Adam Green (filmmaker)

Adam Green

Color half-length portrait of Green: smiling man in jumper standing by red Sundance wall.

Green at Sundance, 2010
Born 1975 (age 39–40)
Holliston, Massachusetts, US
Residence
Nationality American
Alma mater
BS in Film and TV Hofstra University (1997)
Occupation Filmmaker, Actor
Years active 1996–present
Organization ArieScope Pictures
Notable work
Website
ariescope.com

Adam Green (born 1975)[1] is an American actor-filmmaker known for horror and comedy films, including the Hatchet franchise, Frozen, and the television series Holliston.

Originating from Holliston, Massachusetts, Green earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Television and Film production at Hofstra University and founded ArieScope Pictures with fellow filmmaker Will Barratt in 1998.

Background

Born and raised in Holliston, Massachusetts and having finished high school in 1993, Green graduated from Hofstra University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in film and television production. In 1998, together with Will Barratt he founded production company ArieScope Pictures and eventually made feature film debut with the semi-biographical comedy - Coffee & Donuts (2000).[2]

From 1997 to 2000, Green was the lead singer for the heavy metal band Haddonfield from Salem, Massachusetts. His first job after college was producing and directing local commercials for cable in Boston area. When Green first moved to Los Angeles and was still struggling to start in film/television industry, he worked as DJ at the Rainbow Bar & Grill in Hollywood.[2]

Continuously working within a small group of friend-actors, Green self-produced most of his 2000s projects. By 2013, director had released nine theatrical feature films, including Paul Solet's horror Grace (2009), thriller Frozen (2010) and Hatchet franchise. Consequently, Green became a member of the Splat Pack, - group of filmmakers, who brought back gore and splatter to the horror genre in the 2000s, including Eli Roth, Alexandre Aja, Neil Marshall, Rob Zombie, Greg McLean, Darren Lynn Bousman, and James Wan. In 2015, he is working on adventure Killer Pizza based on Greg Taylor's book and in production by 1492 Pictures. (see filmography section)


Feature film and television career

Coffee & Donuts

Coffee & Donuts (2000) is a semi-Biographic, lighthearted romantic comedy about two friends, Adam and Steve, who strive to launch off their morning radio program of the small town,[3] while Adam concurrently struggles to overcome breakup and resume dating.[4] Green made the feature film for only $400 using equipment from the cable advertising facility, that he was working for at the time, and employing friends/volunteers for everything from cast to crew. Creator starred in the lead role, while other parts were played by Steven C. DeWitt Jr., Katie Bove and Jeff Davison. In 2004, Disney/Touchstone bought the film and remade it to a sitcom for UPN. The pilot episode’s script was written by Green himself and produced by Tom Shadyac's Shady Acres. The original show's concept was eventually completely re-developed by Green, re-titled Holliston and became the first original series for the FEARnet (see Holliston subsection).

Hatchet

Hatchet (2006) is the first feature of somewhat successful Green's franchise.[5][6] The horror comedy, tributes old-school American slashers, and follows a group of tourists, who take a swamp boat ride and wind up pursued by the ghost of local legend Victor Crowley. Theatrically released on September 7, 2007, film was relatively well received by some critics and earned a minor horror cult following, resulting in two sequels for 2010 and 2013.[7][5][6]

Spiral

Spiral (2007) is Joel David Moore's and JD Boreing's thriller, which Green co-directed.[8] Story follows an isolated telemarketer (Moore), who befriends new co-worker and then struggles with troubling past feelings, threatening his personal dignity. Critics hailed Spiral as "nothing short of brilliant" and "the closest thing you'll get to Hitchcock in this day and age". Film won Gold Vision Award at the 2008 Santa Barbara Film Festival.[9]

Grace

Grace (2009) is Paul Solet's dramatic thriller, which was produced by Green (ArieScope Pictures), who discovered the project during Hatchet's festival tour. Story presents a woman, who loses her baby in the womb, but still carries it to term only to find out, that the baby has returned to life and can only survive on human blood. Starring Jordan Ladd, Grace premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009 and was released in theatres and on DVD later that year.

Frozen

Frozen (2010) is Green's low-budget thriller, starring Kevin Zegers, Emma Bell and Shawn Ashmore. Film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released in North American theaters on February 5, 2010.[10][11] Metacritic rated it 45/100 based on 16 reviews.[12] Rotten Tomatoes reported a 62% approval rating and an average score of 5.9/10; the site's critical consensus reads: "Writer/director Adam Green has the beginnings of an inventive, frightening yarn in Frozen, but neither the script nor the cast are quite strong enough to truly do it justice."[13] On the other hand, some critics were pleased with results. Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times writes: "A minimalist setup delivers maximum fright in [this] nifty little chiller that balances its cold terrain with an unexpectedly warm heart."[14] And Rex Reed presents more impressions in his sensationalist New York Observer article: "I was left so paralyzed with terror by this movie that I chewed a whole pencil in half watching it."[15]

Hatchet II

Hatchet II (2010) is trilogy's sequel, staring Kane Hodder and Danielle Harris.[16] Green eagerly promoted his film by pre-advertising (Anchor Bay, MySpace),[17] in press (Creation Entertainment,[18] Comic-Con,[19] Frozen events[11]) and with credits (Adam Green's Hatchet II). Filmed in the beginning of the year, sequel premiered at the London FrightFest Film Festival 2010. Theatrical release made headlines, when distributor Dark Sky agreed with AMC Theatres to bypass MPAA ratings' board and on 1 October, 2010 released unrated Hatchet II, which got revoked within hours. Officially reported reason by AMC was poor performance, but Green has alluded to controversy with MPAA.[20][21] Metacritic rated the film 49/100 based on 11 reviews.[22] Rotten Tomatoes reports a 36% approval rating and an average score of 4.2/10 based on 33 reviews; the site's consensus reads: "Funnier and more gleefully gory than most slasher sequels, Hatchet II aims for so-bad-it's-good territory, but can't quite hack it."[23]

Chillerama: "Anne Frankenstein"

Green wrote and directed segment "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein" as part of the 2011 comedy/horror anthology Chillerama, which consists of four short films by four different filmmakers. The parody "Anne Frankenstein" is shot in black&white and made entirely in German to look and feel like a lost 1940's foreign film. While Green cast authentic German speaking actors for all roles, the lead role of Adolf Hitler is portrayed by Joel David Moore, who does not know how to speak German and purposely fakes his way through the film by using a combination of gibberish and random words thrown to him by Green, such as "Boba Fett", "OshKosh B'Gosh" and "Goldie Hawn". Kane Hodder portrays the film's hero Meshugannah - a Hassidic Jewish take on the classic Frankenstein Monster, who ultimately turns against his master and kills him.

Holliston

Based on Green's life and largely adapted from his romantic comedy Coffee & Donuts (2000), sitcom Holliston follows the lives of Adam (played by Green) and Joe (played by a fellow genre director and real-life best friend, Joe Lynch) - two aspiring horror filmmakers - living in the small town of Holliston, Massachusetts. Together they work at a local cable advertising station and struggle with fledgling careers, making ends meet and dealing with the opposite sex. The ensemble cast includes Laura Ortiz (who plays Laura, Joe's girlfriend), Corri English (who plays Corri, Adam's ex-girlfriend and the greatest heartbreak of his life), Dee Snider (who plays Lance Rockett, Adam and Joe's cross dressing boss, still stuck in the 80's, who is the lead singer for a Van Halen cover band), and GWAR frontman Dave Brockie (who plays Oderus, Adam's imaginary alien friend who lives in his closet).

Holliston was the first original series for FEARnet. Green wrote and directed all six episodes comprising season one of this show that mixes comedy, horror, and romance and is described by the network as "Big Bang Theory meets Evil Dead 2". The first season was filmed in September–October 2011 and produced by ArieScope Pictures. Series was advertised in the January 13, 2012 issue of Entertainment Weekly and launched on the FEARnet network on April 3, 2012, with a second season formally announced after two episodes. Guest stars include Seth Green, John Landis, Kane Hodder, Brian Posehn, Ray Wise, Deanna Pappas, Derek Mears, Colton Dunn, Danielle Harris, Nick Ballard, Parry Shen, Magda Apanowicz, and Tony Todd. In interviews Green has described Holliston as his "most passionate of passion projects" and explained that the show took him over 13 years to bring to fruition.

Hatchet III

Hatchet III (2013) is the third feature of Green's franchise, directed by BJ McDonnell and staring Kane Hodder, Danielle Harris, Derek Mears. Production began in April 2012, and the film was released in United States theaters and VOD on June 14, 2013.[24] In press announcements creator passionately assured fans, disappointed about substitute director, to personally oversee all development. Though Green has clearly stated that Hatchet III is meant to be the end of story and that he always had set out to make a trilogy, he has also speculated that this is only the ending to his story of Marybeth and Victor Crowley and that fans could potentially see more Hatchet films in the future with a different storyline, different characters, and (possibly) different storytellers behind the camera.[24][6] Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 55% approval rating based on 22 reviews,[25] and Metacritic rated it 25/100 based on eight reviews.[26] As part of Green's three-day fundraiser to benefit victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, all three Hatchet films were shown in Hatchet Marathon on May 30, 2013, and filmmaker made a donation to One Fund Boston.[27]

The Movie Crypt podcast

Free weekly Green's and Joe Lynche's, filmmaker interview and film commentary, podcast launched on GeekNation in May 2013. The name references creators' sitcom Holliston, along with other inside jokes in the content. The podcast was listed in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 20 Podcasts" in the January 9th, 2015 print issue (#1345) and used as curriculum in film schools such as UCLA and Emerson. As of April 2015 the podcast is reported to have over 500,000 weekly listeners worldwide. Past guests' list includes Seth Green, Slash, Jordan Peele, Neil Marshall, Mick Garris, Tom Holland, Sid Haig, Kane Hodder, Bear McCreary, Danielle Harris, James Gunn, Mike Dougherty, Todd Farmer, Dave Brockie, Don Coscarelli, Stuart Gordan, Rachael Leigh Cook, Brian Slagel, Tony Todd, Bill Moseley and Chris Columbus.

Digging Up the Marrow

Green's undercover project - Digging Up the Marrow - described as a reality based dark fantasy about monsters, was made in a collaboration between Green and popular urban artist Alex Pardee. Production began in 2010 and was fully completed in 2014. In the documentary style movie Green plays himself; Will Barratt, loyal Green's collaborator since 1997, is cameraman;[28][29] and actor Ray Wise portrays Detective William Dekker, an eccentric and mysterious man who contacts Green with the claim that, monsters not only exist, but he knows where to find them.[30]

After an unofficial preview of a work-in-progress cut in 2013 at Harry Knowles's annual Butt-Numb-A-Thon, the final version of Digging Up The Marrow premiered at FrightFest in London on August 23, 2014. The film was released in US cinemas and VOD on February 20, 2015, and on DVD and Blu-Ray March 24, 2015.[31] Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 53% of 15 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5.7/10.[32] Metacritic rated it 45/100 based on eight reviews.[33]

Adam Green's Scary Sleepover

Internet series, directed by Sean Becker - Adam Green's Scary Sleepover was launched on March 6, 2015. On the show, Green hosts various icons from the horror genre for a slumber party at his home or ArieScope Studio in Hollywood. While dressed in their pajamas, playing board games, eating junk food, watching movies, laying on the floor in sleeping bags and doing the very things that children would do at a sleepover, Green gets these horror heavyweights to open up honestly about what exactly scares them in their real lives. Guests for the first season's 12 episodes include Kane Hodder, Tiffany Shepis, Danielle Harris, Sid Haig, Derek Mears, Laura Ortiz, Emma Bell, Bill Moseley, Darren Lynn Bousman, Zach Galligan, Jeffrey Reddick, and Tom Holland. Second season is announced for Halloween 2015.

Killer Pizza

Green's latest feature, Killer Pizza is an action adventure film being produced by 1492 Pictures.[34] Based on Greg Taylor's children book of the same title, story follows sixteen-year-old Toby McGill, who gets a summer job at a mysterious Cape Cod pizza parlor only to discover that the restaurant is actually a front for a top secret monster hunting organization. Recruited into a band of heroic misfits, Toby spends his summer battling horrifying monsters and trying to save the world from imminent destruction at the hands of a mythical and deadly monster prophecy.

Filmography

Feature films

Television series

Short films

Acting roles

Other appearances

References

  1. ↑ Brown, Todd (April 12, 2010). "The New American Horror: Adam Green". Twitch Film. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 ariescope
  3. ↑ "Want to Spend an Evening With Adam Green?".
  4. ↑ Spend 'A Night With Adam Green'
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jack Foley. "Hatchet-Review". indielondon.co.uk. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Matt Molgaard (June 18, 2013). "Analyzing the ‘Hatchet’ Trilogy". best-horror-movies.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Hatchet (2007)". ariescope.com. November 14, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  8. ↑ Steve Barton (December 9, 2009). "Adam Green and Joel David Moore's Spiral Coming to Blu-ray". Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2007". sbiff.org. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Heather Wixson (January 29, 2010). "Adam Green Talks Frozen at Sundance". dreadcentral.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Heather Wixson (February 7, 2010). "Exclusive Video: Frozen Theater Q&A". dreadcentral.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Frozen". Metacritic. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Frozen (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  14. ↑ Catsoulis, Jeannette (February 4, 2010). "A Nightmare on a Ski Lift". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  15. ↑ Reed, Rex (February 2, 2010). "High Wire Act". New York Observer. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  16. ↑ Brad Miska (January 6, 2010). "Last Minute Addition to Growing 'Hatchet 2' Cast". bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  17. ↑ Brad Miska (January 18, 2009). "Hatchet II Teaser Poster". bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  18. ↑ Steve Barton (May 19, 2010). "Creation Weekend of Horrors". dreadcentral.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  19. ↑ BC (July 26, 2010). "SD Comic-Con ’10". bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  20. ↑ Brad Miska (August 25, 2010). "‘Hatchet II’ Largest Unrated Release in 25 Years?". bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  21. ↑ Collis, Clark (October 10, 2010). "AMC unexpectedly pulls unrated slasher sequel 'Hatchet II' from all screens: 'I'm bewildered and confused,' says director Adam Green". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Hatchet II". Metacritic. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Hatchet II (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Ryan Turek (June 14, 2013). "BJ McDonnell & Adam Green on Hatchet III". www.shocktillyoudrop.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Hatchet III (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Hatchet III". Metacritic. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  27. ↑ King, Loren (May 25, 2013). "Filmmaker comes home to show support". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  28. ↑ Adam Green - Will Barratt
  29. ↑ Meet ArieScope’s Adam Green and Will Barratt in Indianapolis this weekend!
  30. ↑ Exclusive: Adam Green Talks Digging Up The Marrow – Part 2
  31. ↑ Q&A: Adam Green on “DIGGING UP THE MARROW”, Part One
  32. ↑ "Digging Up the Marrow (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  33. ↑ "Digging Up the Marrow". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  34. ↑ Hanley, Ken W. (2015-02-20). "Q&A: Adam Green on "DIGGING UP THE MARROW", Part Two". Fangoria. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  35. ↑ FearNet Greenlights First Original Series Broadcasting & Cable August 8, 2011
  36. ↑ "Happy Halloween from ArieScope Pictures: The Jack Chop".

External links

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