Ryan E. Heppe

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Ryan E. Heppe

Ryan E. Heppe during the Stalked shoot.
Born: October 28, 1974
Champaign, Illinois, USA
Occupation: director, screenwriter, and producer
Spouse: Amy Beth Heppe (March 29, 2003 - Present)
Website: http://www.knightimepictures.com

Ryan Edward Heppe (born October 28, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and, on extremely rare occasions, an actor.

Contents

[edit] Motion Picture Career

For more than twelve years, Ryan E. Heppe has been writing, producing, editing and directing feature motion pictures, film shorts, industrial and educational videos, commercials and documentaries. Ryan began his sojourn into the world of entertainment at a small PBS affiliate in east central Illinois where he spent several years creatively collaborating with the permanent staff and involving himself with everything from set design and construction to directing documentaries and live television broadcasts.

In early 1999, Ryan packed his bags and moved west to Los Angeles, California where he immediately snagged an internship with legendary movie producer David Foster (The Getaway, The Mask of Zorro, Short Circuit) at his production company. In only a few short months, Ryan climbed his way to the coveted position of Head of Development and became creatively involved with Foster's current productions at the time: Collateral Damage starring Arnold Schwarzenegger for Warner Bros., Hart's War starring Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell for MGM, and The Core starring Aaron Eckhart and Hillary Swank for Paramount. During production on The Core, Ryan pulled double-duty by not only working with David Foster, but also working with original screenwriter and co-producer Cooper Layne and co-producer Sean Bailey.

In late 2003, Ryan left David Foster Productions as an employee and began to find and develop his own material. He is currently producing a remake of the 1984 slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night; an independent werewolf film currently titled Legacy; an as-of-yet untitled production project with horror legend John Carpenter; and numerous other projects in various stages of development. At the same time, Ryan and his wife, Amy Beth, have formed Knightime Pictures LLC[1], a company devoted to making high-quality, low-budget motion pictures. Under that banner he is working on a low-budget horror film titled Stalked that will mark his directorial debut.

[edit] General Information

Ryan E. Heppe, a native of Homer, Illinois, grew up with ambitions of becoming a motion picture director like his idols Wes Craven (The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street) and the late Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining). After graduating from Heritage High School, he spent several years working in television production before heading to California. He resides in Los Angeles where he can often be seen screaming his head off for the Los Angeles Dodgers or quietly enjoying The Barber of Seville at the L.A. Opera House. Heppe is an avid bowler; enjoys a tasty bottle of wine; and spends as much time as he possibly can with his beautiful wife.

[edit] Why Independent Film?

Written by Ryan E. Heppe

The real question is, "Why not?"

Ryan E. Heppe with indy film director Robin Peters in 2004.
Ryan E. Heppe with indy film director Robin Peters in 2004.

While the magic of the Hollywood Studio System is well known across most of the globe, the history and impact of the Independent Film is far less known. What is an Indie Filmmaker? Quite simply, anyone who makes a motion picture without the financial backing of a major studio like Warner Bros or Paramount. Many people seem to think that the birth of the Independent Film began with Robert Redford's Sundance Institute and Film Festival but, in truth, it began considerably earlier than that. Ever since the birth of motion pictures in the extreme latter half of the 19th Century, there have been storytellers who chose to create their work outside the "system." In fact, D.W. Griffith's silent epic Birth of a Nation was, in truth, an independent film produced outside the primitive studio framework of 1915.

In the 1960's, the major studios of the time began financing and distributing independently produced domestic motion pictures. Many "runaway" film productions were being made outside of the United States in order to save money. The average price of a movie ticket was less than a single dollar and the average film budget was just north of $1.5 million. As the 1960's came to a close, the motion picture industry found itself experiencing a "crash" that had been developing for nearly twenty-five years. Studio contracts for actors and directors vanished forcing many into retirement. The studios themselves were forced to sell off their backlots, sell old props and begin offering tours to generate money. Eventually, due to these financial difficulties, the studios were taken over by multi-national companies. This spelled the end of the Hollywood Studio Era as more and more studios were acquired by unrelated business conglomerates.

It also spelled the birth of the Independent Film. If the studio system had never collapsed, we would never have had movies like Easy Rider, Halloween and Little Shop of Horrors. And, we would probably have never known the names of such great filmmakers as Dennis Hopper, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Oliver Stone and James Cameron.

Indie Filmmakers exist throughout the world. They have passion, a love of storytelling, and a desire to tell their stories in their own way and on their own terms. Most filmmakers in the studio system feel they are simply creating a "product" for their company to sell and, in the process, make enough money to pay their bills. Hollywood is very corporate. But, what drives the Independent Filmmaker is the passion of the art and science of filmmaking. It's a passion that will last a lifetime.

So, again, why do films independently? Because of the creative freedom. Because of the sense of family. Because of the sense of accomplishment that could never be achieved working on a major studio film. And, mostly, because it's fun. After all, isn't that what moviemaking is supposed to be?

[edit] Trivia

  • Heppe's first stab at writing and directing came during high school when, for an English project, he wrote and directed a short film called Thexder. It was such a hit at his school that he went on to write and direct The Quest for Inon'Ra : Thexder 2 and Asbestos : The Final Thexder. More than ten years later, as a joke intended for his high school alum, Heppe remade the original short at Thexus : The Last Man. He had so much fun during production that he sat down and wrote a feature version, hoping to one day bring these characters to a broad audience.
Ryan E. Heppe during a photo shoot in 2006.
Ryan E. Heppe during a photo shoot in 2006.
  • Heppe's first official feature-length directing exercise came during college when he and a friend from grade school created the Gomer and Ed Trilogy. Again, these films (much like Thexder) were intended as a joke and were played over the campus-only televisioin station. The response to the first Gomer and Ed adventure was so overwhelming that Heppe wrote and directed two more.
  • In order to help in raising financing for Stalked, a feature film written by Heppe that he plans to direct, a trailer was shot. Unfortunately, the two actors originally cast had to bow out at the last minute (the female lead's sister was arrested and she had to go help with her children; the male lead was attacked at a Jimmy Buffett concert and suffered a fractured skull) and were replaced by two significantly less talented actors. Also, the Director of Photography (who was in charge of bringing the camera) bailed at the last minute. Heppe always jokes it was amazing that they got any footage at all.
  • When writing the first draft of a screenplay, virtually all the character names Heppe uses are those of his classmates from high school. He usually writes with a yearbook on hand in order to visualize the characters and their personalities better. Once the script is ready to shop, the character names are changed -- usually to names from various horror films he is a fan of.
  • Heppe stumbled onto Silent Night, Deadly Night by accident. The screenwriter of Legacy, a werewolf picture Heppe and David Foster are developing, was Co-Executive Producer on the original film and invited Heppe to a screening of the film. When watching the original with an audience, Heppe realized that the movie was ripe for a remake and tracked down the rights.
  • While attending Columbia College Hollywood, he took an unpaid internship at David Foster Productions which evolved into his becoming Foster's Head of Development.

[edit] External links

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