Tommy O'Haver (born October 24, 1968) is an American

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

Early life

O'Haver grew up in

Carmel, Indiana Carmel () is a suburban city in Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, immediately north of Indianapolis. With a population of 99,757 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city spans across Clay Township, Hamilton County, Indi ...

, a suburb of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. He graduated from Carmel High School and matriculated at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

with a joint degree in Journalism and Comparative Literature. In the mid-1990s, he attended the MFA Film program at the

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 ...

School of Cinematic Arts The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of talkies, the school descends from America's first program to confer a college degree in ...

Career

Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss ''Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss'' is a 1998 American independent romantic comedy film written and directed by Tommy O'Haver and starring Sean P. Hayes, Brad Rowe, and Meredith Scott Lynn. The film was a breakthrough performance for Hayes, who ...

'', featuring

Sean Hayes Sean Patrick Hayes (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he gained acclaim for his role as Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'', for which he won a Primet ...

, was O'Haver's feature film directorial debut. ''Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss'' played in competition at the 1998

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

, and received mostly positive reviews from critics. His follow-up film, titled '' Get Over It'', featured

Kirsten Dunst Kirsten Caroline Dunst (; born April 30, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the anthology film ''New York Stories'' (1989) and has since starred in several film and television productions. She has received several awar ...

, Ben Foster,

Mila Kunis Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, and raised in Los Angeles, she was Jackie Burkhart on ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) and has voiced Meg Griffin on ''Family Guy'' since ...

and

Zoe Saldana Zoe or variants may refer to: People * Zoe (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** Zoë (British singer) (Zoë Pollock, born 1969) ** Zoë (Austrian singer) (Zoë Straub, born 1996) Arts and entertainment ...

in a

teen comedy A teen situation comedy, or teen sitcom, is a subgenre of comedic television program targeted towards young people ( tweens, teenagers and, to a lesser extent, young adults). In general, these types of programs focus primarily on characters betwee ...

about a school theater production; it was released in 2001, and received mixed reviews from critics. O'Haver's third film, ''

Ella Enchanted ''Ella Enchanted'' is a fantasy novel written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. The story is a retelling of ''Cinderella'' featuring various mythical creatures including fairies, elves, ogres, gnomes, and giants. The book won a Newb ...

'', starred

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, Her accolades include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime ...

, was released in 2004, and also received mixed reviews from critics. His fourth feature film, which was eventually released as a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

, starred

Catherine Keener Catherine Ann Keener (born March 26, 1959) is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Academ ...

Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor, producer, and activist. He is known for his leading roles across Canadian and American film and television, and for his outspoken work as an activist for LGBTQ righ ...

, and

James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), ''Milk (2008 American film), Milk'' (200 ...

; the film, titled ''

An American Crime ''An American Crime'' is a 2007 American psychological horror drama film directed by Tommy O'Haver and starring Elliot Page and Catherine Keener. The film is based on the true story of the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens by Indianapolis si ...

'', premiered at Sundance in 2007, and was based on a true story of Gertrude Baniszewski, an Indiana woman charged in 1965 with the

murder of Sylvia Likens Sylvia Marie Likens (January 3, 1949 – October 26, 1965) was an American teenager who was Torture murder, tortured and murdered by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and several of their neighborhood friends. ...

. The initial reaction at Sundance was mixed, but the film later garnered some critical praise, with Ginia Bellafante of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called it "one of the best television movies to appear in years". In June 2013, O'Haver directed the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

"Rollin'" for MiBBs. On April 2, 2015, the seventh episode of ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known simply as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show that aired on CBS from 2015 to 2023. It is the fourth and final iteration of '' The Late Late Show'', and aired in the United Sta ...

'' was broadcast from O'Haver's house. In 2017, O'Haver's fifth film, ''

The Most Hated Woman in America ''The Most Hated Woman in America'' is a 2017 American Biographical film, biographical drama film directed by Tommy O'Haver and written by O'Haver and Irene Turner. It stars Melissa Leo as Madalyn Murray O'Hair. The film premiered at South by So ...

'', was released; it starred

Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Critics' Choice A ...

Madalyn Murray O'Hair Madalyn Murray O'Hair ( Mays; April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995) was an American activist supporting atheism, separation of church and state, feminism, and Holocaust denial. In 1963, she founded American Atheists and served as its president ...

, the founder of

American Atheists American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and th ...

. The film had its world premiere at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

on March 14, 2017. It was released on March 24, 2017, by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. It received mostly negative reviews from critics.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohaver, Tommy 1968 births Living people American male screenwriters Carmel High School (Indiana) alumni People from Carmel, Indiana USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Date of birth missing (living people) Film directors from Indiana Screenwriters from Indiana American LGBTQ film directors