Greg Kwedar () is an American film director and screenwriter. He directed the 2023 film Sing Sing, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay alongside Clint Bentley, Clarence Maclin, and John "Divine G" Whitfield. He also co-wrote the screenplay for 2025 film Train Dreams, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and garnered him and Bentley another nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2026.
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Early life and education
Greg Kwedar was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He attended Trinity Valley School and graduated in 2003. Recruited to play rugby for Texas A&M, he majored in accounting and enrolled in the university's Professional Program of Accounting. While in college, he became a Mays Business School Fellow and served as president of Business Student Council.
After realizing during an exam that accounting was not his calling, Kwedar left mid-exam to drop out and 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. 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.
Career
Upon his arrival in Austin, Kwedar began working as a writer and director at film studio One Spark. 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.
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."
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. It was then acquired by A24 and released in the United States on July 12, 2024. 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).
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.
On 5 September 2025, Deadline announced that Charles Melton, Rachel Brosnahan and Will Poulter would star in Kwedar's upcoming third feature film, Saturn Return.
On 7 July 2026, Deadline announced that Dwayne Johnson would star in Free Byrd, an upcoming action-drama film directed by Kwedar. The film is centered around a motorcycle stuntman who hides his diagnosis of dementia from his family in favor of one final jump. Free Byrd will be produced by Johnson and Ben Affleck's and Matt Damon's Artists Equity studio. Other producers include Gil Netter, Fifth Season, and Clint Bentley.
Filmmaking style
Kwedar is known for films that focus on heroism and the capacity of humanity to find the good in dark situations. Sadie Dean from Script Magazine wrote that Kwedar's Sing Sing "gives us an inside glimpse of what good can be done when we come together with compassion."
Kwedar also focuses on meticulous detail and intense worldbuilding. In an interview with David Perell for Train Dreams, he stated, "you have to really try to understand [the story] in its essence. You have to go on your own journey with it and get what’s underneath the words, what’s in between them, what’s beyond it." He continued by arguing that, "many writers have an idea and then look for a place to transplant it. But a big driver for [Clint Bentley and I] as filmmakers is building stories from the ground up. We come into a place, listen to the people and the location, and allow the story to emerge from those experiences."
Filmography
Documentaries produced
Rising from Ashes (2012)
Running with Beto (2019)
