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Monday, March 18, 2024
Gareth Edwards discussed his experiences with directing and visual effects, offering advice to filmmakers.

Gareth Edwards discussed his experiences with directing and visual effects, offering advice to filmmakers.

SXSW 2017: Gareth Edwards shares his journey as a filmmaker

Fresh off the successes of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” director Gareth Edwards gave a SXSW keynote to discuss how he got his start in filmmaking.

Edwards is best known for the remake of “Godzilla” and “Rogue One.” Funny enough, Edwards became interested in film after watching “Star Wars” as a kid. At the time, wanted to join the Rebel Alliance and destroy the Death Star like the heroes in the movie, but soon learned that this was impossible.

“It’s this lie called filmmaking,” Edwards said. “The second best option was, I’ll become a liar, and I’ll make films.”

Edwards always aspired to direct, but he started in visual effects, working on projects like “Seven Wonders of the Industrial World” on BBC and “Perfect Disaster” on the Discovery Channel. His big break in directing came after the success of his independent film “Monsters” which premiered at South By Southwest in 2010. Edwards wrote, directed and created the visual effects for the film. He later signed on with Legendary Pictures after a meeting with its founder, Thomas Tull.

After getting the offer, Edwards said he started crying.

“It was really embarrassing,” he said. “All my life, I’d been waiting for someone like [Tull] to say something like that.”

Edwards also offered advice and encouragement to aspiring filmmakers, having been through a long journey to go from a young child watching “Star Wars” to directing a “Star Wars” film.

“Anyone who actually went and did something, who went and made a film — you’re a f-ing success,” Edwards said. “If you do anything in life, what’s your dream, you’ve succeeded. It doesn’t matter the outcome.”

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