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James Kicklighter
American film director From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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James Kicklighter (born June 26, 1988) is an American film director, producer, and writer from Bellville, Georgia.[1][2]
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
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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]
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Personal life
Bag company JAMAH named The Kicklighter bag in his honor.[52] He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.[53]
Filmography
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References
External links
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