Film directors from Utah American television directors University of Utah alumni 1969 births American television producers American motocross riders Writers from Salt Lake City