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julian higgins / director |
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JULIAN HIGGINS is Los Angeles-based writer and director. Since catching the filmmaking bug in seventh grade, Julian earned a BFA in Film from Emerson College and an MFA in Directing from the world-famous American Film Institute.
His AFI thesis film, THIEF – inspired by a little-known incident in the early life of Saddam Hussein – won the Narrative Gold Medal at the 2011 Student Academy Awards, as well as Best Drama and Best Director honors at the 2011 Student Emmy Awards. THIEF also won the AFI's Franklin J. Schaffner Fellow Award, the Grand Prize Vision Award at the Heartland Film Festival, the Angelus Film Festival’s Triumph of the Spirit Award, and twenty other prizes. The film played in over fifty festivals worldwide.
On the strength of THIEF, Emmy-winning producer-director Greg Yaitanes invited Julian to shadow him during the final season of the acclaimed television drama HOUSE. That mentorship by Yaitanes led to Julian's television directing debut - at the age of 26 - with the HOUSE episode entitled "Blowing the Whistle."
Julian is repped by ICM Partners and is a proud member of the Directors Guild of America. In addition to pursuing further TV directing, he is currently developing several feature film projects.
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News
- January 22, 2013 // New article featuring Julian from MTVu.November 21, 2012 // Julian directed this Thanksgiving spot for Share Our Strength's "No Kid Hungry" national campaign. More here.October 18, 2012 // Check out this brand new interview with Julian conducted by the Heartland Film Festival.August 14, 2012 // Read about Julian in The Hundred Hour Mentor by Greg Yaitanes.June 8, 2012 // Check out this video interview with Julian just released on the Academy Awards website!May 24, 2012 // THIEF screens at the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at Cannes.April 9, 2012 // New Ivy Film Festival interview with Julian on THIEF, HOUSE, and the creative process.April 3, 2012 // Hollywood Reporter coverage of Julian's small-screen debut.April 2, 2012 // HOUSE episode airs!
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Projects
- SELECTED WORKDirectorThanksgiving spot for Share Our Strength's "No Kid Hungry" campaign.1 min / Red Epic / Share Our StrengthHOUSE, M.D. (2012)DirectorSeason 8, Episode 15: "Blowing the Whistle"45 min / Arri Alexa / Universal Network TelevisionTHIEF (2011)Director / WriterTells the haunting story of Mehdi, an Iraqi boy who unwittingly befriends the young Saddam Hussein in 1959. Forty years later, in 2003, the two men come face-to-face a second time, and Mehdi must weigh his desire for revenge against his need to make peace with the past.25 min / 35mm film / American Film InstituteAWARDS
- 38th Student Academy Awards - Student Academy Award (Gold Medal)
- 32nd College Television Awards - Best Director & 1st Place Drama
- Heartland Film Festival - Grand Prize Vision Award for Short Film & Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Award
- Angelus Student Film Festival - Triumph of the Spirit Award
- Nantucket Film Festival - Audience Award
- Traverse City Film Festival - Best Fiction Short Film
- Ivy Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize & Best Graduate Short
- Woods Hole Film Festival - Best Dramatic Short & Short Film Audience Award
- Big Bear Lake International Film Festival - Best Cinematography & Best Student Film
- Guam International Film Festival - Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short
- Sedona International Film Festival - Director's Choice Award for Best Student Short
- Dances With Films - Audience Award
- CineGear Expo - Student Filmmaker Prize
- Skena Up Festival (Kosovo) - Best Cinematography
- Jacksonville Film Festival - Best Short
- Tacoma Film Festival - Best Short
- Las Vegas Film Festival - Special Jury Prize
- Breckenridge Festival of Film - Best Student Film
- Big Island Film Festival - Best Student Short
- Ojai Film Festival - Student Film Honorable Mention
- HollyShorts - Audience Choice Award
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS- AFI FEST
- Camerimage (Poland)
- Cleveland International Film Festival
- Palm Springs Shorts Fest
- Santa Barbara International Film Festival
- Cannes Film Festival - American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase (France)
- Bahamas International Film Festival
- Waterfront Film Festival
- LA Shorts Fest
- Sarasota Film Festival
- AFI Spotlight Showcase
- Newport Beach Film Festival
- Sesüchte International Film Festival (Germany)
- White River Indie Films
- Topanga Film Festival
- Roxbury International Film Festival
- Rhode Island International Film Festival
- Salt Lake City Film Festival
- Rome International Film Festival
- Cinematik International Film Festival (Poland)
- Somewhat North of Boston Film Festival
- International Short Film Festival in Drama (Greece)
- Fieri International Film Festival (Italy)
- REC International Student Film Festival (Germany)
- BendFilm Festival
- Lucerne Film Festival (Switzerland)
- Tallgrass Film Festival
- Windrider Forum at Sundance
- Gulf Film Festival (Dubai)
- Tiburon International Film Festival
- Warsaw Short Film Festival (Poland)
- Laughlin Film Festival
SONNY - "BAD GIRL" (2011)DirectorBAD GIRL by Danish artist Sonny Fredie Pedersen, from his album INTERNATIONAL.4 min / HD / Warner MusicNO WIND, NO WAVES (2008)Director / WriterA Chinese man comes to America for the first time to visit his immigrant son, but his trip goes terribly awry when he discovers his son has vanished without a trace.22 min / 35mm film / Emerson CollegeAWARDS- Rhode Island Int'l Film Festival - 1st Place Undergraduate Film
- 27th Annual EVVY Awards - Best Film, Best Director, Best Sound Design, Best Production Design
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS- Newport Beach Film Festival
- Nashville Film Festival
- Independent Film Festival of Boston
- Waterfront Film Festival
- I Mille Occhi Festival of Film & Art (Italy)
- Big Bear Lake Int’l Film Festival
- Ivy Film Festival
- Big Island Film Festival
- NewFilmmakers NY
- Connecticut Film Festival
- Carolina Film & Video Festival
- White River Indie Films
- Flint Film Festival
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Press
- 22 Jan 2012 - MTVu: "Join the Club of College Television Award winners!"
- 19 Oct 2012 - Heartland Film Festival: "Interview with 2011 Grand Prize winner Julian Higgins"
- 14 Aug 2012 - Medium: "The Hundred Hour Mentor" by Greg Yaitanes
- 19 Jun 2012 - Variety: "Helmers huddle on how to get ahead"
- 7 Jun 2012 - Video from Oscars.org: "A year in the life of a Student Academy Award winner"
- 27 Apr 2012 - Pappas Post: "Yaitanes takes aspiring director under his wing"
- 9 Apr 2012 - Ivy Film Festival: "Interview with 2011 Grand Prize winner Julian Higgins"
- 3 Apr 2012 - The Hollywood Reporter: "College Television Awards alum makes small screen debut directing Fox series"
- 28 Mar 2012 - Emmy Magazine: "Opening the door on HOUSE"
- 26 Mar 2012 - Variety: "College TV awards lead to mentorship"
- 5 Dec 2011 - ICG Magazine: "Stolen Moments: A conversation with award-winning THIEF cinematographer Andrew Wheeler."
- 15 Oct 2011 - The Independent Critic: "THIEF review"
- 26 Sep 2011 - Guam Film Festival: "Filmmaker Spotlight Interview: THIEF"
- 1 Aug 2011 - Youtube: "Hitler Finds Out About New THR Rankings for Film Schools"
- 4 Jul 2011 - Grace As A Tree: "Top 3 Films from the Waterfront Film Festival"
- 27 Jun 2011 - Movies & Sandwiches: "THIEF Stole Me Away"
- 17 Jun 2011 - Press release from Technicolor: "THIEF honored with 2011 Student Academy Award"
- 13 Jun 2011 - Emerson College Today: "Recent Emerson graduate wins Gold Medal Student Academy Award"
- 12 Jun 2011 - Press release from the American Film Institute: "Student Academy Awards Bestow Top Prize In Narrative Filmmaking to AFI Alumnus Julian Higgins"
- 11 Jun 2011 - Video from Oscars.org: "Acceptance Speech: Julian Higgins (Narrative Gold Medal)"
- 11 Jun 2011 - Variety: "Acad fêtes student filmmakers"
- 11 Apr 2011 - Press release from Academy of Television Arts And Sciences: "32nd Annual College Television Award Winners"
