Talmage Cooley
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Talmage Newman Cooley (born February 22, 1965 in Charlottesville, Virginia) is an American filmmaker and social activist.
After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1988 with degrees in International Politics and Finance, Cooley moved to New York City where he studied theater directing at Playwright's Horizons Theater School during the early 1990's under such well-known experimental directors as Anne Bogart (Siti Company), Kevin Kulke (NYU Experimental Theater Wing) and Brian Jucha (Via Theater). He also studied Film and Photography at The New School for Social Research.
In 1995, Cooley founded The Gun Violence Project, a non-profit organization with the mission to shift cultural attitudes on gun violence through the use of strategic social messaging and mass media. In late 1997, The Gun Violence Project was merged into a new organization, PAX, in a partnership between Cooley and Daniel Gross, whose brother Matthew Gross was wounded in the shooting atop the Empire State Building in early 1997.
PAX achieved significant growth between 1998 and 2007, with the organization eventually becoming the largest non-political organization working on the gun violence issue. The success of its "public health" approach to creating social change garnered the attention of researchers at the Harvard School for Public Health, which is currently conducting a groundbreaking multi-city study on the impact of PAX's theories and programs. PAX's various boards have included such names as Mandy Patinkin, Rob Reiner, Susan Sarandon, Richard Belzer, Rosanne Cash, Howard Stringer, Tim Robbins, Billy Baldwin, Gavin de Becker, and Mark Gill.
In 1999, Cooley co-authored a photo book with Kate Spade Fashions co-founder Andy Spade entitled PUBLIC LOVE, published by Chronicle Books. The book documented first person accounts of amorous acts conducted in public spaces, juxtaposed with Cooley's photographs of the spaces when empty. The book was favorably reviewed by magazines such as PAPER and THE VILLAGE VOICE.
Cooley resigned as co-CEO of PAX in 2003 and moved to Los Angeles to pursue film writing and directing, though he remains active on the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of PAX.
In 2004, Cooley wrote and directed POL POT'S BIRTHDAY, a short satirical comedy which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won numerous Best Film awards at festivals worldwide. The film was also featured in the AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER magazine for its sophisticated use of digital video. The film's style of awkward comedy has been compared to the BBC television series THE OFFICE.
In 2005, Cooley directed a highly stylized short documentary, DIMMER, about a gang of blind teenagers who roam the streets of the bleak industrial neighborhoods of Buffalo, New York. The film was commissioned by the band Interpol after an international film idea contest to accompany the release of their album ANTICS. DIMMER premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was a finalist for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Short Documentary, and won numerous international Best Film awards as well as being exhibited at the New York Museum of Modern Art.
Cooley's first feature film is the comedy Patriotville, featuring Justin Long, Rob Corddry, Keir O'Donnell and Emmanuelle Chriqui. The film was shot in the fall of 2006 in South Caroline and is scheduled for release in 2008.
Cooley has been profiled in a number of magazines, such as FADER, CREATE and RES, and was named one of "10 filmmakers to watch" by SCREEN INTERNATIONAL.
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