Kurt Kuenne is an American filmmaker and composer. He has directed a number of short and feature films, including ''Rent-a-Person'', the YouTube film ''Validation'', described as "a romantic epic in miniature", and the documentary '' Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father''.

Life

Kuenne was born October 24, 1973 in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is the ...

He grew up in Northern California and began making films aged seven on Super 8 film and later video. He attended

Lynbrook High School Lynbrook High School (also referred to as Lynbrook or LHS) is a co-educational, public, four-year high school located in the West San Jose neighborhood of San Jose, California. It was founded in 1965 and graduated its first class in 1968. Lynbr ...

and then studied film at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

's School of Cinema-Television, where he made ''Remembrances'' (1995) and was awarded the Harold Lloyd Scholarship in Film Editing.Dawson, Nick
"KURT KUENNE, “DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER”"
''Filmmakers Magazine'', October 31, 2008. Kuenne then studied film composing, but returned to directing with feature ''Scrapbook'' (1999). In 2002 he was awarded an

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting The Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting is a fellowship program founded in 1986 to aid screenwriters. It is administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. History Gee Nicholl, widow of producer Don Nicholl, worked w ...

for a script titled ''Mason Mule''.

Career

''Validation''

''Validation'' (2007), written, directed, and scored by Kuenne, was distributed through

Gay Hendricks Gay Hendricks (born January 20, 1945, in Leesburg, Florida) is a psychologist, writer, and teacher in the field of personal growth, relationships, and body intelligence. He is best known for his work in relationship enhancement and in the develop ...

's Spiritual Cinema Circle and is a short film about a parking attendant (played by

T. J. Thyne Thomas Joseph Thyne (born March 7, 1975) is an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Jack Hodgins in the television series ''Bones''. Life Thyne was born on March 7, 1975 in Stoughton, Massachusetts. He lived in Brockton, Hanover, ...

) who dispenses compliments to his customers.Ford, Arielle
"FREE FILM ONLINE: Validation: Interview with Writer/Director Kurt Kuenne".
/ref> It won Best Short Grand Prize at the 2007

Heartland Film Festival The Heartland International Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival was first held in 1992, its goal is to "inspire filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion pictu ...

, and The Independent Critic rated it A+. It has received more than 10 million YouTube views.

''Dear Zachary''

Kuenne's documentary '' Dear Zachary'' (2008), about the murder of his childhood friend Andrew Bagby, was received as a documentary that "will rip you apart inside and pour your guts out through your tear ducts". Kuenne produced, directed, and scored the movie by himself. The only financial help given were donations to expand the YouTube short film into a full length feature.

''Shuffle''

His latest feature film ''Shuffle'' (2011) again stars T. J. Thyne, playing a man who finds his life running out of sequence. It won the Jury Award for Best Feature at the 17th

Stony Brook Film Festival The Stony Brook Film Festival, produced by Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University, presents a program of new, independent films every summer since 1996. Features and short films from the U.S. and around the world are screened ove ...

."17th Annual Stony Brook Film Festival Winners"
Stony Brook Film Festival.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuenne, Kurt American male composers Living people USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni American documentary filmmakers Filmmakers from California 1973 births People from Mountain View, California 21st-century American composers Film directors from California 21st-century American male musicians Lynbrook High School alumni Screenwriters from California