Gareth Huw Evans (born 1979 or 1980) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter, editor, and action choreographer. He is best known for the Indonesian action crime films Merantau (2009), The Raid (2011), and The Raid 2 (2014), and for bringing the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat into world cinema through these films. He is also known for co-creating, co-writing, co-directing, and executive producing the Sky Atlantic/AMC action crime drama television series Gangs of London (2020–present) alongside Matt Flannery, based on the 2006 video game of the same name.
Evans was born and raised in Hirwaun, Cynon Valley. He graduated from the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales) with an MA in screenwriting.
After directing a small-budget film called Footsteps, Evans was hired as a freelance director for a documentary about the Indonesian martial art pencak silat. He became fascinated with it and discovered Indonesian martial artist Iko Uwais, who was working as a deliveryman for a phone company. Evans cast Uwais in his 2009 film Merantau. He planned to produce a large action film but scaled the production budget down and created an action film called The Raid (2011). After the success of The Raid, the larger action film eventually became the basis for its sequel, The Raid 2: Berandal (2014).
In late 2016, Evans started working on his next film, Apostle, which stars Dan Stevens. Netflix released the film on 12 October 2018.
In October 2017, TheWrap reported that Evans had pitched his idea for a Deathstroke solo film and is in early talks to write and direct. Evans also passed on directing a Justice League Dark film. However, in April 2020, Evans said that the film had been delayed and that he was no longer actively involved with the project.
Evans lived in Jakarta with his wife, Maya, and their daughter until the family moved back to Wales in 2015.
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