Gareth Evans

Welsh-born writer and director, this guy kicked off his career in 2003 with a short film called "Samurai Monogatari." Wild, right? A Welsh director making a samurai flick—in Japanese, no less—with Tokyo students who just happened to be hanging out at Cardiff University. That’s not something you hear every day. Same year, he snagged his MA in Scriptwriting for Film and Television at the University of Glamorgan. But his real breakthrough took a few years. In 2006, his first major feature, "Footsteps," hit the world. Self-penned, gritty, and apparently it made some waves—premiered at Swansea Bay Film Festival and scooped up the "Best Film" prize. Critics loved it, and there’s buzz that it’ll drop in the US through Unearthed Films, a label that’s basically a haven for extreme cinema junkies. Release was set for summer 2007, so you know fans were counting down. But the guy didn’t just sit back and bask in the glow. He’s also been digging into the world of documentaries. Right now, he’s in Indonesia, directing a piece for Christine Hakim Films called "The Mystic Arts of Indonesia: Pencak Silat." It’s part of a bigger series—five episodes diving into the cultural heritage of Indonesia. The plan was for it to hit the airwaves after the whole series wrapped in 2008. And as if that wasn’t enough, he’s rumored to be gearing up for a second feature film, aiming to start that one in the summer of 2007. Busy doesn’t even cover it.