---
name: "Craig Gillespie"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/craig-gillespie"
fi1m_id: "craig-gillespie"
imdb_id: "nm0318916"
tmdb_id: 50767
wikidata_id: "Q3696452"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "1 September 1967"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 66
average_as: "director"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-03T01:56:54.847237+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Craig Gillespie

## Identity

Craig Gillespie

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/craig-gillespie
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** craig-gillespie
- **IMDb ID:** nm0318916
- **TMDB ID:** 50767
- **Wikidata ID:** Q3696452
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Gillespie, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3696452, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0318916/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/50767

Director and producer. Born 1 September 1967 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 1 September 1967, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- **Active:** 2017–present
- **Frequently works with:** [Paul Walter Hauser](https://film.one/person/paul-walter-hauser.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 66, as director, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 70 (1), 2020s 64 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 66 to 65 across 5 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 4, Drama 3, Crime 2, Action 1, Adventure 1, History 1
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $434m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Gillespie, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3696452, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0318916/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/50767

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Cruella*](https://film.one/film/cruella.md) (66), [*Dumb Money*](https://film.one/film/dumb-money.md) (64)
- **Apple TV:** [*Your Friends & Neighbors*](https://film.one/tv/your-friends-and-neighbors.md) (72)
- **Tubi:** [*I, Tonya*](https://film.one/film/i-tonya.md) (70)
- **Hulu:** [*Supergirl*](https://film.one/film/supergirl.md) (56)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Craig Gillespie

> Craig Gillespie is good at letting awkward people be funny without making them ridiculous. We value that sympathy, but his brisk, actor-led films can settle for keeping us entertained when their subjects deserve harder questions.

In *Dumb Money* (2023), America Ferrera stands in a hospital corridor, masked, checking a share price on her phone. Gillespie lets her stay silent, and we can see how much she needs that number to rise. We were moved by her anxious attention to the screen, because he briefly stopped explaining the story and trusted the person living it. His sympathy is convincing here; elsewhere, his determination to keep things lively gets in the way.

*Lars and the Real Girl* (2007) established his ability to treat an unconventional premise with sincerity. He went on to *Million Dollar Arm* (2014) and *The Finest Hours* (2016), before *I, Tonya* (2017) gave his mixture of comedy and hurt a sharper purpose. That film made us think about who gets laughed at and why. In *Cruella* (2021), too, he found room for a damaged woman to be funny without first becoming agreeable.

The collaborators on *Dumb Money* make a fair case for his methods. Cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis gives rich and poor the same flat winter light, while production designer Scott Kuzio lets the size and furnishing of their homes show the difference. Editor Kirk Baxter keeps the separate stories moving at the pace of the changing share price. But Gillespie's repeated cuts to memes become tiresome, and composer Will Bates's score struggles to be heard beneath pop songs insisting on excitement. The film is easy company, but its good cast cannot make up for how little it asks about the small investors' gamble.

*Supergirl* (2026) exposes the limits more plainly. Milly Alcock's sour, tired Kara ought to suit the director who made *I, Tonya*, and the small revenge story gives him no need to bury her in plot. Yet Ana Nogueira's script keeps spelling things out, and Gillespie cannot find the wit that would make the journey worth following. Alcock makes the character believable, but too much of the dialogue leaves her explaining an attitude she could simply have shown us. For a better introduction, start with *I, Tonya*, where he gives us a reason to question our laughter.

## Biography

Craig Gillespie is an Australian-American film, television and commercial director. Born on 1 September 1967 in Sydney, he moved to New York City at the age of nineteen and studied illustration, graphic design and advertising at the School of Visual Arts. He began his career in advertising agencies before directing commercials from 1995.

Gillespie is known for directing the films *Lars and the Real Girl* (2007), *Fright Night* (2011), *I, Tonya* (2017), *Cruella* (2021) and *Dumb Money* (2023), on which he also served as producer. He directed *Supergirl* (2026) and episodes of the series *Your Friends & Neighbors* (2025).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Supergirl* (2026), Fi1m 56, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/supergirl.md)
- *Your Friends & Neighbors* (2025), Fi1m 72, Executive Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/your-friends-and-neighbors.md)
- *Dumb Money* (2023), Fi1m 64, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/dumb-money.md)
- *Cruella* (2021), Fi1m 66, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/cruella.md)
- *I, Tonya* (2017), Fi1m 70, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/i-tonya.md)

## Complete filmography (22)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Supergirl* (2026), Director — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/film/supergirl.md)
- *The Better Sister* (2025), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Your Friends & Neighbors* (2025), series, Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/your-friends-and-neighbors.md)
- *Dumb Money* (2023), Director, Producer — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/dumb-money.md)
- *Mike* (2022), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Pam & Tommy* (2022), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *Physical* (2021), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Cruella* (2021), Director — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/cruella.md)
- *I, Tonya* (2017), Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/i-tonya.md)
- *The Finest Hours* (2016), Director
- *Million Dollar Arm* (2014), Director
- *Fright Night* (2011), Director
- *United States of Tara* (2009), series, Director
- *Lars and the Real Girl* (2007), Director
- *Mr. Woodcock* (2007), Director
- *Thelma*, Director
- *The Husbands*, series, Executive Producer
- *Untitled Craig Gillespie/Daniel Casey Heist Film*, Director, Producer
- *Homewreckers*, Director
- *Archie*, Director
- *Guilty Creatures*, series, Executive Producer
- *Cruella 2*, Director

## Gallery

- ![Craig Gillespie](https://film.one/media/person/6588/gallery-1a7a377aa669.jpg) Craig Gillespie — Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV from Culver City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Craig_Gillespie_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Craig_Gillespie_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![www.redcarpetreporttv.com Mingle Media TV's Red Carpet Report host Danielle Robay were invited to come out to cover the 6th Annual GO GO Gala hosted by with Ada (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/6588/gallery-950ec0c31f4e.jpg) www.redcarpetreporttv.com Mingle Media TV's Red Carpet Report host Danielle Robay were invited to come out to cover the 6th Annual GO GO Gala hosted by with Ada (2013) — Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV from Culver City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Craig_Gillespie_-_DSC_0452_%2810876598515%29.jpg/1280px-Craig_Gillespie_-_DSC_0452_%2810876598515%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![You'd be this happy to hug Margot Robbie too. Allison Janney, Sebastian Stan, Margot Robbie at the premiere of I Tonya, 2017 Toronto Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/6588/gallery-62198467a5ee.jpg) You'd be this happy to hug Margot Robbie too. Allison Janney, Sebastian Stan, Margot Robbie at the premiere of I Tonya, 2017 Toronto Film Festival — GabboT, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/I_Tonya_07_%2837179400425%29.jpg/1280px-I_Tonya_07_%2837179400425%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![That guy just has to be in the way. Allison Janney, Sebastian Stan, Margot Robbie, Julianne Nicholson and Caitlin Carver at the premiere of I Tonya, 2017 Toront](https://film.one/media/person/6588/gallery-b4b403b2d5bf.jpg) That guy just has to be in the way. Allison Janney, Sebastian Stan, Margot Robbie, Julianne Nicholson and Caitlin Carver at the premiere of I Tonya, 2017 Toront — GabboT, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/I_Tonya_08_%2837179402145%29.jpg/1280px-I_Tonya_08_%2837179402145%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 23 Craig Gillespie arrives at the Australian Premiere of 'I, Tonya' on January 23, 2018 in Sydney, Australia photo by Eva Rinaldi](https://film.one/media/person/6588/gallery-a1d844396f8d.jpg) SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 23 Craig Gillespie arrives at the Australian Premiere of 'I, Tonya' on January 23, 2018 in Sydney, Australia photo by Eva Rinaldi — Eva Rinaldi from Sydney Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/SYDNEY%2C_AUSTRALIA_-_JANUARY_23_Craig_Gillespie_arrive_at_the_Australian_Premiere_of_%27I%2C_Tonya%27_on_January_23%2C_2018_in_Sydney%2C_Australia._%28Photo_by_%281%29_%2825980803758%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/craig-gillespie