David Furnish

David Furnish was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. He began his career in advertising and became a filmmaker in 1995, directing the BAFTA nominated documentary Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras.

David currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the both the UK and US arms of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, founded by his partner, in 1992. Over the past 20 years the two Foundations have collectively raised over $300m to support services in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

David is also a Contributing Editor for British GQ and is extremely proud of his association with Billy Elliot the Musical and has been involved in productions as they have rolled out across the world.

Film Career

With backing from the Walt Disney Company he set up the film production company Rocket Pictures in 1996, producing the independent films Women Talking Dirty and It’s A Boy/Girl Thing. In 2011 Rocket Pictures released its first major animated feature Gnomeo & Juliet. Gnomeo had the biggest February animated film box office opening weekend in North American history and was a Number One hit in the UK.

Rocket also produced the music television series Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..., which has been critically acclaimed and widely distributed.

In addition to the above projects, 2015 will see the release of Rocketman, a fantasy biopic of Elton Johns life featuring some of his most iconic songs. The next Gnomeo & Juliet adventure; Sherlock Gnomes is also due for release in 2016.