Dave Gardner is an award-winning working-class filmmaker from Essex, UK. When they’re not writing, directing, editing and acting, Dave can be found teaching Film and TV production, or hanging out with his cat, Pee-Wee.

In his previous life, Dave was a singer, guitarist and songwriter in an alternative rock band that recorded with Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers, Idlewild) and Sam Williams (Supergrass) and toured Europe and USA.

After spending some years in the creative wilderness, Dave wrote and directed his first short film, ‘My Invisible Friend’ (2022) a comedy mockumentary that was selected to screen at festivals both sides of the Atlantic. Since then, Dave has continued writing and directing shorts and their latest, ‘Surprise!’ (2025), has won garnered several awards and nominations, including an Audience Award at LA’s Midsummer Scream.

They are currently working on some shorts, that they hope to develop into features, including a sci-fi-horror-comedy-musical that will feature copious amounts of slow motion full frontal male nudity.