Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood
Gavin Hoodis a South African filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor, best known for writing and directing Tsotsi, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He also directed the films X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Ender's Game...
NationalitySouth African
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth12 May 1963
aids deal dramas early great grew half hired hiv presented spent time
In the early '90s, I was hired to write educational dramas about HIV and AIDS in the shantytowns. I did that for two and a half years, and then I was hired on other films. When 'Tsotsi' presented itself, I thought, 'This is not a world I grew up in, but I've spent a great deal of time writing about it and researching it in my past.'
mutant post traumatic
In the comic-book lore, of course, you mutate post a traumatic event. You must have the mutant gene, but if something traumatic happens to you, usually at puberty, then that mutation manifests itself.
adapted felt films initially integral prepared work worked written
I worked initially in very low-budget independent films that I often wrote. My early work was all written by myself, and then I adapted 'Tsotsi,' so I was used to the writing process being, in a way, integral to my directing. I felt it really prepared me.
choose cynical exposed eyes open question sort south whether wide
I don't know many South Africans who don't have their eyes wide open to what it's like to be exposed to some sort of violence. The question is whether we choose to be cynical about it or not.
change feels hopefully invent lake order results
For me, emotion comes first. If I have to change a scene, invent a scene, change dialogue, or put Graff by the lake in order to feel that dynamic, and the end results feels like 'Ender's Game,' then hopefully it works.
achieve hopefully sort watch
When we watch stories, we learn empathy, we learn compassion, and hopefully we achieve some sort of understanding.
tricky
Part of what's so tricky in a film that's two hours long is how many themes can you effectively explore.
My tools, my medium, include pictures and live actors.
drafted spent war
I was drafted when I was 17, and I spent two years, and I lost a friend in war.
effects huge
I learned a lot doing 'Wolverine,' and I was also very fortunate, in the sense that I got to do a huge number of visual effects shots.
central fabulous tremendous
'Ender's Game' has fabulous opportunities for spectacle, where appropriate, but there's also a tremendous central character. It's a balance.
although became famous finance hard holding onto period problem published setting written year
Athol Fugard became famous as a playwright, so although 'Tsotsi' the book was written in the '60s, it was only published in the '80s. It was then optioned pretty much every year by producers. I think the problem was that holding onto its period setting made it very hard to get finance.
best close ground middle works
What's genius about 'Gravity' is that you are close upon the actors, but 3D works best when you have foreground, middle ground and background.
emotions heart human stories
Our stories are the same as your stories. They're about the human heart and emotion.