Garth Jennings

Last updated

Garth Jennings
2008-0419-GarthJennings.jpg
Jennings in 2008
Born
Occupation(s)Director
Screenwriter
Actor
Years active1990–present
Employer Illumination (2007–present)
SpouseLouise Jennings

Garth Jennings is an English director, screenwriter and actor.

Contents

Films he has directed include The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Son of Rambow , Sing , and Sing 2 . He co-founded the production company Hammer & Tongs.

Personal life

Jennings was born in Essex, England. [1]

Career

Hammer and Tongs

In 1993, Garth Jennings co-founded the production company Hammer & Tongs alongside Dominic Leung and Nick Goldsmith. The production company was primarily responsible for directing and writing music videos. [2] [3] [4] Their music video for Radiohead's song "Lotus Flower" earned Jennings a nomination at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Garth Jennings directed a number of films including the 2005 science fiction comedy film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , [3] based upon previous works in the media franchise of the same name, created by Douglas Adams. It stars Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel and the voices of Stephen Fry, Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman.

Son of Rambow

Set over a summer during the dawn of Thatcher's Britain, Son of Rambow is a coming of age story about two schoolboys and their attempts to make an amateur film inspired by First Blood . The film premiered on 22 January 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. [5] It was later shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Glasgow Film Festival. [6] The film was also shown at the 51st BFI London Film Festival. Son of Rambow was released in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2008 and opened in limited release in the United States on 2 May 2008. [7]

Sing

In January 2014, it was announced that Garth Jennings would write and direct an animated comedy film for Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment. [8] The resulting film, Sing , was released in December 2016. [9] He also provided the voice for Miss Crawly, an elderly iguana employed as an administrative assistant to Buster Moon. [10] A sequel, titled Sing 2 , was released on 22 December 2021.

Madame

Garth Jennings directed, wrote and co-produced a short film titled Madame that was released in 2019. This film takes place inside a grand Parisian apartment where lives an elegant elderly lady. And inside this lady lives a monster.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirectorWriter
2005 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy YesNo
2008 Son of Rambow YesYes
2016 Sing YesYes
2021 Sing 2 YesYes

Acting credits

YearTitleRoleNotes
2004 Shaun of the Dead 'Fun Dead' Zombie
2005 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Frankie MouseVoice role
2007 Hot Fuzz Crack Addict
2009 Fantastic Mr. Fox Bean's SonVoice role
2013 The World's End Man in Pub No. 5
2016 Sing Miss CrawlyVoice role
2019 The Secret Life of Pets 2 Hamster
2021 Sing 2 Miss Crawly

Short film

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducer
2019MadameYesYesYes
2024Sing: Thriller [11] YesYesNo

Acting credits

YearTitleRoleNotes
2016 Come Together: A Fashion Picture in Motion Fritz
2017Love at First SightMiss CrawlyVoice role
2024Sing: Thriller

Music video

YearSongArtist
1997"Hit" The Wannadies
"Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out" Bentley Rhythm Ace
"Help the Aged" Pulp
1998"A Little Soul"
"Cancer for the Cure" Eels
"Last Stop: This Town"
"Saint Joe on the School Bus" Marcy Playground
"The Flipside" Moloko
1999"Coffee And TV" Blur
"Pumping on Your Stereo" Supergrass
"Right Here, Right Now" Fatboy Slim
"Summertime Blues" Guitar Wolf
2000"Theme from Gutbuster" Bentley Rhythm Ace
"Disillusion" Badly Drawn Boy
2001"Pissing in the Wind"
"Imitation of Life" R.E.M.
2002"Lost Cause" Beck
2005"Hell Yes"
"Low C" Supergrass
2007"Nude" Radiohead
"Jigsaw Falling Into Place"
2008"A-Punk" Vampire Weekend
2009"Cousins"
2011"Lotus Flower" Radiohead
2013"Ingenue" Atoms For Peace

Awards and nominations

YearFilmAwardCategoryResult
2000Da Ali G ShowRoyal Television Society UKBest Graphic Design – TitlesWon
Supergrass: Pumping on Your Stereo MTV Video Music Awards Best Art Direction in a videoNominated
2001 R.E.M.: Imitation of LifeBest Direction in a videoNominated
2005 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy The Artios Award – Casting Society of America Best Featured Film Casting-ComedyNominated
2006 Golden Trailer Award Most Original [12] Won
OFTA Film Awards Best Music, Original SongNominated
Empire Awards UKBest British FilmNominated
Best ComedyNominated
Golden Trailer Awards Best Voice OverNominated
2008 Son of Rambow British Independent Film Awards Best DirectorNominated
Best ScreenplayNominated
Most Promising Newcomer for Bill Milner and Will PoulterNominated
Locarno International Film Festival Audience AwardWon
Variety Piazza Grande AwardNominated
National Board of Review USATop Independent FilmsWon
2009 BAFTA Awards Most Promising NewcomerNominated
Empire Awards UKBest ComedyWon
Best British FilmNominated
2012 Radiohead: Lotus Flower Grammy Awards Best Short Form Music VideoNominated
2017 Sing [13] Golden Globe Awards Best Animated Feature FilmNominated
Best Original Song "Faith" – Ryan Tedder, Stevie Wonder and Francis Farewell Starlite Nominated
Annie Awards Music in an Animated Feature Production for Joby Talbot Nominated
Hollywood Music in Media Awards Best Song for an Animated FilmNominated
Best Soundtrack AlbumNominated
Outstanding Music Supervision for Jojo VillanuevaWon
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Animated MovieNominated
Favorite Voice from an animated movie for Reese WitherspoonNominated
Most wanted pet for Reese WitherspoonNominated
Favorite SoundtrackNominated
Behind the Voice Actors Awards Best Male Vocal Performance in a feature film in a supporting role as the voice of "Miss Crawly"Nominated
British Academy Children's Awards Feature FilmNominated
Saturn Awards Best Animated Feature FilmNominated
AARP Annual Movies for Grownups Awards Best Movie for grownups who refuse to grow upNominated
2019Madame Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival Best Short Live Action / Best Short AnimationWon
Seattle International Film Festival Best FilmNominated
HollyShorts Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated
DC Shorts Festival Archived 8 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine Official SelectionsNominated
Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia Official SelectionsNominated
Thriller! Chiller! Best ChillWon
Screamfest Horror Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated
Santa Fe Independent Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated
Sapporo International Short Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated
Cambridge Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated
Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated
Aesthetica Short Film Festival Best ThrillerWon
Foyle Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated
Druk International Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated
Shockfest Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated
Bahamas International Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated
Anchorage International Film Festival Best Narrative ShortWon
Horror Bowl Movie Awards Best ShortWon
London Short Film Festival Official SelectionsNominated

Books

YearTitlePublishing house
2015 The Deadly 7 Pan Macmillan
2017 The Wildest Cowboy (illustrated by Sara Ogilvie) Pan Macmillan
2019 The Good, The Bad and the Deadly 7 Pan Macmillan
2021 The Curse of the Deadly 7 Pan Macmillan

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References

  1. Hogan, Michael (29 January 2017). "Garth Jennings: 'I was so stressed, awake at 3am thinking: What have I done?'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  2. Jennings, Garth (13 December 2010). "Garth Jennings: Kanye killed my video". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  3. 1 2 Hubert, Andrea (29 March 2008). "Boys in the mud". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  4. Dee, Johnny (12 March 2011). "Internet picks of the week". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  5. "Son of Rambow". Sundance.org. Retrieved 2 May 2008.[ verification needed ]
  6. "Son of Rambow (2007) – Release dates". IMDb . Retrieved 2 May 2008.[ verification needed ]
  7. "Son of Rambow (2007) – Release dates". IMDb . Retrieved 2 May 2008.[ verification needed ]
  8. "'Despicable Me 3' Set For June 2017 Release; 'Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas' Arrives Five Months Later". Deadline Hollywood. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  9. Idelson, Karen (20 December 2016). "Director Garth Jennings Switches to a New Beat With 'Sing'". Variety . Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  10. Thomas, Sarah (9 December 2016). "Sing writer-director Garth Jennings on the feel-good magic of animals making music". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  11. Richardson, Kalia (15 October 2024). "Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson Return as Singing Animals in 'Sing: Thriller'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  12. "Golden Trailer Awards for 2005 at IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 24 September 2018.[ verification needed ]
  13. Borys Kit (15 January 2015). "Matthew McConaughey to Star in Illimination Animated Film (EXCLUSIVE)". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.