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SXSW.COM | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7 | SXS W O R L D 1 3 crazy for what feels like a lifetime, for two-and-a-half years, and there's no reward at the end that can be worth that.  "I don't know what anyone expects or what I expected to happen at the end of that screening. I don't know if I expected the heavens to open and unicorns to come out and gold to rain from the skies, but at the end, people were coming up with some business cards. You could tell that some people were legit, and some people were just wannabe filmmakers. And I remember getting in the taxi to go back to the hotel and thinking, 'Oh shit, that was it.' That's my film career. Done. And I was really depressed."  The next day, Edwards discovered that one of those people was Mike Simpson, an executive at William Morris Endeavor (WME). "He was this really sweet guy," Edwards recalls of his first encounter with Simpson. "He's got the same manner as like Clint Eastwood. Very calm and confident, but in a warm way."  During that first meeting, Simpson offered to represent Edwards alongside his existing clientele of Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, Wes Craven, John Woo and others. "He just started listing a bunch of my heroes," Edwards remembers. "And I was like, 'And you want to represent me?' " To which Simpson responded, "Sure," and they were off.  Within a few weeks of that first meeting with Simpson, Edwards had travelled to Los Angeles and taken meetings with 100 people. Within a few months, he had been offered Godzilla at Legendary Pictures, which released in 2014, and was on the path that has led him to Rogue One. When he returns to SXSW and the scene of his debut premiere in March as a Film Keynote speaker, he does so as a filmmaker whose last two releases have grossed nearly $1.5 billion worldwide. And to think, on that late night in Austin more than six years ago, he was sure that his filmmaking career was over. In reality, he was simply about to be launched into hyperspace. Gareth Edwards is a 2017 SXSW Conference Keynote (Film). "… I remember getting in the taxi to go back to the hotel and thinking, 'Oh shit, that was it.' That's my film career. Done. And I was really depressed." Gareth Edwards, photo by Jonathan Olley TRADE SHOW EXHIBITS & CUSTOM ENVIRONMENTS An Austin-based Exhibit company ready to make your brand step up and stand out at SXSW. Contact us today. 888-836-8442 info@ImagecraftExhibits.com www.ImagecraftExhibits.com A S X S W P R E F E R R E D V E N D O R C U S T O M – R E N T A L S – P O R T A B L E S – E N V I R O N M E N T S – M U S E U M - Q U A L I T Y D I S P L A Y S

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