STACK June 2017 Issue 152

32 / 93

When it comes to fanboys turned filmmakers, they make what they watch
– and love. Here are two StarWars and Spielberg kids, a horror fan, and a
Kiwi actor/comedian who have rapidly progressed from short films and
impressive indies to the major league. Dreams can come true!
Introducing fantastic
filmmakers and movie
madness that may have
slipped under your radar.
Words:
Scott Hocking
32 JUNE 2017
visit DVD&BD FEATURE
COLIN TREVORROW
Safety Not Guaranteed > Jurassic
World > The Book of Henry > Star
Wars: Episode IX
“I was not a kid who watched every
movie. I watched a very small number
of movies over and over again.” Like
Gareth Edwards, San Francisco-born Colin
Trevorrow is a self-professed ‘Star Wars and
Spielberg kid’, who made a propitious debut online with
his 2002 short film Home Base , which had clocked up over 20 million hits by 2012.
Having studied film and screenwriting at NYU, Trevorrow directed his first feature,
Safety Not Guaranteed, in 2012, from a script by fellow graduate and SNL intern
Derek Connolly. This quirky rom-com’s irresistible hook was a mysterious classified
ad: "Wanted: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. Must bring your
own weapons. I have only done this once before. Safety Not Guaranteed" A hit with
critics and auds, Disney approached him to direct a remake of the ‘80s kids’ sci-fi
film Flight of the Navigator , which he rightfully declined (that’s one remake we don’t
need!). Instead, Trevorrow’s first big budget studio job was continuing Spielberg’s
legacy with Jurassic World, which was a dino-sized blockbuster. But rather than
helm the next Jurassic film (which he co-wrote with Connolly), he went back to his
roots with the small town thriller Book of Henry, due in cinemas this year. Next up,
Star Wars: Episode IX, for which Trevorrow reportedly wants to shoot footage in
space with IMAX cameras – presumably in a galaxy not so far away.
TAIKA WAITITI
Eagle vs Shark > Boy > What We
Do in the Shadows > Hunt for the
Wilderpeople > Thor: Ragnarok
This Kiwi actor and comedian had
an auspicious start to his filmmaking
career: his 2004 short Two Cars, One
Night received an Oscar nomination.
Waititi's first feature, the gonzo rom-com
Eagle
vs. Shark (2007), starred frequent collaborator Jermaine Clement, for whom
he would direct four episodes of
Flight of the Conchords. His next film,Boy (2010), broke New Zealand box office records and he followed up with vampire
mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows (2014), and last year's sleeper
hit The Hunt for the Wilderpeople. "I've loved comics since I was a kid,
collected them, I've always dreamed of being involved in comics," he has said.
That dream has now become a reality, with Waititi at the helm of Marvel's
Thor: Ragnarok. The third Thor film could challenge James Gunn's
Guardians of the Galaxy for the coveted spot of the best in the MCU, given Waititi's propensity
for dark comedy and quirky observational humour. Check out his 'Team Thor'
shorts for what we can (hopefully) expect.
JAMES GUNN
Troma > Slither > Super >
Guardians of the Galaxy >
Guardians of the Galaxy
Vol. 2
While his peers were watching
Star Wars and Spielberg as kids,
Minnesota-born James Gunn was
reading Fangoria magazine and watching horror
classics like Night of the Living Dead and Friday the 13th. Gunn progressed
from shooting Super 8 zombie shorts to honing his skills at schlock-movie
factory Troma, with boss Lloyd Kaufman as his mentor. Nice! Having co-written
Tromeo and Juliet (1996), he progressed to Hollywood with screenplays for
Scooby Doo (2002) andScooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
(2004), as well
as penning Zack Snyder's remake of
Dawn of the Dead (2004). Gunn made
his directorial debut in 2006 with the creature-feature
Slither, which quickly
became a cult favourite, and followed that by subverting the superhero craze
(before it really was a craze) with the ultraviolent comedy
Super (2010). Shut
up, Deadpool! Gunn was soon firing with both barrels, bringing his Tromaesque
sense of humour to the MCU with Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Vol. 2
(2017) – which is the reason why they're the best Marvel movies to date.
[Note: Titles in bold are available from JB Hi-Fi at the time of writing.]
Fresh indie filmmakers
head to Hollywood to helm
tentpole blockbusters
GARETH EDWARDS
Monsters > Godzilla > Rogue One: A Star
Wars Story
This British filmmaker grew up loving
Star Wars and Steven Spielberg films,
and learned his craft creating visual
effects for TV documentaries. After
winning the Sci-Fi London 48-hour
film challenge, in which contestants
had two days to shoot a movie from
start to finish, he embarked on his first feature, the apocalyptic
sci-fi thriller Monsters, at the age of 35. Shot in three weeks on a budget of
US $500,000, Edwards saved on production costs by filming in picturesque
Central American locations and adding the VFX using his home computer
and store-bought software. Following the success of
Monsters, Warner
Bros. came calling with an offer to direct a big budget film involving more
monsters – the king of them all, in fact. Edwards brought his creative acumen
and artistic eye to the 2014 remake of
Godzilla, which impressed Lucasfilm’s
Kathleen Kennedy enough to give him the plum job of helming the first Star
Wars spin-off, Rogue One. Pretty fly for a DIY guy!