James Ward Byrkit (also known as James Byrkit or Jim Byrkit) is an American film director, writer, and actor. He is best known for directing the science fiction thriller ''Coherence'' and co-writing the script for '' Rango'', one of his many collaborations with

Gore Verbinski Gregor Justin "Gore" Verbinski (born March 16, 1964) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and musician. He is best known for directing ''The Ring (2002 film), The Ring'', the ''Pirates of the Caribbean (film series), Pirates of t ...

. For ''Rango'', Byrkit starred as several characters, most notably Waffles, a horned lizard. Byrkit also was the conceptual artist on the first three films of the ''

Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with th ...

'' franchise, and designed some of the most iconic sequences of the series. Byrkit also directed the short film ''Tales of the Code: Wedlocked'' (2011), which serves as a prequel to '' Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' (2003). Byrkit's debut feature ''Coherence'' earned critical and audience praise and garnered attention for his unconventional approach in the making of the film as "proof that inventive filmmakers can do a lot with a little", and identifying him as a groundbreaking talent.Since its release, ''Coherence'' has become an international sensation and regularly appears on ranking lists of best films. Byrkit's follow-up project,
Shatter Belt
', is an episodic series in the tradition of '' Twilight Zone.'' Production on the first four episodes was completed in 2022, with the world premiere scheduled for 2023 at th
SXSW Film & TV Festival

Awards

*'' Breakthrough Director'' (nominated) at the

Gotham Independent Film Awards 2014 The 24th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards, presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project, were held on December 1, 2014. The nominees were announced on October 23, 2014. The ceremony was hosted by Uma Thurman. Winners and nominees Special ...

*''Next Wave Best Screenplay'' at the

Austin Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of ''The Iron Giant'' and ''Secondhand Li ...

for '' Coherence'' (2013) *'' Maria Award for Best Screenplay'' at the

Sitges Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...

for ''Coherence'' (2013) *''Carnet Jove Jury Award for Best In Competition'' at the Sitges Film Festival for ''Coherence'' (2013) *''Black Tulip Award for Best Feature Debut'' at the

Imagine Film Festival The Imagine Film Festival, formerly Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival (AFFF), also known as Imagine Fantastic Film Festival or simply Imagine, is an annual film festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The festival was created in 1991 as the Amsterd ...

for ''Coherence'' (2014) *''Imagine Movie Zone Award, Special Mention'' at the Imagine Film Festival for ''Coherence'' (2014) *''

Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production The Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Writing in a Feature Production (or Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production) is an Annie Award awarded annually, except in 1997, to the best animated fe ...

'' for ''Rango'' (2011, won, shared with John Logan and

)

Filmography

As director

*''Shatter Belt'' (2023) *'' Coherence'' (2013) *'' Pirates of the Caribbean: Tales of the Code: Wedlocked'' (2011, short) *'' Rango'' (2011, video game) *''Fractalus'' (2005, short) *''Yes, and...'' (2005, short) *''

Special Unit 2 ''Special Unit 2'' is an American sci-fi/comedy television series that aired on UPN for two seasons from April 11, 2001 through February 13, 2002. The series focused upon the exploits of a top-secret Chicago police division known as Special Unit ...

'' (2001, 1 episode - ''The Rocks'') *''Stop at Nothing'' (2001, TV)

As writer

*''Shatter Belt'' (2023) *'' Coherence'' (2013) *''Rango'' (2011, video game) *'' Rango'' (2011, film, story by) *''Fractalus'' (short, 2005) *''Yes, and...'' (short, 2005)

As producer

* ''The Forest'' (2016) * ''Coherence'' (2013) * ''Fractalus'' (2005)

As himself

* ''Prop Culture'' (2020) Episode: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl"

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrkit, James Ward Living people American directors American male screenwriters Annie Award winners Year of birth missing (living people)