Garrett Bennett

Garrett began his career in commercials as an assistant to the renowned commercial director Larry Hutson. While working in commercials he simultaneously established Seattle's Annex Theatre, which has produced upward of 300 shows both world and Pacific Northwest premieres, including the world premier of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which ran to sold-out audiences for nearly a year. Garrett graduated from The American film Institute as one of the top Directors in a notable class of writers & directors -- including Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream) Mark Waters (Mr. Popper's Penguins, Mean Girls, Spiderwick Chronicles) Todd Field (In the Bedroom, Little Children) to name a few. While at AFI Garrett was honored as Best Director by the Hollywood Foreign Press for END OF THE ICON, his featurette starring Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts. Garrett's first feature FAREWELL TO HARRY took the BEST FILM Award at Worldfest Houston and earned Garrett a nomination for an INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD ("Someone to Watch" category). Garrett went on to direct A RELATIVE THING which walked away with the Audience Award for BEST FILM at the Sedona International Film Festival and received the Best Ensemble Performance Award at the Phoenix Film Festival. The film was nominated for the New American Cinema Awards at the Seattle International Film Festival. Garrett's next feature film THE SPY AND THE SPARROW gathered critical praise from HOLLYWOOD REPORTER'S lead Film Critic Stephen Farber calling it... "An engrossing, superbly acted movie!" The film was picked up by MARA VISTA and WARNER BROTHERS Home Video for World Wide Distribution. Garrett followed up with SHUFFLE which received numerous awards including BEST THRILLER at the Canadian Film Festival and BEST DIRECTOR at the American International Festival. He continues to direct commercials for the challenge of story telling in the short form, while in development on a THRILLER trilogy feature film and a macabre television series that spans three decades.