Neil Kopp (born 1979) is an American film, commercial and music video producer best known for his work on the films '' Old Joy'' (2006) and '' Paranoid Park'' (2007).

Life and career

Born and raised in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, Kopp attended the

Vancouver Film School Vancouver Film School (VFS) is a private entertainment arts school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1987, it has achieved international recognition. The Vancouver Film School has campus locations around Downtown Vancouver ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

where he majored in Film Production. He spent his next five years after graduating in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and

working as a production manager for commercial and music video production companies including

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

' Big Fish Films and Portland's Food Chain Films. While with Food Chain, and with director and fellow Vancouver Film School alumnus

Dennis Fitzgerald Joseph Dennis Fitzgerald (March 13, 1936 – January 14, 2001) was an American freestyle wrestler and football player and coach. Fitzgerald played college football as a halfback at the University of Michigan and was selected as named the most val ...

, he produced a number of music videos for Portland-based artists such as

The Shins The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

The Dandy Warhols The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford. H ...

and

The Decemberists The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy (lead vocals, guitar, principal songwriter), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (piano, keyboards, accordion), Nate ...

. Kopp's feature film debut was Kelly Reichardt's '' Old Joy'', a 2006 film about two reunited friends based in Mount Hood in Southeast Portland, where he grew up. After reading the film's script, he came aboard the project due to his familiarity with the story's locations, describing Mount Hood and the Bagby Hot Springs area as his "stomping grounds". He was predominantly active in the pre-production of the film, acting as a

location scout Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what general kind of scenery they require for the various parts of their work ...

and

location manager The location manager is a member of the film crew responsible for finding and securing locations to be used, obtaining all fire, police and other governmental permits, and coordinating the logistics for the production to complete its work. They a ...

, using the back roads and camping grounds he was familiar with from his childhood and young adulthood. As the only producer aboard during filming, Kelly Reichardt has said about Kopp, "He would become the ssistant director He was our grip, he learned how to do the car rigging, and he found the stand-ins and the locations. I could not have made this film without im" He and the other principal ''Old Joy'' crew members were nominated for the

Independent Spirit The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

John Cassavetes Award The Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award is presented to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000 by the Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers. It is named after ac ...

. Kopp later produced Gus Van Sant's 2007 film '' Paranoid Park'', which, combined with his work on ''Old Joy'', earned him an Independent Spirit Producers Award as well as a nomination for ''Paranoid Park'' as

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

. He also produced Kelly Reichardt's 2008 film ''

Wendy and Lucy ''Wendy and Lucy'' is a 2008 American drama film directed by Kelly Reichardt. Reichardt and Jon Raymond adapted the screenplay from his short story ''Train Choir''. The film stars Michelle Williams as Wendy, a homeless woman who searches for he ...

'', also known under the working titles of ''Wendy'' and ''Train Choir''.; and Reichardt's 2010 film Meek's Cutoff.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopp, Neil 1979 births Living people Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon Film producers from Oregon