Born in Sydney, Australia, in 1967. He moved to New York City at nineteen to study illustration, graphic design, and advertising at Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts. Gillespie worked for many years in advertising making commercials and music videos. In cinema, he directed “Lars and the Real Girl” (2007), “Fright Night” (2011), “Million Dollar Arm” (2014), “The Finest Hours” (2016), “I, Tonya” (2017) and “Cruella” (2021).