James Kicklighter
James Kicklighter (born June 26, 1988) is an American film director, producer, and writer from Bellville, Georgia. Biography. Kicklighter grew up in Bellville, Georgia.He was inspired to take up storytelling as a coping mechanism after the death of his father from one of the first cases of SARS when he was 12 years old.As a youth, he entered films into film festivals such as The National Film Festival for Talented Youth.He graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in Public Relations. 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. JAMAH named The Kicklighter bag in his honor. He has credited Bobby Zarem for being a mentor in his life. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Career. He began his career at 18, as co-executive producer of "That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor", interviewing the late actress Dixie Carter, rocker John  Mellencamp, director David Zucker, actor Buck Taylor. 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?". During his studies at Georgia Southern University, he, under the supervision of a professor and along with a fellow student, helped to kick off a decade-long celebration of the Golden Age of Radio for the Broadcast Education  Association. 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, including Audience Choice Award at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, the largest youth film festival in the world. "Followed", 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, 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. 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." His 2012 film "Final Acts" was a finalist in the Macon Shorts Competition, part of the Gateway Macon Initiative. The film won Grand Prize. His first feature film was the international crossover "Desires of the Heart", which shot in Savannah, Georgia and Rajasthan, India in 2012 with numerous releases to film  festivals in 2013 and 2014. Jitenda Mishra was one of the film’s producers.The film was released in theaters across India in November 2015.It won Best Foreign Film at the La Femme Festival in Los Angeles.It was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival. "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,", 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."UK Film Review wrote, “This faux saccharine surface belies a superbly written and wonderfully understated supernatural mystery, which only takes off around the halfway point of the film.” In 2015, he released the documentary "A Few Things About Cancer", called "an intimate look at a newlywed couple’s quarterlife crisis through stage four cancer.". The film won Best Short Documentary at the 2015 FirstGlance Los Angeles Film Festival. His music video "Branches" for solo artist Shel Bee won Best Music Video at the  2016 Garden State Film Festival After the 2016 Garden State Film Festival, Kicklighter directed the documentary "Digital Edition", a profile on the future of journalism framed through The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which debuted to critical acclaim.He was inspired to film the project after receiving an email from Bert Roughton, Jr., Senior Managing Editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was the Virginia filmmaker for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.He worked with public figures such as Michelle Kwan and Miley Cyrus on material promoting the campaign.His experiences during the campaign observing political processes, polarization, and changes in  voting, would later inspire him to direct the film The American Question. In 2017, he directed "Angel of Anywhere", starring Briana Evigan, Ser'Darius Blain, David A. Gregory, and introducing Axel Roldos.The short film was a collaboration with director of photography Jonathan Pope and writers Kate Murdoch and Casey Nelson.Kicklighter cast Roldos in the project after meeting him at an Atlanta film festival.The film received positive reviews from outlets such as The Utah Film Awards,The Independent Critic,Film Snob Reviews,and UK Film Review. He spoke about his start in filmmaking at the Directors Guild of America  and the importance of networking in March 2018. Kicklighter directed the feature documentary "The Sound of Identity," profiling Lucia Lucas's performance of Don Giovanni at the Tulsa Opera for 2021 release.Kicklighter and executive producers Russ Kirkpatrick and Andy Kinslow decide to collaborate on the film after meeting through the organization Tulsa Tomorrow.It was distributed by Shout! Studios in North America.The film also reunited Kicklighter with cinematographer Jonathan Pope.Its score was provided by composer Nicolas Repetto.It was praised by publications such as The Washington Blade,Film Inquiry,and Film Threat.It received an approval rating  of 91% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Kicklighter is developing a biopic on football legend Erk Russell, who started the football program at Kicklighter's Alma Mater, Georgia Southern University, which named him to their inaugural "40 Under 40" Alumni list.