STACK #152 Jun 2017

DVD&BD FEATURE

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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! Fresh indie filmmakers head to Hollywood to helm tentpole blockbusters

Introducing fantastic filmmakers and movie madness that may have slipped under your radar. Words: Scott Hocking

COLIN TREVORROW Safety Not Guaranteed > Jurassic World > The Book of Henry > Star Wars: Episode IX

GARETH EDWARDS

Monsters > Godzilla > Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

“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

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

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.

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!

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

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

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.

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) and Scooby-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.

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JUNE 2017

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[Note: Titles in bold are available from JB Hi-Fi at the time of writing.]