He went on to work as first assistant director on the feature
Marching Out of Time directed by
Anton Vassil in 1993. Lawrence then joined ex-classmate Michael Jason Rosen in co-directing music videos. Lawrence directed his first music videos for the San Jose band A Western Front. Rosen and Lawrence made the two videos for a total of $3,000 with Jeffrey Michael Cutter, another ex-classmate, shooting for them. Lawrence, Rosen, and Cutter also made a video for Michael Blakey, president of Atico Records and Tidal Force drummer, for that band's single, "A Man Rides Through". Soon, Lawrence became known for his original and imaginative music video scripts and visual directing style. He eventually joined a major new production company and his successful career as music video director includes having worked with stars
Rihanna,
Green Day,
Britney Spears,
Black Eyed Peas,
Jay-Z,
Melanie C,
Avril Lavigne,
Aerosmith,
Janet Jackson,
Jennifer Lopez,
Lady Gaga,
Fastball,
Lisa Marie Presley,
Destiny's Child,
Garbage,
Goo Goo Dolls,
Gwen Stefani,
Shakira,
Pink,
Nelly Furtado,
En Vogue,
Monica,
Missy Elliott,
Justin Timberlake, and the
Backstreet Boys. In 2002, he won a
Latin Grammy Award for
Best Short Music Video for directing Shakira's "
Suerte" music video. He has also directed numerous
commercials for clients such as
Coca-Cola,
L'Oréal,
Calvin Klein,
Pepsi-Cola,
Maybelline,
Kid's Footlocker,
Bacardi,
McDonald's,
GAP,
Bud Light,
CoverGirl,
Oldsmobile, and
Disneyland. In 2005, his feature-film debut was
Constantine, based on the
Hellblazer comic book, starring
Keanu Reeves. In 2007, he directed
I Am Legend (based on the
Richard Matheson novel), with
Will Smith. In 2011, he directed
Water for Elephants. In 2012, Lawrence directed and executive produced the pilot episode of the
Fox paranormal series
Touch. He is currently signed to DNA Inc. In 2011, he won a
Grammy Award for
Best Music Video, Short Form for directing
Lady Gaga's "
Bad Romance" music video. In April 2012,
Lionsgate announced that Lawrence had been selected to direct the film adaptation of the novel
Catching Fire. The book and film were the sequel to the blockbuster hit
The Hunger Games, starring
Jennifer Lawrence (no relation). This film adaptation of
The Hunger Games was directed by
Gary Ross, and both novels were written by
Suzanne Collins. Lawrence was officially confirmed as the director for the film on May 3, 2012. He returned to direct the two final parts of the series,
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and
Part 2 (2015). Lawrence is currently working on a film adaptation of the novel
Survivor by
Chuck Palahniuk. Lawrence directed
Red Sparrow, based on the
novel of the same name by
Jason Matthews, and featuring
The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence and
Joel Edgerton. The film was released on March 2, 2018. Lawrence signed on to direct
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, an adaptation of the
Hunger Games prequel novel by original author
Suzanne Collins, in April 2020. The film was released on November 17, 2023. In March 2021, his about:blank production company struck a deal with
New Republic Pictures. Their first project together will be an adaptation of the
Philip K. Dick novel ''
Vulcan's Hammer, announced in November 2021. In March 2022, it was announced that Lawrence would be directing a feature adaptation of Kevin J. Anderson and Steven L. Sears’ Stalag-X
, to be written by Joy Wilkinson. In April 2022, it was announced that Lawrence will be one of the executive producers of Chief of War'' for
Apple TV+. In August 2022, TheWrap reported that Lawrence had signed with
Netflix to direct an adaptation of
BioShock, inspired by the 2K Games franchise. In September of the same year, Deadline reported that the director would also be returning to direct a sequel to
Constantine. In November 2023, it was announced that Lawrence would direct and produce
The Long Walk for Lionsgate, based on
the novel by
Stephen King and published under the pseudonym "
Richard Bachman". Production began in
Manitoba in July 2024, with
Cooper Hoffman,
David Jonsson,
Charlie Plummer, and
Roman Griffin Davis among the cast. Most recently, the company had signed a first-look deal with Lionsgate to produce projects. ==Filmography==