James Kicklighter

James Kicklighter
Born	James Barton Kicklighter June 26, 1988 Claxton, GA
Residence	Los Angeles, CA
Alma mater	Georgia Southern University
Years active	2006–present

James Kicklighter is an American film producer, writer, and director from the small village of Bellville, Georgia.

Biography

He was recognized by Heather Huhman's series in the National Edition of Examiner.com as one of the Top CEO's Under 25 in America. Outside of his professional work, he serves as a mentor and documentary advisor for "Ambition", a non-profit based in Los Angeles sponsored by high-end boutique JAMAH, promoting entrepreneurship among high school students.^[1][2]

Career

He began his career at 18, as co-executive producer^[3] of That Guy: the Legacy of Dub Taylor,^[4] interviewing the late actress Dixie Carter, rocker John Mellencamp, director David Zucker, actor Buck Taylor.^[5][6][7][8] In an interview with Seattle Youth Media, he stated "the great thing about living today is that anybody can make a film. So if you want to make a film right now, you can run out there with a camera, edit it and produce that film, but the question is, can you tell a story?".^[9]

During his studies at Georgia Southern University, he, under the supervision of a professor and along with a fellow student,^[10] helped to kick off a decade-long celebration of the Golden Age of Radio for the Broadcast Education Association.^[11][12] While directing the film that became Theater of the Mind, he met Edith Ivey, who starred in his short film, The Car Wash.

The Car Wash has won numerous awards and was mentioned in the Rome-News Tribune,^[13] including Audience Choice Award at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth,^[14] the largest youth film festival in the world.^[15]

Followed,^[16] based on the story by Will McIntosh, was one of 24 films to win an Audience Choice Award at the 2011 National Film Festival for Talented Youth,^[17] and has been picked up by Dragon*Con, The Rome International Film Festival, Garden State Film Festival and Central Florida Festival, with international press coverage.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23]} Ain't it Cool News gave the film a positive notice for his direction, stating "Directed with a delicate and gentle hand, FOLLOWED is probably the most unexpected horror surprise I’ve seen in quite a while." ^[24]

His 2012 film Final Acts was a finalist in the Macon Shorts Competition, part of the Gateway Macon Initiative. The film won Grand Prize.^[25]

His first feature film was the international crossover Desires of the Heart, which shot in Savannah, GA and India in Fall 2012 with numerous releases to film festivals in 2013 and 2014.^{[26][27][28][29][30][31]}

Film Threat stated, "The cinematography in the film matches its narrative’s expansive ambitions with gorgeous visions that turn both Georgia and India into almost permanent states of postcard-friendly imagery,",^[32] and The Independent Critic noted Desires of the Heart as "a beautiful and involving film featuring two fine performances by its leads who are tasked with bringing to life a film that is both intelligent and fantastic, no small task." ^[33]

Kicklighter is developing a biopic on football legend Erk Russell,^{[34][35][36][37][38][39][40]} who started the football program at Kicklighter's Alma Mater, Georgia Southern University, which named him to their inaugural "40 Under 40" Alumni list.^[41]

In 2015, he will release the documentary A Few Things About Cancer, called "an intimate look at a newlywed couple’s quarterlife crisis through stage four cancer.".^[42] The film won Best Short Documentary at the 2015 FirstGlance Los Angeles Film Festival ^[43]

References

External links

• James Kicklighter at the Internet Movie Database