Richard Kelly | |
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 Kelly speaking at a screening | |
| Born | James Richard Kelly |
| Alma mater | University of Southern California (BFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, producer |
James Richard Kelly is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He wrote and directed the films Donnie Darko , Southland Tales and The Box .
Kelly grew up in Midlothian, Virginia, where he attended Midlothian High School and graduated in 1993. [1] When he was a child, his father worked for NASA on the Mars Viking Lander program. He won a scholarship to the University of Southern California to study at the USC School of Cinema-Television where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He made two short films at USC, The Goodbye Place and Visceral Matter, before graduating in 1997. [2]
Kelly spoke of viewing the film Brazil with author Robert K. Elder in an interview for The Film That Changed My Life :
I think the greatest thing I learned from Terry is that every frame is worthy of attention to detail. Every frame is worthy of being frozen in time and then thrown on a wall like an oil painting, and if you work hard on every frame, the meaning of your film becomes deeper, more enhanced. [3]
Donnie Darko (2001) is Kelly's first feature and was nominated for 21 awards, winning eleven. It later made #2 on Empire magazine's list of the 50 greatest independent films of all time, behind Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs . [4]
In 2005, Kelly wrote the screenplay for the Tony Scott-directed film, Domino . Kelly has said: "That was a wonderful experience. I wrote that for Tony Scott. That was Tony Scott's very personal project that he had spent eight years developing with Domino Harvey, a close friend of his and almost like a daughter to him. He had spent years trying to tell her story and so that for me, it was an honor for me to get to work with Tony and to write that script for him and to design this really elaborate puzzle for him to tell her story. So that was just a privilege." [5]
Kelly has written numerous scripts that have not been produced, among them adaptations of Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle [6] and Louis Sachar's Holes . [7]
His fourth film and second feature, Southland Tales , a rough cut of which screened in competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, [8] was released November 16, 2007, and stars Dwayne Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott, Kevin Smith and Miranda Richardson.
In 2008, Kelly's production company Darko Entertainment announced that it was producing the adaptation of the bestselling book I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell with director Bob Gosse. [9] [10] The book's author Tucker Max detailed Kelly's involvement in the process on his blog. [11] [12]
After the release of The Box , [13] he said he was working on a thriller "set in Manhattan in the year 2014. We hope to shoot the movie in 3-D, and part of the movie would be filmed using full CGI motion capture." [14] In 2011, he announced that he was writing and directing Corpus Christi, a Texas-set film to be produced by Eli Roth. [15] The production was cancelled due to financial and casting problems. Kelly said he would instead focus on a true crime thriller titled Amicus, starring James Gandolfini, whose death in 2013 prevented that. [16]
In an interview with PopMatters magazine in 2017, Kelly said in regards to doing an official sequel to Donnie Darko: "I'm open to doing something much bigger and longer and more ambitious that could be a new story," Kelly said and then added, "We'll see what happens. I have a lot of stuff that I'm working on and it's ambitious and it's expensive and we'll see what happens." [5] In regards to the 2009 Donnie Darko sequel S. Darko , Kelly has said: "I had nothing to do with it. And I hate it when people try and blame me or hold me responsible for it because I had no [involvement]. I don't control the underlying rights to [the Donnie Darko franchise]. I had to relinquish them when I was 24 years old. I hate when people ask me about that because I've never seen it and I never will, so… don't ask me about the sequel." [5]
In 2016, filmmaker Kevin Smith said of Kelly: "He is insanely creative and is not unlike Christopher Nolan. But Nolan wound up in the Warner Bros. system where he got special handling, and he got a lot of money to make huge art films like Inception . Richard can be one of our greatest filmmakers. He is right now, but just a lot of people don't realize it. He's still a kid, and someone needs to Nolan that kid." [17]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Goodbye Place | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film Also sound designer |
| 1997 | Visceral Matter | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2001 | Donnie Darko | Yes | Yes | No | Feature directorial debut |
| 2004 | Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut | Yes | Yes | No | Director's cut of feature directorial debut |
| 2005 | Domino | No | Yes | No | Co-written with Steve Barancik |
| 2006 | Southland Tales | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2009 | World's Greatest Dad | No | No | Yes | |
| 2009 | I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell | No | No | Yes | |
| 2009 | The Box | Yes | Yes | Yes | Based on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by Richard Matheson |
| 2010 | Operation: Endgame | No | No | Yes |
Donnie Darko is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and produced by Flower Films. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Katharine Ross, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle, Stu Stone, Daveigh Chase, and James Duval. Set in October 1988, the film follows Donnie Darko, an emotionally troubled teenager who inadvertently escapes a bizarre accident by sleepwalking. He has visions of Frank, a mysterious figure in a rabbit costume who informs him that the world will end in just over 28 days.
Daveigh Elizabeth Chase is an American actress. She began her career appearing in minor television roles before being cast as Samantha Darko in Richard Kelly's cult film Donnie Darko. She would subsequently provide the voices of Chihiro Ogino in the English dub of the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away, and Lilo Pelekai in the Disney animated feature film Lilo & Stitch and its subsequent franchise, before appearing as Samara Morgan, the child antagonist in the 2002 horror film The Ring.
Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal is an American actor. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and his older sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He began acting as a child, making his acting debut in City Slickers (1991), followed by roles in his father's films A Dangerous Woman (1993) and Homegrown (1998). His breakthrough roles were as Homer Hickam in October Sky (1999) and as a psychologically troubled teenager in Donnie Darko (2001).
Michael Andrews, also known as Elgin Park, is an American multi-instrumental musician, producer, and film score composer. He is best known for a cover version of the Tears for Fears song "Mad World", which he recorded with Gary Jules for the Donnie Darko soundtrack, and which became the 2003 UK Christmas number one. He is a founding member of the San Diego soul-jazz band The Greyboy Allstars, where he goes by the moniker Elgin Park.
James Francis Ivory is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years, he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. All three were principals in Merchant Ivory Productions, whose films have won seven Academy Awards; Ivory himself has been nominated for four Oscars, winning one.
Southland Tales is a 2006 dystopian black comedy thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly. It features an ensemble cast that includes Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, and Justin Timberlake. An international co-production of the United States and Germany, the film is set in the then-near future of 2008, and is a portrait of Los Angeles, as well as a satiric commentary on the military–industrial complex and the infotainment industry. The title refers to the Southland, a name used by locals to refer to Southern California and the Greater Los Angeles area. Original music was provided by Moby.
Donnie Darko: Music from the Original Motion Picture Score is a soundtrack album by American musician Michael Andrews, released in April 2002 on Enjoy and Everloving Records. It contains music from the 2001 science fiction psychological thriller film Donnie Darko, written and directed by Richard Kelly. It consists of 16 instrumental tracks and two covers of "Mad World" by Tears for Fears sung by American singer Gary Jules.
Ira Sachs is an American filmmaker. Sachs started his career directing short films such as Vaudeville (1991) and Lady (1993) before making his feature film debut with The Delta (1997). Sachs later won acclaim for his dramatic independent films Forty Shades of Blue (2005), Keep the Lights On (2012), Love Is Strange (2014), Little Men (2016), and Passages (2023).
Midlothian High School is one of ten secondary schools in the Midlothian section of unincorporated Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Midlothian is a part of Chesterfield County Public Schools.
S. Darko, also known as S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale, is a 2009 American science fiction thriller film directed by Chris Fisher and starring Daveigh Chase, Briana Evigan, and Ed Westwick. It is the sequel to the 2001 cult film Donnie Darko.
Christopher Lawrence Fisher is an American former director, writer, producer and attorney. He worked on the CBS television series Person of Interest as a director and executive producer.
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is a 2009 American independent comedy film loosely based on the work and persona of writer Tucker Max, who co-wrote the screenplay. In an interview with Shave Magazine Max explained that the film is not "a direct recount or retelling. It says it is based on true events because it is. Basically, every scene in the movie happened in real life in one way or another but it happened in a different time or time frame. But pretty much every single thing happened." The film was directed by Bob Gosse and stars Matt Czuchry as Max. It was produced by Darko Entertainment and distributed by Freestyle Releasing. Max had said previously that sequels were possible if the initial film found financial success.
Tucker Max is an American author and public speaker. He chronicles his drinking and sexual encounters in the form of short stories on his website TuckerMax.com, which has received millions of visitors since Max launched it as the result of a bet in 2000.
Lisa K. Wyatt is an American actress and comedian. According to the biography on her official site, she has appeared in more than 150 film, television and regional theatre credits. In the fifth season of The Office, she appeared as Lynne, the love interest of Kevin Malone.
Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut is a 2004 re-cut version of Richard Kelly's directorial debut, Donnie Darko. A critical success but a commercial failure when first released in 2001, Donnie Darko grew in popularity through word-of-mouth due to strong DVD sales and regular midnight screenings across the United States. As a result of this growth, Kelly was approached by Bob Berney, president of the distributor Newmarket Films, who suggested that the film be rereleased. Kelly proposed producing a director's cut, and was given $290,000 to create what he called his interpretation of the original film. Donnie Darko was subsequently described as being the first "flop" to be given a director's cut.
Darko Entertainment is a production company that was launched in late 2007 by writer/director Richard Kelly, who is best known for directing the 2001 cult classic Donnie Darko. Based in Los Angeles, it creates, produces and finances director-driven films, the first of which was Southland Tales. Other notable Darko Entertainment films include World's Greatest Dad, God Bless America, The Box, and Bad Words.
Aaron Ryder is an American film producer.
Sean McKittrick is American film producer. He is best known for his works Donnie Darko, Southland Tales, for which he was nominated for Palme d'Or at 2006 Cannes Film Festival, and Get Out, which earned him many accolades and nominations, including one for the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 90th Academy Awards. He earned another nomination for the award the following year for BlacKkKlansman. His latest film, Us, was released on March 22, 2019.
Edward H. Hamm Jr. is an American producer, known for his collaboration with Sean McKittrick. He was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, for Southland Tales.
Holmes Osborne is an American character actor who has worked in film and television, including notable roles in That Thing You Do! (1996), Donnie Darko (2001) and Southland Tales (2007).
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