# Garth Jennings
**Garth Jennings** (born 1972) is an English film director, screenwriter, and music video director, known for *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* (2005), the coming-of-age comedy *[Son of Rambow](https://www.edgepedia.org/son-of-rambow)* (2007), the Illumination animated musicals *[Sing](https://www.edgepedia.org/sing-2016-american-film)* (2016) and *Sing 2* (2021), and the 2026 Pulp documentary *Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?*[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/garth_jennings) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/271316-Garth-Jennings?cp=1&cxt=Director&pos=1&sid=a856e9f2-05a3-4e8c-b175-81cfec1c1793&sr=1.2192354). He came to features from music videos through Hammer & Tongs, the production company he co-founded with Nick Goldsmith.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/12/garth-jennings-unmade-videos-kanye)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1972, Epping, Essex, England[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/garth_jennings) |
| Education | Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London, where he met Nick Goldsmith[4](https://filmmakermagazine.com/1314-garth-jennings-son-of-rambow/) |
| Production company | Hammer & Tongs, founded with Goldsmith and Dominic Leung in 1993; more than 70 music videos plus commercials[3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/12/garth-jennings-unmade-videos-kanye) |
| Feature films directed | *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* (2005), *Son of Rambow* (2007), *Sing* (2016), *Sing 2* (2021), *Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?* (2026)[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/271316-Garth-Jennings?cp=1&cxt=Director&pos=1&sid=a856e9f2-05a3-4e8c-b175-81cfec1c1793&sr=1.2192354) • [5](https://25thframe.co.uk/directors/director.php?name=Garth+Jennings) |
| Box office | $0.6 billion from one film in the top 200 worldwide grossers, 2001–2017, ninth among UK directors; combined directing grosses of $1.2 billion globally[6](https://researchlibrary.ontariocreates.ca/Handler/AccessedDocHandler.ashx?Id=1868&SearchId=0) • [5](https://25thframe.co.uk/directors/director.php?name=Garth+Jennings) |
| Awards nominations | BAFTA 2009 Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer; British Independent Film Awards 2008 Best Director and Best Screenplay, all for *Son of Rambow*[7](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/garth_jennings/) |
| Books | Four children's books: *The Wildest Cowboy*, *The Deadly Seven*, *The Good the Bad and the Deadly Seven*, and *The Curse of the Deadly Seven*[8](https://lutyensrubinstein.co.uk/authors/garth-jennings) |
## Hammer & Tongs and music videos
Jennings set up Hammer & Tongs with Dominic Leung and Nick Goldsmith the week after leaving art school in 1993.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/12/garth-jennings-unmade-videos-kanye) The company built its reputation on inventive, often humorous promos: [Fatboy Slim](https://www.edgepedia.org/fatboy-slim)'s "Right Here, Right Now", R.E.M.'s "Imitation of Life", and Blur's "Coffee & TV", in which an ambitious milk carton searches for the missing child pictured on its side.[9](https://tv.apple.com/hk/person/garth-jennings/umc.cpc.6myzhsyir9fnkwth2rn69xp0j?l=en) "Coffee & TV" won Best Video at the MTV Europe Awards and the NME Awards.[10](https://undertheradarmag.com/interviews/filmmaker_garth_jennings_on_his_new_pulp_documentary_pulp_what_do_you_do_for_an_encore) Other clients included Pulp, Badly Drawn Boy, Supergrass, Moloko, Radiohead, Beck, and [Vampire Weekend](https://www.edgepedia.org/vampire-weekend).[3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/12/garth-jennings-unmade-videos-kanye) • [8](https://lutyensrubinstein.co.uk/authors/garth-jennings)
His breakthrough came with the video for Pulp's "Help the Aged" in 1997, a treatment that referenced Powell and Pressburger's *A Matter of Life and Death* and was realized, on a small budget, with a stairlift to heaven.[10](https://undertheradarmag.com/interviews/filmmaker_garth_jennings_on_his_new_pulp_documentary_pulp_what_do_you_do_for_an_encore) • [11](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/by-the-end-you-go-oh-my-god-i-love-this-guy-we-speak-to-director-garth-jennings-about-capturing-pulps-remarkable-return-in-a-new-film) For every video the company completed, at least five ideas went unmade; Jennings later compiled the unproduced concepts, including a pitch to [Kanye West](https://www.edgepedia.org/kanye-west) for "Flashing Lights" that West rejected.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/12/garth-jennings-unmade-videos-kanye)
## Feature films
**The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.** Hammer & Tongs had no plans to move into features when a script for [Douglas Adams](https://www.edgepedia.org/douglas-adams)'s science-fiction comedy reached them on the recommendation of director [Spike Jonze](https://www.edgepedia.org/spike-jonze); the Adams property had sold over 15 million copies as a book and had already been adapted for radio, television, comics, and video games.[9](https://tv.apple.com/hk/person/garth-jennings/umc.cpc.6myzhsyir9fnkwth2rn69xp0j?l=en) Jennings directed the 2005 film, made four years after Adams's death, with a budget reported at $60 million.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/garth_jennings) • [12](https://list.co.uk/news/garth-jennings-son-of-rambow-35640)
**Son of Rambow.** The film Jennings had wanted to make first, before *Hitchhiker's*, is a semi-autobiographical comedy about two schoolboys in 1980s England who, after watching a pirated copy of *First Blood*, set out to film their own sequel.[13](https://www.kcrw.com/shows/guest-dj-project/stories/garth-jennings) • [14](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/interviews/blood-brothers) Its origin was the action movie Jennings shot as a child on his father's video camera, called *Arran, Part 1*.[4](https://filmmakermagazine.com/1314-garth-jennings-son-of-rambow/) It was shot over three weeks in and around Berkhamsted in [Hertfordshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/hertfordshire), and Jennings described the experience as "as close to making films as 11-year-olds as we've ever been".[12](https://list.co.uk/news/garth-jennings-son-of-rambow-35640) The film was a hit at Sundance and earned Jennings BAFTA and British Independent Film Awards nominations.[7](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/garth_jennings/) • [14](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/interviews/blood-brothers)
## Animation with Illumination
Illumination founder [Chris Meledandri](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-meledandri), having seen *Son of Rambow*, proposed a musical built around a singing contest for animals; Jennings met him over tea, wrote the script, and by the second draft decided to direct it himself.[15](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/29/garth-jennings-writer-director-sing-illumination-interview) Directing *Sing* meant moving his family to Paris, where the animation studio is based, and he described the transition from live action as a different beast, "from the pixel up"; the stress of the first two months left him with pneumonia.[15](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/29/garth-jennings-writer-director-sing-illumination-interview) He spent the better part of ten years in France making the two *Sing* features back to back.[16](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sing-2-director-garth-jennings-190000407.html) He also voices the elderly koala receptionist Miss Crawly in both films.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/garth_jennings)
The *Sing* films are his commercial core: *Sing* is his highest-grossing film in the United States and worldwide, and *Sing 2* in the United Kingdom, with combined directing grosses of £82 million in the UK, $486 million in the US, and $1.2 billion globally.[5](https://25thframe.co.uk/directors/director.php?name=Garth+Jennings) In a BFI Research and Statistics Unit analysis of the top 200 worldwide grossers for 2001–2017, Jennings ranked ninth among UK directors with $0.6 billion from one film, alongside [Ridley Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/ridley-scott) in tenth.[6](https://researchlibrary.ontariocreates.ca/Handler/AccessedDocHandler.ashx?Id=1868&SearchId=0) Illumination has since announced plans for *Sing 3*.[17](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1134029/news/)
## Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?
Jennings's relationship with Pulp goes back to 1997 and the "Help the Aged" video.[17](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1134029/news/) His documentary *[Pulp](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulp-band): What Do You Do for an Encore?* (2026) is a 90-minute film, part concert film and part career-spanning documentary, narrated by frontman [Jarvis Cocker](https://www.edgepedia.org/jarvis-cocker).[18](https://pitchfork.com/story/watch-the-first-trailer-for-pulps-new-film-what-do-you-do-for-an-encore/) It combines footage of the band's biggest ever arena show at London's O2 Arena, part of the global tour for their reunion album *More*, their first album in 24 years, with four decades of archival material.[19](https://www.loudersound.com/culture/films-tv-shows/pulp-documentary-what-do-you-do-for-an-encore-incoming) The film was shot after an earlier attempt collapsed when financing fell through two weeks before a planned 2023 recording at [Hammersmith Apollo](https://www.edgepedia.org/hammersmith-apollo).[11](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/by-the-end-you-go-oh-my-god-i-love-this-guy-we-speak-to-director-garth-jennings-about-capturing-pulps-remarkable-return-in-a-new-film)
The film avoids talking-head interviews; only the concert was filmed new, and everything else was drawn from archives, including Super-8 film, videotapes, and television interviews found by archivist Tess McNally-Watson.[20](https://mubi.com/en/program-notes/psychic-lint-garth-jennings-on-pulp-what-do-you-do-for-an-encore) The first half of the narration draws on Cocker's book *Good Pop, Bad Pop*, after which Cocker wrote the rest himself.[11](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/by-the-end-you-go-oh-my-god-i-love-this-guy-we-speak-to-director-garth-jennings-about-capturing-pulps-remarkable-return-in-a-new-film) It received one-night cinema previews in September 2026 in the UK and Ireland, Canada, and the United States and Mexico, then streamed exclusively on MUBI from 25 September 2026, and holds a 95 percent Tomatometer score on Apple TV's listing.[21](https://www.withguitars.com/ulp-what-do-you-do-for-an-encore-will-stream-exclusively-on-mubi-from-25-september-2026/) • [22](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/pulp-what-do-you-do-for-an-encore/umc.cmc.214i1j7qw7udiranbut032sfd)
## Method and other work
Jennings describes a pitch-first working method: he and his partners commit to an idea before knowing how to execute it, then work it out, favoring handmade, in-camera effects over post-production.[23](https://www.moviemaker.com/garth-jennings-son-of-rambow-20080428/) On *Son of Rambow* he spent three months storyboarding before shooting.[4](https://filmmakermagazine.com/1314-garth-jennings-son-of-rambow/) Hammer & Tongs ended its 19-year collaboration in 2012, after which Jennings continued directing films, commercials, and music videos.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/garth_jennings) He is also the author of four children's books and has acted in small roles in films by [Edgar Wright](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgar-wright) and [Wes Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/wes-anderson), including voicing Bean's Son in *Fantastic Mr. Fox* (2009).[8](https://lutyensrubinstein.co.uk/authors/garth-jennings) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/garth_jennings)
## References
1. [Garth Jennings, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/garth_jennings)
2. [Garth Jennings, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/271316-Garth-Jennings?cp=1&cxt=Director&pos=1&sid=a856e9f2-05a3-4e8c-b175-81cfec1c1793&sr=1.2192354)
3. [Garth Jennings: Kanye killed my video, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/12/garth-jennings-unmade-videos-kanye)
4. [Garth Jennings, Son Of Rambow, Filmmaker Magazine](https://filmmakermagazine.com/1314-garth-jennings-son-of-rambow/)
5. [The Movie Directors Database: Garth Jennings, 25thframe.co.uk](https://25thframe.co.uk/directors/director.php?name=Garth+Jennings)
6. [UK Directors, BFI Research and Statistics Unit / comScore](https://researchlibrary.ontariocreates.ca/Handler/AccessedDocHandler.ashx?Id=1868&SearchId=0)
7. [Garth Jennings, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/garth_jennings/)
8. [Garth Jennings, Lutyens & Rubinstein Literary Agency](https://lutyensrubinstein.co.uk/authors/garth-jennings)
9. [Garth Jennings Films and Shows, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/hk/person/garth-jennings/umc.cpc.6myzhsyir9fnkwth2rn69xp0j?l=en)
10. [Filmmaker Garth Jennings on His New Pulp Documentary, Under the Radar](https://undertheradarmag.com/interviews/filmmaker_garth_jennings_on_his_new_pulp_documentary_pulp_what_do_you_do_for_an_encore)
11. [We speak to director Garth Jennings about capturing Pulp's remarkable return, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/by-the-end-you-go-oh-my-god-i-love-this-guy-we-speak-to-director-garth-jennings-about-capturing-pulps-remarkable-return-in-a-new-film)
12. [Garth Jennings - Son of Rambow, The List](https://list.co.uk/news/garth-jennings-son-of-rambow-35640)
13. [Garth Jennings, The Treatment, KCRW](https://www.kcrw.com/shows/guest-dj-project/stories/garth-jennings)
14. [Son of Rambow: Garth Jennings Interview, The Skinny](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/interviews/blood-brothers)
15. [Garth Jennings: 'I was so stressed, awake at 3am thinking: What have I done?', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/29/garth-jennings-writer-director-sing-illumination-interview)
16. ['Sing 2' Director Garth Jennings on His Unexpected Career Path, TheWrap via Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sing-2-director-garth-jennings-190000407.html)
17. [Garth Jennings - News, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1134029/news/)
18. [Watch the First Trailer for Pulp's New Film What Do You Do for an Encore?, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/story/watch-the-first-trailer-for-pulps-new-film-what-do-you-do-for-an-encore/)
19. [New Pulp documentary What Do You Do For An Encore? to stream this autumn, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/culture/films-tv-shows/pulp-documentary-what-do-you-do-for-an-encore-incoming)
20. [Psychic Lint: Garth Jennings on Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?, MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/program-notes/psychic-lint-garth-jennings-on-pulp-what-do-you-do-for-an-encore)
21. [PULP: What Do You Do For An Encore? will stream exclusively on MUBI from 25 September 2026, WithGuitars](https://www.withguitars.com/ulp-what-do-you-do-for-an-encore-will-stream-exclusively-on-mubi-from-25-september-2026/)
22. [Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/pulp-what-do-you-do-for-an-encore/umc.cmc.214i1j7qw7udiranbut032sfd)
23. [Garth Jennings Channels His Inner Rambow, MovieMaker Magazine](https://www.moviemaker.com/garth-jennings-son-of-rambow-20080428/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Film and television directors › Directors of Europe › British and Irish directors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license