| Austin Chick | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 29, 1971 New Hampshire, United States |
| Occupation | Film director, screenwriter and film producer |
| Known for | XX/XY (2002) August (2008) |
| Spouse | Morena Baccarin (2011-present) |
Austin Chick (born July 29, 1971,[1] New Hampshire, USA[2]) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer, who made the films XX/XY, released in 2002, and August, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
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Although born in New Hampshire, Chick moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, as a youngster.[3] He was educated during the early 1990s[3] at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, specializing in literature and psychology with the aid of grants from the King Foundation,[4] Chick spent a number of years unsure of what he wanted to do with his life and took on a life of a wanderer for some time. Watching Kings of the Road, he says in an interview with Robert K. Elder for The Film That Changed My Life[5], helped him find the direction he'd been searching for.
I wanted to be doing something that was a little bit more, I don’t know, populist? More accessible. I felt like a narrative interested me, and it wasn’t until I saw Kings of the Road that I realized that film was a place that might make sense for me.[6]
In 1998,[4] Chick graduated from SUNY Purchase Film School in Purchase, New York, having studied cinematography.[7]
His first major film, which he wrote and directed, was released in 2002. It was titled XX/XY, and it starred Mark Ruffalo and Kathleen Robertson. It examined the complex relationship between three Sarah Lawrence College students, both during their time at the school and then many years later.[8] It was an independent production, which was shown at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival (where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize[9]) and subsequently taken up by IFC Films.[3] His next significant contribution to cinema would not happen for another five years.
He co-produced Sidney Lumet's 2007 film Before the Devil Knows You're Dead,[10] which featured Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman as two brothers who stage the robbery of their parents' jewellery shop in an effort to get rich quick, with tragic consequences.[11]
His latest movie, called August, was screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2008,[12] and is due for general release by ContentFilm International shortly afterwards. The castlist is headed by Josh Hartnett, and features Adam Scott, Naomie Harris, Rip Torn, and David Bowie.[13] The plot centers on two brothers, with one of them, Tom (Hartnett), involved in a struggle to save his internet company on the stock market just before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.[14] Chick directed the film, and was also executive producer.[15]
Chick married actress Morena Baccarin in November, 2011.[16]