George Hickenlooper

Birthday: 25 May 1963, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Birth Name: George Loening Hickenlooper III

George Hickenlooper graduated from Yale University in 1986. He was born on May 25, 1963 in St. Louis, Missouri and raised there, Boston, and San Francisco. His interest in film began in childhood and stemmed from his great-uncle's (Leopold Stokowski) involvement in the movie Fantasia (1940). Hickenlooper's interest also bloomed from his father being a playwright and his mother starting a guerrilla theater troop, which would protest the Vietnam War. Both of his parents told him the techniques of story telling whether to make an aesthetic or political point. Hickenlooper's first short Super 8mm films were animated and made with this grammar school friend Kirk Wise who, years later, would go on to direct Beauty and the Beast (1991) for Walt Disney. While attending a Jesuit high school, Hickenlooper turned to live action short filmmaking. Many of those shorts ("Telefission", "A Day in the Life", "A Black and White Film" and "The Revenant") were premiered on Public Television in St. Louis and Kansas City. Hickenlooper spent one summer studying at the USC School of Cinema and Television, and then went on to Yale for a B.A. in History and Film Studies. After graduating, Hickenlooper interned for producer Roger Corman and, in 1991, authored the book "Reel Conversations" (Citadel Press), a collection of interviews with film directors and critics. Hickenlooper made his professional directing debut with Art, Acting, and the Suicide Chair: Dennis Hopper (1988), a short documentary about Dennis Hopper. However, he made his breakthrough when he premiered Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991), the internationally acclaimed documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now (1979), at the Cannes Film Festival. Show less «

I was very inspired by Les Blank's film 'Burden of Dreams.' I think what's unique about his film and...Show more »

I was very inspired by Les Blank's film 'Burden of Dreams.' I think what's unique about his film and the two I've made is that they're close examinations of filmmakers and how their own emotional experiences reflect in the material they're rendering, and vice versa - how that material sometimes colors their own lives. Show less «

Kelly Preston is a remarkable human being and a great dramatic actress. It was a privilege as a dire...Show more »

Kelly Preston is a remarkable human being and a great dramatic actress. It was a privilege as a director to tap into this part of her. Rarely do I make a kind of spiritual connection with my cast. Kelly was a wonderful exception. She is truly very special and I adore her. Show less «

I always say be humble but be firm. Humility and openness are the key to success without compromisin...Show more »

I always say be humble but be firm. Humility and openness are the key to success without compromising your beliefs. Show less «

There's something unique about the United States, a sense of individual rights and freedoms, and a s...Show more »

There's something unique about the United States, a sense of individual rights and freedoms, and a sense of social and civic responsibility that we contributed to so much of the world. We lost that mission in the 1980s and 1990s, when we entered a gilded age, and the culture of individualism became a culture of avarice. Show less «

Most people, 95% of people, are good people. It's the 5% who get seduced by power.

I love the grandiosity of Hollywood movies, and even in independents, I love the canvas you can tell...Show more »

I love the grandiosity of Hollywood movies, and even in independents, I love the canvas you can tell your story on. I love fiction filmmaking, you really feel like you're creating something. Show less «

Simon Monjack had nothing to do with 'Factory Girl.' He filed a frivolous lawsuit against us... maki...Show more »

Simon Monjack had nothing to do with 'Factory Girl.' He filed a frivolous lawsuit against us... making bogus claims that we had stolen his script. He held us literally to hostage and we were forced to settle with him as he held our production over a barrel. Show less «

There's been a vacuum with movies that people can relate to. There's been a paucity of dramas that p...Show more »

There's been a vacuum with movies that people can relate to. There's been a paucity of dramas that people can relate to. I think audiences are clamoring to connect - particularly after 9/11 - with things that are genuine and real and I think documentaries are filling that need. Show less «

I think that narrative, fiction filmmaking is the culmination of several art forms: theater, art his...Show more »

I think that narrative, fiction filmmaking is the culmination of several art forms: theater, art history, architecture. Whereas doc filmmaking is more pure cinema, like cinema verite is film in its purest form. Show less «

As a filmmaker I find it much more rewarding to work with actors who are classically trained. It's a...Show more »

As a filmmaker I find it much more rewarding to work with actors who are classically trained. It's about the work and only the work. Show less «

I'm fascinated by failure, and I'm fascinated by finality. Shakespeare's historical plays are more u...Show more »

I'm fascinated by failure, and I'm fascinated by finality. Shakespeare's historical plays are more universal than his comedies because they relate to the finality of life. Without finality, life would not be beautiful. Show less «

Generally in my films like 'Hearts of Darkness' or 'Picture This,' I try not to make myself a presen...Show more »

Generally in my films like 'Hearts of Darkness' or 'Picture This,' I try not to make myself a presence in the film. Show less «

I'm very strongly in favor of the auteur theory.