AFI grad and Canadian filmmaker/screenwriter. Co-writer of Bryan Singer's psychological horror feature The Taking (2014) and Paranormal Activity 5: Ghost Dimension (2015) with partner Adam Robitel. Other posts in the horror genre include Chillerama (2011) and Stephen King's One for the Road (2011). Gavin is also known for his viral timelapse shorts, which have been featured in many films and television shows, as well as The Rolling Stones' 2015 ZIP CODE stadium tour over "Moonlight Mile". He is repped by the Agency for the Performing Arts and Zero Gravity Management.
An alumnus of McGill University and the American Film Institute, Heffernan first hit the independent scene by writing, directing and starring in his micro-budget feature film Expiration (2003). Catching the attention of Variety, Film Festival Today and Ain't it Cool News, the $10,000 Montreal feature took Grand Prize at the 2004 Canadian Filmmakers Festival in Toronto and was later named "the first major work of the Student-DV New Wave" by The Film Journal.
Heffernan's experimental timelapses have been featured on Virgin America, BBC Earth, Bravo's first scripted show Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, and many other press and TV outlets, including TIME Magazine, National Geographic, CBS News, and WIRED,among others. His shots have been used in Science Channel's Alien Encounters (2013) series, Travel Channel's Trip Flip (2012), and the celebrated LGBT documentary Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine (2014).
Heffernan has also directed and produced many successful short and experimental films. Premiering at the 2008 SXSW Film Festival, his unconventional anti-war film Grand Wheel (2008) played more than forty festivals in over fifteen countries and was presented with the Silver Bear at the 37th Festival of Nations in Austria, Best Cinematography at the 2008 Canadian Filmmakers' Festival and Best Experimental Film at the 2009 Oxford Film Festival. Heffernan's subsequent collection of experimental HD Short Films titled Devolution (2010) won an Audience Choice Award at the 2010 Hollyshorts Film Festival in LA. The sequel, a sci-fi throwback about UFOs attacking earth, Devolution: Reckoning (2011) was also a popular draw, premiering at the Festival Nouveau Cinema in Montreal and playing over fifteen subsequent festivals.
