Biography

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Garret began making short films in college and later attended the American Film Institute where the short he co-wrote and produced HELICOPTER, earned many festival awards.

Receiving a $35,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, he wrote, produced, and directed the short SPARK which premiered at Sundance. The film went on to screen at New Directors/New Film at the MOMA and won many festival awards including the Grand Prize at the USA Film Festival. Ultimately, the film aired on Showtime as the winner of their Black Filmmakers Showcase. This prize also included a grant to make a short film so Garret wrote, produced, and directed BB GUN which aired on Showtime during black history month.

His feature SPARK, starring Terrence Howard, Nicole Ari Parker, and Brendan Sexton III, was a Sundance Filmmakers Lab project. Once complete, it premiered at Sundance and went on to the Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) and many others worldwide. Garret was awarded the Best Director Prize at the Urbanworld Film Festival for the film.

Multiple film organizations have supported Garret's screenplays. HYENAS was a Sundance Screenwriters Lab project. MUDPUPPY was a Film Independent Screenwriters Lab Project, selected for the Tribeca All Access and was optioned by Sly Dog Films. His screenplay LOST DOG was selected for the Film Independent Screenwriters and Directors Labs, was a Fast Track project at the Los Angeles Film Festival, was nominated for Best Screenplay and the Gordon Parks Award at the IFP Film Market in NYC, and was selected for the WGA's Feature Writer Access Project.

He wrote, produced, and directed the short THE RISE for ITVS's Futurestates Science Fiction short film series. The film premiered at SXSW before its online release.

He is developing his next feature, A LITTLE LOST, a dramatic thriller.

Garret developed a strong interest in photography at an early age. His passion for photography continues with an extensive and ongoing street photography project about his adopted home, Los Angeles.
- IMDb mini biography by: Garret Williams