James Kicklighter
James Kicklighter (born June 26, 1988) is an American film director, producer, and writer from Bellville, Georgia.[1][2]
James Kicklighter | |
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Born | June 26, 1988 |
Alma mater | Georgia Southern University |
Years active | 2006–present |
Early life and education
Kicklighter's hometown is in Bellville, Georgia.[2][3] His father died from SARS when he was 12 years old.[2][4] He graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in Public Relations.[1][2]
Career
He began his career at 18, as co-executive producer[5] of That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor,[6] interviewing actress Dixie Carter, rocker John Mellencamp, director David Zucker, and actor Buck Taylor.[7][8]
During his studies at Georgia Southern University, he collaborated with another student to film a documentary about the Golden Age of Radio for the Broadcast Education Association.[9][10] While directing the film that became Theater of the Mind, he met Edith Ivey, who starred in his short film, The Car Wash.[11]
The Car Wash won the Audience Choice Award at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth.[12][13]
His short film Followed,[14] based on the story by Will McIntosh, received an Audience Choice Award at the 2011 National Film Festival for Talented Youth,[15] and was screened by Dragon Con, The Rome International Film Festival, Garden State Film Festival and Central Florida Festival, with international press coverage.[16][17]
His 2012 film Final Acts was a finalist in the Macon Shorts Competition, part of the Gateway Macon Initiative. The film won Grand Prize.[18]
His first feature film was the international crossover Desires of the Heart, which was produced by Jitenda Mishra[19][20] and shot in Savannah, Georgia and Rajasthan, India in 2012.[2][21][22] It was screened at film festivals in 2013 and 2014 including the Cannes Film Festival.[23] The film was released in theaters across India in November 2015.[24][25] It received award for Best Foreign Film at the La Femme Festival in Los Angeles.[26][27][28]
In 2015, he released the documentary A Few Things About Cancer.[29] The film won Best Short Documentary at the 2015 FirstGlance Los Angeles Film Festival.[30]
His music video "Branches" for solo artist Shel Bee won Best Music Video at the 2016 Garden State Film Festival[31]
After the 2016 Garden State Film Festival, Kicklighter directed the documentary Digital Edition, a profile on the future of journalism framed through The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.[32][33][26][34] He was inspired to film the project after receiving an email from Bert Roughton, Jr., Senior Managing Editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.[35]
He was the Virginia filmmaker for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.[36][37][38] He filmed content for the campaign with public figures such as Michelle Kwan.[38] He decided to direct the film The American Question after observing politics and voting during the campaign.[2]
In 2017, he directed Angel of Anywhere, starring Briana Evigan, Ser'Darius Blain, David A. Gregory, and Axel Roldos.[39][40] The project was a collaboration was a collaboration with director of photography Jonathan Pope.[41][42]
He spoke about his start in filmmaking at the Directors Guild of America[43] and the importance of networking [44] in March 2018.
Kicklighter directed the feature documentary The Sound of Identity, profiling Lucia Lucas's performance of Don Giovanni at the Tulsa Opera for 2021 release.[45][35][46] It received a rating of 91% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.[47]
Kicklighter is set to direct a biopic about athlete and coach Erk Russell,[48][49][50] who revived the football program at Georgia Southern University.[51]
Personal life
Bag company JAMAH named The Kicklighter bag in his honor.[52] He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.[53]
Filmography
Year | Title | Type | Producer | Writer | Director | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor | Documentary film | Yes | [5][6] | ||
2009 | Di Passaggio | Documentary film | Yes | Yes | [54][55][56] | |
2009 | Theater of the Mind | Documentary short | Yes | [57][58] | ||
2010 | The Car Wash | Short film | Yes | Yes | Yes | [59][12] |
2011 | Followed | Short film | Yes | Yes | [60] | |
2011 | Final Acts | Short film | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2013 | Desires of the Heart | Feature film | Yes | Yes | [61] | |
2014 | A Few Things About Cancer | Documentary short | Yes | Yes | [62] | |
2015 | Shel Bee: Branches | Music video | Yes | Yes | Yes | [31] |
2015 | Atul: Emotions | Music video | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2016 | Digital Edition | Documentary short | Yes | Yes | [32][33][26][34] | |
2018 | Angel of Anywhere | Short film | Yes | Yes | [63][41][42] | |
2019 | Every 9 Hours | Short film | Yes | Yes | [3] | |
2020 | The Sound of Identity | Documentary film | Yes | [35][64] | ||
TBA | The American Question | Documentary film | Yes | Yes | Yes | [3][57] |
References
- Local Stories (May 2018). "Meet James Kicklighter, Film Director in Culver City - Voyage LA Magazine | LA City Guide". voyagela.com. Retrieved Jun 14, 2021.
- Berinato, Christopher. "New documentary examines first transgender singer in opera history to perform in a principal role". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved Jun 14, 2021.
- "Award-Winning Filmmaker James Kicklighter Directs Documentary "The Sound of Identity"". ProductionHUB.com. 13 August 2021. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- "Meet James Kicklighter | Film Director". SHOUTOUT LA. 2020-10-12. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- "Video biography of character film actor premiers at museum | The Augusta Chronicle". Chronicle.augusta.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "Archive.is". Archived from the original on 2012-08-02.
- "February/March 2011 by Macon Magazine". Issuu.com. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "NFFTY 2010 on Vimeo". Vimeo.com. 2010-08-12. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "AFTRA Atlanta Members Interviewed for Student Doc". AFTRA Magazine. AFTRA. Spring 2009. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- "Archive.org". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15.
- McDougald, Mike (9 October 2010). "Southeast Georgians cross paths in a small world". Northwest Georgia News. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- "National Film Festival for Talented Youth". Short Film Central. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "Our Organization". Nffty.org. Archived from the original on 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "Zombies take over as movie begins filming in Macon | The Telegraph". Macon.com. 2010-12-12. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "NFFTY 2011 Award Winners". Nffty.org. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "AICN HORROR looks at new horrors: FOLLOWED Short Film! CANNIBAL: THE MUSICAL 13th (or so)". Aintitcool.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "Might of the Living Dead | Georgia Music". Georgiamusicmag.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "Archive.org". Archived from the original on 2012-03-27.
- OdAdmin (2022-03-21). "Jitendra Mishra selected Jury for Japan's largest film festival – KINEKO 2022". Odisha News | Odisha Breaking News | Latest Odisha News. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- "Odisha-born producer Jitendra Mishra to promote ten films at Cannes fest". The Indian Express. 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- Ford, Rebecca (13 August 2012). "'All My Children's' Alicia Minshew Nabs Lead in 'Desires of the Heart' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "US actors to shoot in India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 2012-09-22. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "Rajesh Rathi's 'Desires of the Heart' travels to Cannes Film Festival". The Indian Express. 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- "Desires of the Heart Releasing on 6th Nov in India". Enewsodia.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "Odisha-born producer's Hollywood film 'Desires of the Heart' released". In.news.yahoo.com. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "The Independent Critic - "Digital Edition" Follows the Changing World of Journalism". theindependentcritic.com. Retrieved 2016-05-19.
- "Desires of the Heart review (2015)". Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- Tilby, Darren (2019-06-08). "Desires of the Heart review". UK Film Review. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- "Archive.org". Archived from the original on 2015-03-13.
- "2015 Los Angeles Award Winners – FirstGlance Film Festival". Firstglancefilms.com. 2014-06-20. Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "Garden State Film Festival 2016 Winners". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "Shorts: Digital Edition (2016) | Crushed Celluloid". crushedcelluloid.com. Retrieved 2016-05-19.
- "Digital Edition (2016) short film review". screencritix.com. Retrieved 2016-05-19.
- "Digital Edition". indyred. Retrieved 2016-05-19.
- BWW News Desk. "LUCIA'S VOICE Documentary To Feature First Transgender Lead In U.S. Opera". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
- "Entertainment Weekly". Entertainment Weekly. 2016.
- "Hillary Clinton Campaign". Jameskicklighter.com.
- "Michelle Kwan if Working for Hillary Clinton". New York. 2016.
- "Angel of Anywhere". Jameskicklighter.com.
- "Watch: Male Stripper Short 'Angel of Anywhere' by James Kicklighter". firstshowing.net. 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
- "The Independent Critic - "Angel of Anywhere" the Latest Kicklighter Flick". theindependentcritic.com. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- Review, UK Film (2017-09-07). "Angel of Anywhere short film". UK Film Review. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- "James Kicklighter at the DGA Director's [sic] Guild of America on Starting a Career in Film". Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved Jun 14, 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
- "James Kicklighter on Networking in Filmmaking at the DGA — Director's [sic] Guild of America". Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved Jun 14, 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
- "Sacramento Opera Star Lucia Lucas Pushes Industry Boundaries — and Beyond". KQED. 2019-09-15. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
- "Breaking Film Industry News — Awards, Acquisitions, Festival Buzz, Grants, and More". IndieWire. 2019-04-09. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
- The Sound of Identity, retrieved 2022-03-29
- "Archive.org". Archived from the original on 2012-09-05.
- Hunker'd Down by Bernie (2012-09-02). "Bernie's Dawg Blawg: Erk Russell on the big screen". Berniesdawgblawg.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "GSU grads to produce 'Erk'". Statesboroherald.com. 2006-09-08. Archived from the original on 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "First Class | Georgia Southern Magazine". News.georgiasouthern.edu. 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
- "THE KICKLIGHTER". JAMAH. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- Valdez, Jonah (2021-12-20). "6.2 earthquake strikes off Northern California coast, shattering windows and rattling nerves". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- "DI PASSAGGIO". filmthreat.com. 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- Reddish, David (June 2021). "James Kicklighter raises the curtain on a transgender opera star in 'The Sound of Identity'". Queerty. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- Lehmann, Courtney (2014-09-26). Screen Adaptations: Romeo and Juliet: A close study of the relationship between text and film. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4081-9876-6.
- Rockett, Darcel (10 January 2018). "Do you share the same values as your neighbor? That's 'The American Question'". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- "Comm Arts Talk". Georgia Southern University Comm Arts Talk. Fall 2009 – via Georgia Southern University.
- "Archive.is". Archived from the original on 2012-09-19.
- "Zombie film with a heart". www.statesboroherald.com. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- "Desires Of The Heart Review". IndyRed. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- "The Independent Critic - "A Few Things About Cancer" Hits the Festival Circuit". theindependentcritic.com. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- "Angel of Anywhere – Review – The Utah Film Festival". Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- Ramos, Dino-Ray (Dec 21, 2020). "Shout! Studios To Distribute Docu 'The Sound Of Identity' Spotlighting Trans Opera Star Lucia Lucas". Retrieved Jun 14, 2021.