John E. Hudgens (born April 6, 1967, in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

) is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

director, producer, and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

noted for his

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

fan film A fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic book, book, or video game created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been amateurs, but some of the more ...

s and for many '' Babylon 5'' promotional videos. On his own, Hudgens began editing ''Babylon 5'' videos cut to popular music beginning in 1994. ''Babylon 5'' creator and writer

J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5'' ( ...

saw these early efforts and hired Hudgens to officially produce ''B5'' promotional music videos for science fiction

fan convention Fan convention (also known as con or fan meeting), a term that predates 1942, is an event in which fans of a particular topic gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Some ...

s and other events. Eight official videos were produced, plus more unofficial videos shown at conventions and distributed on the Internet. Hudgens had also dabbled in fan films, producing ''The Empire Strikes Quack'' in the late 1980s. Beginning in 2000, Hudgens made the first of a series of noted ''Star Wars'' fan films, ''

Crazy Watto ''Crazy Watto'' is a two-minute-long fan film that made its debut on the Internet in 2000. The film is a spoof of used car deal ads shown on television, featuring Watto from '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace''. Watto offers up for sale ...

'', a two-minute parody of ''Star Wars'' and used car commercials. The film proved very popular and would go on to be an official selection at

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

's Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards and screen at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. His second film, ''

Darth Vader's Psychic Hotline ''Darth Vader's Psychic Hotline'' is a fan film that made its debut on the Internet on April 16, 2002, created by fans of the '' Star Wars'' franchise. It is a spoof of '' Star Wars'' and Miss Cleo-type psychic hotline infomercials, with Darth V ...

'', is a fast-paced four-minute parody of many science fiction shows and films, and features

Kevin J. Anderson Kevin James Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is an American science fiction author. He has written spin-off novels for ''Star Wars'', ''StarCraft'', ''Titan A.E.'' and ''The X-Files literature#Novels, The X-Files'', and with Brian Herbert is the ...

, Claudia Christian and

Peter David Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Greatest Hits" Co ...

among others. This effort was the second runner-up for the Audience Choice Award at the 2002 Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards, an award he would win the next year for ''

The Jedi Hunter ''The Jedi Hunter'' is a fan film that made its debut on the internet on August 30, 2002, created by fans of the ''Star Wars'' franchise. It is a spoof of ''Star Wars'' and ''The Crocodile Hunter'', with Boba Fett sliding into the Steve Irwin ro ...

'', a parody of ''Star Wars'' and ''

The Crocodile Hunter ''The Crocodile Hunter'' was a wildlife documentary television series hosted by Steve Irwin and his wife, Terri. The show became a popular franchise due to Irwin's unconventional approach to wildlife. It spawned a number of separate projects, ...

''. He would win the Audience Choice Award once more in 2005 for ''

Sith Apprentice ''Sith Apprentice'' is a ''Star Wars'' fan film that made its debut on the internet on March 29, 2005, directed by John E. Hudgens and co-written by Hudgens, Denny Humbard, and ''Men in Black'' creator Lowell Cunningham. Made for around $1000, it ...

'', his longest fan film to date, at twelve minutes. All of Hudgens fan films were produced, directed, shot, and edited by him, were made in collaboration with ''The Men in Black'' creator

Lowell Cunningham Lowell Cunningham (born c. 1958/1959) is an American comic book author. He is best known for creating the comic book '' The Men in Black'', which later became the basis for a media franchise. Early life Lowell Cunningham was raised in Franklin, T ...

, and were produced and released by Hudgens' Z-Team Productions company. Hudgens went on to create ''

American Scary ''American Scary'' is a 2006 American documentary film about the history and legacy of classic television horror hosts, written and directed by American independent filmmakers John E. Hudgens and Sandy Clark. Background The film features nearly ...

'', a feature-length documentary about television horror hosts. The film premiered in October 2006 at the Hollywood Film Festival, and was released on DVD in February 2009. Hudgens' most recent effort was ''Backyard Blockbusters,'' a 2012 documentary about the fan film genre and the people behind it.

References

External links

*
Official site for Z-Team Productions
Film producers from Tennessee American male screenwriters People from Memphis, Tennessee 1967 births Living people American male voice actors Film directors from Tennessee Screenwriters from Tennessee {{US-film-director-1960s-stub