Taika Waititi

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Academy Award-Winning Filmmaker

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Taika Waititi: Biography at a Glance

  • Taika Waititi is a New Zealand Academy Award®-winning writer, director, and actor.
  • Waititi's directing credits include the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Thor: Ragnarok and the satirical comedy film Jojo Rabbit, the latter of which he also wrote and starred in as Adolf Hitler.
  • His work in Jojo Rabbit earned critical praise, receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture and winning the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
  • His feature films Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople have each been the top-grossing New Zealand film of all time.
  • He co-directed and starred in the horror-comedy film What We Do in the Shadows with Jemaine Clement.
  • Additionally, he voiced “Morrison” in Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear, the story of Buzz Lightyear and his intergalactic adventures.

Biography

Taika Waititi is an Academy Award®-winning writer, director, and actor. His film Jojo Rabbit received six Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture, and earned him an Oscar® for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film, which was released by Searchlight Pictures, was also nominated for a Golden Globe ® for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, among other accolades. Previously, Waititi directed the critically-acclaimed blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok for Disney, as well as the beloved indie films Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows, Boy, and the Oscar®-nominated short film Two Cars, One Night. He also executive produced through his production company with Carthew Neal, Piki Films, The Breaker Uppers, Baby, Done, and the first Indigenous Canadian/New Zealand co-production, Night Raiders, which premiered at the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival.  

Waititi is currently in post-production on Next Goal Wins for Searchlight Pictures, which he wrote, directed, and produced, based on the 2015 documentary of the same name, as well as Thor: Love And Thunder. The highly anticipated film, written and directed by Waititi, stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Natalie Portman. Additionally, he voiced “Morrison” in Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear, the story of Buzz Lightyear and his intergalactic adventures. Previously, Waititi was seen in Shawn Levy’s Free Guy from 20th Century Studios, alongside Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, and Joe Keery.

For television, Waititi is the co-creator and executive producer of the Indigenous American teen comedy Reservation Dogs for FX, for which he co-wrote the first episode with co-creator Sterlin Harjo. The series has been well-received, winning the 2021 Gotham Award for Short-Form Breakthrough Series and the 2022 Independent Spirit Award for Best New Scripted Series, as well as earning nominations for this year’s Critic’s Choice Awards, Golden Globe Awards ®, and Writers Guild of America Awards. On-screen, Waititi stars as “Blackbeard” in the HBO Max period comedy Our Flag Means Death. He is also the executive producer for the series and directed the pilot episode. Additionally, Waititi directed the season one finale of The Mandalorian for Disney+, in which he also voices "IG-11,” and serves as executive producer on the critically acclaimed TV adaptation of What We Do in the Shadows, for which he’s directed several episodes. 

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