The Essential List: Edward Andrews

Brit-born Edward Andrews is somewhat of an adopted Canadian. After years on the country’s west coast, the director has made the move from Vancouver to Toronto to coincide with his recent signing to the roster at Skin and Bones. On the back of these life and career moves, we figured what better time to pick his brains and get him to lay down his Essential List? 

Without further ado, get to know Edward, his shortfalls when it comes to fishing, and the delights of his nan’s homemade tomato sauce below.

Travel

o Place of birth: Newbury, UK.

o Hometown: Originally Hungerford, UK. Lived for years in London and Vancouver. Recently moved to Toronto. 

o Staycation: Camping and swimming in a lake somewhere. Preferably when it’s hot. Also fishing, but I can’t remember the last time I caught anything other than reeds or a tree.

o Vacation: South of France and Italy seeing la famiglia. Or a long road trip through the US or Europe.

o Place of work: Coffee shops, library, home, and Skin and Bones office. 

o Place of workout: Six-a-side football. Seems to get harder every year though.

o Mode of transport: Car in winter. Bike and walking in summer.

Culture

o Artist: Edward Hopper, Nighthawks.

o Musician: Ludovico Einaudi and Yann Tiersen persuaded me to learn to play the piano. Also any soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat and Jed Kurzel. 

o Commercials director: Dougal Wilson, David Fincher, Ian Pons Jewell.

o Film director: I’ll watch and study anything by David Fincher, Denis Villeneuve, Lynne Ramsay and Nicolas Roeg.

o Photographer: Jerry Uelsmann. Surreal photos created in the darkroom - the original Photoshop. Also one of the reasons I became a VFX compositor.

o Film: Se7en - for the mystery, Fish Tank - for the realism, Notting Hill - for the comedy, and Pans Labyrinth - for the surreal.

o Series: Narcos or Last Chance U.

o Commercial: John Lewis - The Long Wait. Amazing storytelling. 

o Music Video: Currently it’s ‘Stormzy - Vossi Bop’. Love it.

o Video Game: The highs and lows of winning and mostly losing against my brother at Fifa. 

o Board Game: Chess or Monopoly. Not good at either.

o Book: Just finished Sapiens. Incredible read. Now working my way through every ‘Learn Spanish’ audiobook I can find.

o Graphic Novel: Don’t read them enough to have a favourite unfortunately.

o Newspaper (off or online): BBC news.

Food and Drink

o Breakfast: Coffee. Avocado toast.

o Restaurant: Recently it would have to be Piano Piano, Toronto. 

o Working lunch: A healthy salad with a donut.

o Dish: Mother’s roast dinner, or Nan’s homemade spaghetti with tomato sauce. Can’t find better.

Kit

o Phone: Android. Might be tempted to switch back to iPhone soon.

o Computer: My ancient MacBook. Still going strong.

o Headphones: Bose noise-cancelling headphones. And if I forget those, I have a dozen pairs of free airplane ear buds. They’re awful.

o Camera: Sad to say it’s currently my phone. Although I did take this photo on it of a deer at 5am in Yellowstone…

o Pen / pencil: Ballpoint pen for writing, 2B pencil for sketching, Wacom pen for working.

o Where you document an idea: A solid leather bound notebook, my phone or a piece of paper that I’ll later lose.

o Watch: Tag Heuer Carrera Twin Time. Beautifully made.

o App: Currently Waking UP by Sam Harris.

o Website: www.andworkspictures.com.