Garth Jennings is an English director, screenwriter and actor. He has directed the feature films The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Son of Rambow (2007), the animated film Sing (2016) and its sequel Sing 2 (2021). He co-founded the production company Hammer & Tongs with his collaborator Nick Goldsmith.
Early life Jennings was born in Essex, England.
Career Hammer and Tongs
In 1993, Garth Jennings co-founded the production company Hammer & Tongs alongside Dominic Leung and Nick Goldsmith. The production company was primarily responsible for directing and writing music videos. Their music video for Radiohead's song "Lotus Flower" earned Jennings a nomination at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Garth Jennings directed a number of films including the 2005 science fiction comedy film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, based upon previous works in the media franchise of the same name, created by Douglas Adams. It stars Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel and the voices of Stephen Fry, Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman.
Son of Rambow Set over a summer during the dawn of Thatcher's Britain, Son of Rambow is a coming of age story about two schoolboys and their attempts to make an amateur film inspired by First Blood. The film premiered on 22 January 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. It was later shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Glasgow Film Festival. The film was also shown at the 51st BFI London Film Festival. Son of Rambow was released in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2008 and opened in limited release in the United States on 2 May 2008.
Sing In January 2014, it was announced that Garth Jennings would write and direct an animated comedy film for Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment. The resulting film, Sing, was released in December 2016. He also provided the voice for Miss Crawly, an elderly iguana employed as an administrative assistant to Buster Moon. A sequel, titled Sing 2, was released on 22 December 2021.
Madame Garth Jennings directed, wrote and co-produced a short film titled Madame that was released in 2019. This film takes place inside a grand Parisian apartment where lives an elegant elderly lady. And inside this lady lives a monster.
Jennings directed the 2026 documentary & concert film Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?.
Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer2005The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 2007Son of Rambow 2016Sing 2021Sing 2
Acting credits Year Title Role Notes2004Shaun of the Dead'Fun Dead' Zombie2005The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyFrankie MouseVoice role2007Hot FuzzCrack Addict2009Fantastic Mr. FoxBean's SonVoice role2013The World's EndMan in Pub No. 5 2016SingMiss CrawlyVoice role2019The Secret Life of Pets 2Hamster2021Sing 2Miss Crawly
Short film Year Title Director Writer Producer 2019Madame 2024Sing: Thriller
Acting credits Year Title Role Notes 2016Come Together: A Fashion Picture in MotionFritz2017Love at First SightMiss CrawlyVoice role2024Sing: Thriller
Music video YearSongArtist1997"Hit"The Wannadies"Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out"Bentley Rhythm Ace"Help the Aged"Pulp1998"A Little Soul""Cancer for the Cure"Eels"Last Stop: This Town""Saint Joe on the School Bus"Marcy Playground"The Flipside"Moloko1999"Coffee And TV"Blur"Pumping on Your Stereo"Supergrass"Right Here, Right Now"Fatboy Slim"Summertime Blues"Guitar Wolf2000"Theme from Gutbuster"Bentley Rhythm Ace"Disillusion"Badly Drawn Boy2001"Pissing in the Wind""Imitation of Life"R.E.M.2002"Lost Cause"Beck2005"Hell Yes""Low C"Supergrass2007"Nude"Radiohead"Jigsaw Falling Into Place"2008"A-Punk"Vampire Weekend2009"Cousins"2011"Lotus Flower"Radiohead2013"Ingenue"Atoms For Peace
Awards and nominations Year FilmAward Category Result2000Da Ali G ShowRoyal Television Society UKBest Graphic Design – Titles Supergrass: Pumping on Your StereoMTV Video Music AwardsBest Art Direction in a videoNominated2001R.E.M.: Imitation of LifeBest Direction in a videoNominated2005The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Artios Award – Casting Society of America Best Featured Film Casting-ComedyNominated2006Golden Trailer AwardMost Original OFTA Film AwardsBest Music, Original SongNominatedEmpire Awards UKBest British FilmNominatedBest ComedyNominatedGolden Trailer AwardsBest Voice OverNominated2008Son of RambowBritish Independent Film AwardsBest DirectorNominatedBest ScreenplayNominatedMost Promising Newcomer for Bill Milner and Will PoulterNominatedLocarno International Film FestivalAudience Award Variety Piazza Grande AwardNominatedNational Board of Review USATop Independent Films 2009BAFTA Awards Most Promising NewcomerNominatedEmpire Awards UKBest Comedy Best British FilmNominated2012Radiohead: Lotus FlowerGrammy AwardsBest Short Form Music VideoNominated2017SingGolden Globe AwardsBest Animated Feature FilmNominatedBest Original Song "Faith" – Ryan Tedder, Stevie Wonder and Francis Farewell StarliteNominatedAnnie AwardsMusic in an Animated Feature Production for Joby TalbotNominatedHollywood Music in Media AwardsBest Song for an Animated FilmNominatedBest Soundtrack AlbumNominatedOutstanding Music Supervision for Jojo Villanueva Nickelodeon Kids' Choice AwardsFavorite Animated MovieNominatedFavorite Voice from an animated movie for Reese WitherspoonNominatedMost wanted pet for Reese WitherspoonNominatedFavorite SoundtrackNominatedBehind the Voice Actors AwardsBest Male Vocal Performance in a feature film in a supporting role as the voice of "Miss Crawly"NominatedBritish Academy Children's AwardsFeature FilmNominatedSaturn AwardsBest Animated Feature FilmNominatedAARP Annual Movies for Grownups AwardsBest Movie for grownups who refuse to grow upNominated2019MadameDada Saheb Phalke Film FestivalBest Short Live Action / Best Short Animation Seattle International Film FestivalBest FilmNominatedHollyShorts Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominatedDC Shorts Festival Official SelectionsNominatedSitges International Fantastic Film Festival of CataloniaOfficial SelectionsNominatedThriller! Chiller!Best Chill Screamfest Horror Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominatedSanta Fe Independent Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominatedSapporo International Short Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominatedCambridge Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominatedVortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominatedAesthetica Short Film FestivalBest Thriller Foyle Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominatedDruk International Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominatedShockfest Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominatedBahamas International Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominatedAnchorage International Film FestivalBest Narrative Short Horror Bowl Movie Awards Best Short London Short Film FestivalOfficial SelectionsNominated
Books YearTitlePublishing house2015The Deadly 7Pan Macmillan2017The Wildest Cowboy (illustrated by Sara Ogilvie)Pan Macmillan2019The Good, The Bad and the Deadly 7Pan Macmillan2021The Curse of the Deadly 7Pan Macmillan
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