Francis Lawrence (born March 26, 1971) is an Austrian-born American filmmaker and producer. After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the supernatural thriller ''
Constantine'' (2005) and has since directed the
postapocalyptic horror film ''
I Am Legend'' (2007), the romantic drama ''
Water for Elephants'' (2011), three of the four films in the
''Hunger Games'' film series, and the spy thriller ''
Red Sparrow'' (2018).
Life and career
Lawrence was born to American parents in
Vienna, Austria. His father is a theoretical physicist who taught at
California State University, Northridge, and his mother is a vice president of technology at a public-relations agency based in his hometown.
He moved to Los Angeles at the age of four.
Lawrence worked as second assistant camera on the feature ''
Pump Up the Volume'' directed by
Allan Moyle prior to earning his bachelor's degree in film production at
Loyola Marymount University Film School. He went on to work as first assistant director on the feature ''
Marching out of Time'' directed by
Anton Vassil in 1993. Lawrence then joined ex-classmate Michael Jason Rosen in co-directing music videos. Lawrence directed his first music videos for the San Jose band, A Western Front. Rosen and Lawrence made the two videos for a total of $3,000 with Jeffrey Michael Cutter, another ex-classmate, shooting for them. Lawrence, Rosen, and Cutter also made a video for Michael Blakey, president of Atico Records and Tidal Force drummer for that band's single, "A Man Rides Through". Soon, Lawrence became known for his original and imaginative music video scripts and visual directing style.
He eventually joined a major new production company and his successful career as music video director, having worked with stars
Rihanna,
Green Day,
Britney Spears,
The Black Eyed Peas,
Jay-Z,
Melanie C,
Avril Lavigne,
Aerosmith,
Janet Jackson,
Jennifer Lopez,
Lady Gaga,
Fastball,
Lisa Marie Presley,
Destiny's Child,
Garbage,
Gwen Stefani,
Pink,
Shakira,
En Vogue,
Monica,
Missy Elliott, and the
Backstreet Boys. He has also directed numerous
commercials for clients such as
Coca-Cola,
L'Oréal,
Calvin Klein,
Pepsi-Cola,
Maybelline,
Kid's Footlocker,
Bacardi,
McDonald's,
GAP,
Bud Light,
CoverGirl,
Oldsmobile, and
Disneyland. In 2005, his feature-film debut was ''Constantine'', based on the ''
Hellblazer'' comic book, starring
Keanu Reeves.
In 2007, he directed ''I Am Legend'' (based on the
Richard Matheson novel), with
Will Smith. In 2011, he directed ''
Water for Elephants''. In 2012, Lawrence directed and executive produced the pilot episode of the
Fox paranormal series, ''
Touch''. He is currently signed to DNA Inc. In 2011, he won a
Grammy Award for
Best Music Video, Short Form for directing
Lady Gaga's "
Bad Romance" music video.
In April 2012,
Lionsgate Films announced that Lawrence had been selected to direct the film adaptation of the novel ''
Catching Fire''.
The book and film were the sequel to the blockbuster hit, ''
The Hunger Games'', starring
Jennifer Lawrence (no relation). This film adaptation of ''The Hunger Games'' was directed by
Gary Ross, and both novels were written by
Suzanne Collins. Lawrence was officially confirmed as the director for the film on May 3, 2012.
He returned to direct the two final parts of the series, ''
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1'' (2014) and ''
Part 2'' (2015). Lawrence is currently working on a film adaptation of the novel ''
Survivor'' by Chuck Palahniuk.
He most recently directed ''Red Sparrow'', based on the
novel of the same name by
Jason Matthews, and featuring ''The Hunger Games'' star Jennifer Lawrence and
Joel Edgerton. The film was released on March 2, 2018. More recently, his about: blank production company struck a deal with New Republic Pictures.
Filmography
References
External links
*
Francis Lawrenceat the mvdbase.com
Biografie of Francis Lawrenceat
The New York Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Francis
Category:1971 births
Category:Living people
Category:Advertising directors
Category:American expatriates in Austria
Category:American music video directors
Category:Austrian people of American descent
Category:Film directors from Los Angeles
Category:Film producers from California
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:Latin Grammy Award winners
Category:Musicians from Vienna