Biography
Andrew de Villiers is the award winning director, co-producer and co-writer of Riverdale: The Archie Movie Trailer, which played a small role in inspiring Riverdale, the hit TV series from Netflix and CBS. He is the writer and director of the TV movie Secret Liaison, and the writer, director and co-producer of an ambitious, fantastical re-imagining of Davy Crockett. The Legend of Davy Crockett was a finalist in Cinecoup 2015 and was optioned by Unity Pictures that same year.
Andrew began his career in high school, producing the EPK for Betraying Reason, a film shot near his home towns of Courtenay. He later attended film school under full scholarship at The Art Institute of Vancouver and studied writing and producing at Langara College's Film Arts program. While re-uniting with high school friends Michael Cope and Rhys Finnick, Andrew produced a series of dark comedy sketches for a pilot called 'The Cross Eyed Bear' show. The pilot was not picked up, but one sketch, Riverdale, became an international sensation, and was featured on Mashable, Time, Entertainment Weekly and most Canadian national news outlets. It won a Canadian Comedy Award in 2012 for best web video, and Andrew went on to direct his first TV Movie for Kirk Shaw at Insight Media and Gilles Laplante at Reel One Pictures. Andrew also made the short film Mister Forgettable with Point Blank Creative, which premiered at the San Diego International Film Festival in 2013. The high concept film was incredibly ambitious, but was unable to find a large audience, primarily due to it's abstract nature and it's long length.
Following a short break after a whirlwind couple of years, Andrew began developing his passion project, a re-imagining of Davy Crockett, called The Legend of Davy Crockett. This new take on the character would hearken back to the original tall tales in almanacs and pulps published in the 1800's, combining modern storytelling sensibilities with history, Native American folklore and a healthy dose of action and adventure. The concept project starring Supernatural's Ty Olsson was made for $18,000 with volunteers and became a finalist in CineCoup 2015, where it found an international audience. The project was optioned by Unity Pictures that year, but was not picked up for production. Two production ready scripts were written and remain available, registered with the WGA.
From 2013 on, Andrew has continued his behind the scenes and documentary style corporate work for local and national businesses and charities. His production company, Film Vancouver Production Services, has clients across Canada and produced its first national television advertisement in 2018. At the same time, Andrew continues to write and direct independent content, consulting with producers on TV movie scripts, optioning another in 2017. He continues to work with production companies to develop new and exciting properties based on existing brands. In late 2018, a pilot Andrew co-wrote, produced and directed, Chalkboard Prison, will premiere. It is a sitcom about a kindergarten teacher working in a prison, when budget cuts force him out of his comfort zone.
Andrew's detail oriented, performance driven approach to storytelling, and his skill as a story editor make him well suited for both drama and comedy, and his some of his favourite films and television series include Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters, Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Almost Famous and North by Northwest.
