Greg Kwedar

Greg Kwedar was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Recruited to play rugby for Texas A&M, he majored in accounting and enrolled in the university's Professional Program of Accounting.^[9] While in college, he became a Mays Business School Fellow^[10] and served as president of Business Student Council^[11]. After realizing during an exam that accounting was not his calling,^[12] Kwedar left mid-exam and began to explore more creative careers and opportunities. The idea that would become his first feature film, Transpecos, was born from the time he spent volunteering at the U.S.-Mexican border. Kwedar stayed a fifth year at Texas A&M to earn a master's in marketing and apply for film programs.^[13] After graduating from Texas A&M in 2008, he turned down a graduate school offer from New York University and moved to Austin, Texas to pursue filmmaking full-time.^[14]

Upon his arrival in Austin, Kwedar began working as a writer and director at film studio One Spark.^[15] He worked on music videos, commercials, short films, and documentaries for One Spark while working on scripts for two feature films. He worked as a producer on the 2012 documentary Rising From Ashes, a film about the creation of Rwandan's first national cycling team in the wake of the Rwandan genocide.^[16]

In 2016, Kwedar made his directorial feature film debut with Transpecos, a film he directed, produced, and co-wrote with Clint Bentley. The film, based in Kwedar's experiences volunteering on the US-Mexican border, was released to positive reviews from critics. John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Artfully made but wholly accessible for a mainstream audience, it features strong performances but no names in the cast who'll draw attention on their own." ^[17]

The success of Kwedar's previous films led to production beginning on his sophomore feature film, Sing Sing. Kwedar directed, produced, and co-wrote the film (again with Bentley). Sing Sing premiered in the Special Presentations program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and won the 2024 SXSW Festival Audience Award.^[18] It was then acquired by A24 and released in the United States on July 12, 2024.^[19] The film was met with critical acclaim and amassed multiple accolades, including three nominations at the 78th British Academy Film Awards (including Best Actor for starring actor Colman Domingo and Best Supporting Actor for Clarence Maclin) and three nominations at the 97th Academy Awards (including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Domingo).^[20]

Kwedar co-wrote the screenplay for Train Dreams with Clint Bentley, adapting it from the 2011 novella of the same name by Denis Johnson. Starring Joel Edgerton, the film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired for a streaming release by Netflix. The film premiered on Netflix on November 7, 2025 to critical acclaim. It received four nominations at the 98th Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.^[21][22]

On September 5, 2025, Deadline announced that Charles Melton, Rachel Brosnahan and Will Poulter would star in Kwedar's upcoming third feature film, Saturn Return.^[23]

Documentaries produced:

• Rising from Ashes (2012)
• Running with Beto (2019)