David Hackl

An integral part of the "Saw" franchise, David Hackl helped three of its first four films achieve their grisly look as production designer before making the move to the director's chair for the fifth. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Hackl began his career as an art director on the American Revolution drama "Mary Silliman's War" (1994) before making the move into production design on hitmen caper "Jerry and Tom" (1998) and sci-fi fantasy "Lexx" (Global 1997-2002). Hackl continued in that role on family drama "Club Land" (2001), erotic thriller "Zebra Lounge" (2001) and dog superhero movie "Cybermutt" (2003), later adding biopic "Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story," anti-terrorist mini-series "The Grid" (TNT, 2004) and Ted Bundy-based drama "The Riverman" (2004) to his resume. But Hackl made his first notable impact when he was hired to give "Saw II" (2005) its grimy and gruesome aesthetic. After doing the same on werewolf horror "Skinwalkers" (2006), Hackl returned to the torture horror franchise as second unit director for "Saw III" (2007) and "Saw IV" (2007), and eventually made his directorial debut with one of the most inventive installments, "Saw V" (2008). Hackl then went back to his more familiar role on Viking saga "Outlander" (2008) and cult rock horror musical "Repo! The Genetic Opera" (2008), also serving as assistant unit director on the latter. After a four-year break from the industry, he added monster mystery "The Barrens" (2012) and single episodes of crime procedural "Cracked" (CBC, 2013) and small screen adaptation "Transporter: The Series" (TNT, 2012-) to his list of production designer credits. Starring Billy Bob Thornton, James Marsden and Thomas Jane, Hackl's second directorial effort, "Into The Grizzly Maze" (2014), told the story of two estranged brothers stalked in the remote wild by a giant bear, while follow-up "Life on the Line" (2015) saw John Travolta leading a crew of men who must fix an electrical grid during a sudden heavy storm.