James Ward Byrkit

James Ward Byrkit (also known as James Byrkit or Jim Byrkit) is an American filmmaker. Byrkit is perhaps best known for his collaborations with director Gore Verbinski, working together on films like Mouse Hunt and Rango. For Rango, Byrkit co-wrote the script and starred as several characters, most notably Waffles, a horned lizard.^[1]

Byrkit was hired by Verbinski as the conceptual consultant for the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films.^[2] He did three weeks of consultancy work on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). In addition to the more than 3,000 storyboards that Byrkit created for Dead Man's Chest (2006) and At World's End (2007), he also bounced back and forth between departments, such as production design, props and the pre-visualization team, helping with simplified animatics of the overwhelmingly complex action sequences that were a blueprint for Verbinski on set, and later, for Industrial Light & Magic's visual effects.^[3] Byrkit also directed Tales of the Code: Wedlocked (2011), a short film and an immediate prequel to The Curse of the Black Pearl.^[4]

Byrkit is also known for directing the science fiction thriller Coherence, his debut feature which earned critical and audience praise^[5][6][7][8] and garnered attention for his unconventional approach in the making of the film as "proof that inventive filmmakers can do a lot with a little",^[9][10][11] and identifying him as a groundbreaking talent.^[12]

Byrkit's follow-up project, Shatter Belt, is an episodic series in the tradition of Twilight Zone. Production on the first four episodes was completed in 2022, with the world premiere scheduled for 2023 at the SXSW Film & TV Festival.

In the Disney+ series Prop Culture, Byrkit made a guest appearance with concept artist Crash McCreery to discuss their work in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.^[13]