Colin Trevorrow (;) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature directorial debut with the science fiction comedy ''
Safety Not Guaranteed
''Safety Not Guaranteed'' is a 2012 American science fiction romantic comedy film directed by Colin Trevorrow and starring Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass. The picture was screened at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Scr ...
'' (2012) to critical and commercial success. Trevorrow achieved mainstream recognition for his work on the ''Jurassic World'' entries of the ''
Jurassic Park'' franchise, which began when he co-wrote and directed the
eponymous first installment in 2015. After the film grossed over $1 billion, Trevorrow co-wrote the 2018 sequel ''
Fallen Kingdom'' and co-wrote and directed the third installment ''
Dominion
The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire.
"Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 192 ...
'' (2022). He was also the co-writer and director of ''
Star Wars: Duel of the Fates'' until his departure in 2017, although he retained story credit when the project was re-envisioned as ''
The Rise of Skywalker
''Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker'') is a 2019 American epic space opera film produced, , and directed by J. J. Abrams. Produced by Lucasfilm and Abrams' productio ...
'' (2019). On many of his projects, Trevorrow collaborates with fellow screenwriter
Derek Connolly.
Early life
Trevorrow was born in San Francisco, California.
He was raised in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
.
His father was a musician in a country rock band and his mother was a photographer who also operated a day-care center
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
.[ His maternal grandmother was of Sephardi Jewish ancestry; her ancestors settled in the Caribbean several centuries ago.
As a boy, he sang in the chorus of the ]San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when h ...
.[ As a teenager, Trevorrow won awards from the ]Mill Valley Film Festival
The Mill Valley Film Festival is an annual American film festival founded in 1977.
History
In October 1977, Mark Fishkin, Rita Cahill and Lois Cole organized a three-day film festival. It featured three film tributes, Francis Ford Coppola's ''T ...
and the San Francisco Youth Film Festival. Trevorrow graduated from Piedmont High School in Piedmont, California
Piedmont is a small city located in Alameda County, California, United States, completely surrounded by the city of Oakland. Its residential population was 11,270 at the 2020 census. The name comes from the region of Piedmont in Italy, and it me ...
[ and later graduated from ]New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
's Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
in 1999.
Career
In 2002, he wrote and directed his first short film, ''Home Base''; as of 2012, it had received over 20 million hits online. Trevorrow's first theatrical release was with '' Reality Show'', a 2004 documentary film about the failed production of a reality television show. Trevorrow sold his first spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...
titled ''Tester'' to DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to:
* DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin
** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio
** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...
in 2006. In 2008, he paired up with Derek Connolly, ten years after they had first met as NYU students while working as interns on ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'', to write a buddy cop film
Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. ...
script called ''Cocked and Loaded''. Trevorrow said that the experience was so enjoyable that he decided to give up solo screenwriting and work with Connolly.
In 2012, Trevorrow directed ''Safety Not Guaranteed
''Safety Not Guaranteed'' is a 2012 American science fiction romantic comedy film directed by Colin Trevorrow and starring Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass. The picture was screened at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Scr ...
'', a film inspired by a classified advertisement which ran in a 1997 issue of '' Backwoods Home Magazine'' that read: "Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 322, Oakview, CA 93022. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before." The script was by Connolly, who intended for Trevorrow to direct it. The film received various accolades, including a nomination for Trevorrow for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature
The Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards. It is usually given to the director (or directors) and producer (or producers). The "first feature" designation is applied to the director not the p ...
.[ The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, where it picked up the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. After the release of ''Safety Not Guaranteed'', Trevorrow and Connolly were hired by ]the Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
to write an as-yet unmade remake of the film ''Flight of the Navigator
''Flight of the Navigator'' is a 1986 American science fiction adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser and written by Mark H. Baker, Michael Burton, and Matt MacManus. It stars Joey Cramer as David Freeman, a 12-year-old boy who is abducted by ...
'' (1986). Trevorrow co-wrote and directed '' Jurassic World'' (2015), and also provided his voice for the film's character of Mr. DNA
The following is a list of fictional characters from Michael Crichton's 1990 novel '' Jurassic Park'', its 1995 sequel '' The Lost World'', and their film adaptations, '' Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' (1997). Also ...
. Connolly and Trevorrow also co-wrote the screenplay for its sequel, '' Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'', which was released in June 2018 and for which Trevorrow is an executive producer.
After ''Jurassic World'', Trevorrow next directed ''The Book of Henry
''The Book of Henry'' is a 2017 American drama thriller film directed by Colin Trevorrow and written by Gregg Hurwitz. The film stars Naomi Watts, Jaeden Martell (then known as Jaeden Lieberher), Jacob Tremblay, Sarah Silverman, Lee Pace, Maddi ...
'', which was written by Gregg Hurwitz
Gregg Andrew Hurwitz is an American novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer. Most of his novels are in the thriller fiction genre. His script writing work includes a film adaptation of his book '' Orphan X'', a TV adaptation of Joby Warri ...
. The film was released by Focus Features on June 16, 2017, to generally negative reviews, although Trevorrow stood by the film.
In March 2015, it was announced that Trevorrow would be directing the sci-fi thriller film ''Intelligent Life'', which was bought by DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to:
* DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin
** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio
** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...
. Trevorrow wrote the screenplay with Connolly, while Trevorrow, Frank Marshall, Big Beach, and Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment
Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marsha ...
were announced as producing the film. While there has been other production news since, including Ava DuVernay
Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, television producer and former film publicist. She is a recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee ...
being attached to direct, as of December 2019 the film has not entered into production.
In August 2015, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn
Alan Frederick Horn (born February 28, 1943) is an American entertainment industry executive. Horn became President and COO of Warner Bros. from 1999 to 2012. Horn next served as the chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 2012 to 2020. During his ...
announced that Trevorrow would direct '' Star Wars: Episode IX'' (2019). Trevorrow and Connolly subsequently began writing the script for the film; titled '' Star Wars: Duel of the Fates''. However, in August 2017, writer Jack Thorne
Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer.
He is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the films '' Wonder'' and '' Enola Holmes'', ...
was brought in to rewrite the script due to dissatisfaction by Lucasfilm with their script. By September 2017, Trevorrow was let go from the project due to creative differences and was replaced as director by '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' director J. J. Abrams, who co-wrote the script with Chris Terrio
Chris Terrio (born December 31, 1976) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for writing the screenplay for the 2012 film ''Argo'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Terrio also won the W ...
. However, Trevorrow and Connolly still received story writing credit in addition to Abrams and Terrio. Trevorrow donated residuals he earned from the film to charity.
On March 30, 2018, it was announced that Trevorrow would be returning to the '' Jurassic Park'' franchise, directing '' Jurassic World Dominion'' (2022).
On March 16, 2021, it was announced that Trevorrow would direct ''War Magician'', a historical war film about Jasper Maskelyne
Jasper Maskelyne (29 September 1902 – 15 March 1973) was a British stage magician in the 1930s and 1940s. He was one of an established family of stage magicians, the son of Nevil Maskelyne and a grandson of John Nevil Maskelyne. He is most r ...
, a British illusionist who used magic to defeat Nazis in World War II. Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence Oli ...
is set to star.
Personal life
Trevorrow lives with his wife, Isabelle, and two children in the United Kingdom.
Filmography
Film
Short films
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trevorrow, Colin
Living people
Film directors from Vermont
American male screenwriters
Tisch School of the Arts alumni
Action film directors
Science fiction film directors
Writers from Oakland, California
Writers from San Francisco
American people of Jewish descent
Film directors from San Francisco
Screenwriters from California
Year of birth missing (living people)