Ladieeeeeeees and Gentlemeeeeen!! Step right this way to meet the director of Water for Elephants. Heeee’s cool, heeee’s fun and… he TWEETED us, the KINKERS!!! Read on….
Francis Lawrence was born in Vienna, Austria and moved with his parents to the U.S. at the age of three. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in film production from Loyola Marymount University’s Film School in 1991, he began what has turned into a prolific career.
Lawrence filming I Am Legend
Lawrence co-directed with his friend, Mike Rosin, on early projects for a small record label. He went on to direct commercials for such well known brands as McDonald’s, CoverGirl and two of my personal favourites, Coca-Cola and Bacardi (if you’re of age, try them together some time 
) But it’s his music video catalogue of work that is most impressive. From Britney Spears to Aerosmith, Sarah McLachlan to Green Day, Lawrence has directed some of the biggest hits and most iconic videos of the last 15 years.
Lady Gaga on working with Francis Lawrence,
“It was collaborative. He’s really a pop video director and a filmmaker. He did ‘I Am Legend’ and I’m a huge Will Smith fan, so I knew he could execute the video in a way that I could give him all my weirdest, most psychotic ideas,” she said. “But it would come across to and be relevant to the public.” source
More, Plus the Director’s Tweets to US after the jump!
Directing Will Smith in the music video for Men in Black II (Nod Ya Head) in 2002 led to an audience with the producers of what would be his first feature length movie.
His vision, including his ideas for the characters, impressed the producers, who were used to video directors focusing on the looks of each frame and not on the development of the story. He won the job and made his feature film directing debut with Constantine (2005), starring Keanu Reeves in the title role. source
Francis Lawrence teamed with Will Smith once again for the 2007 film, I Am Legend. It was a huge success, earning close to $600,000,000 at the box office, worldwide. A prequel is currently in development with both Smith and Lawrence attached to the project. I Am Legend garnered favourable reviews and numerous award nominations, among them, four from the Visual Effects Society. Lawrence had used CGI to bring the portrayal of the virus victims closer to his vision as well as to depict the deer and lion loose in Manhattan.
We, the Kinkers, were so excited about Lawrence directing Water for Elephants that we went a little nuts and sent him some questions via Twitter. And, because he’s awesome, HE TWEETED BACK!!!
The Kinkers #1 Would you rather have popcorn, cotton candy, or peanuts at the circus?
Francis Lawrence #1 peanuts
The Kinkers #2 What scene are you most looking forward to bringing to life?
Francis Lawrence #2 a bunch of scenes… Arriving at the circus for the first time … On the roof of the train with August… Meeting Marlena…… The speakeasy… I love them all!
Filming begins later this month! You can follow Francis Lawrence on Twitter @Hibbits
Follow @h2oforelephants on Twitter and Facebook!
