James Kicklighter
Born	(1988-06-26) June 26, 1988 (age 35)
Alma mater	Georgia Southern University
Years active	2006–present

James Kicklighter (born June 26, 1988) is an American film director, producer, and writer from Bellville, Georgia. ^{[1] [2]}

Early life and education

Kicklighter's hometown is in Bellville, Georgia. ^{[2] [3]} His father died from SARS when he was 12 years old. ^{[2] [4]} He graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in Public Relations. ^{[1] [2]}

Career

He began his career at 18, as co-executive producer ^[5] of That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor, ^[6] interviewing actress Dixie Carter, rocker John Mellencamp, director David Zucker, and actor Buck Taylor. ^{[7] [8]}

During his studies at Georgia Southern University, he collaborated with another student to film a documentary about the Golden Age of Radio for the Broadcast Education Association. ^{[9] [10]} While directing the film that became Theater of the Mind, he met Edith Ivey, who starred in his short film, The Car Wash. ^[11]

The Car Wash won the Audience Choice Award at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth. ^{[12] [13]}

His short film Followed, ^[14] based on the story by Will McIntosh, received an Audience Choice Award at the 2011 National Film Festival for Talented Youth, ^[15] and was screened by Dragon Con, The Rome International Film Festival, Garden State Film Festival and Central Florida Festival, with international press coverage. ^{[16] [17]}

His 2012 film Final Acts was a finalist in the Macon Shorts Competition, part of the Gateway Macon Initiative. The film won Grand Prize. ^[18]

His first feature film was the international crossover Desires of the Heart, which was produced by Jitenda Mishra ^{[19] [20]} and shot in Savannah, Georgia and Rajasthan, India in 2012. ^{[2] [21] [22]} It was screened at film festivals in 2013 and 2014 including the Cannes Film Festival. ^[23] The film was released in theaters across India in November 2015. ^{[24] [25]} It received award for Best Foreign Film at the La Femme Festival in Los Angeles. ^{[26] [27] [28]}

In 2015, he released the documentary A Few Things About Cancer. ^[29] The film won Best Short Documentary at the 2015 FirstGlance Los Angeles Film Festival. ^[30]

His music video "Branches" for solo artist Shel Bee won Best Music Video at the 2016 Garden State Film Festival ^[31]

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. ^{[32] [33] [26] [34]} He was inspired to film the project after receiving an email from Bert Roughton, Jr., Senior Managing Editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ^[35]

He was the Virginia filmmaker for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. ^{[36] [37] [38]} He filmed content for the campaign with public figures such as Michelle Kwan. ^[38] He decided to direct the film The American Question after observing politics and voting during the campaign. ^[2]

In 2017, he directed Angel of Anywhere, starring Briana Evigan, Ser'Darius Blain, David A. Gregory, and Axel Roldos. ^{[39] [40]} The project was a collaboration was a collaboration with director of photography Jonathan Pope. ^{[41] [42]}

He spoke about his start in filmmaking at the Directors Guild of America ^[43] and the importance of networking ^[44] 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. ^{[45] [35] [46]} It received a rating of 91% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. ^[47]

Kicklighter is set to direct a biopic about athlete and coach Erk Russell, ^{[48] [49] [50]} who revived the football program at Georgia Southern University. ^[51]

Personal life

Bag company JAMAH named The Kicklighter bag in his honor. ^[52] He currently resides in Los Angeles, California. ^[53]

Filmography

References

External links

• James Kicklighter at IMDb