Adam Green (filmmaker)

Adam Green
Green at Sundance, 2010
Born	(1975-03-31) 31 March 1975 Holliston, MA, USA
Nationality	American
Alma mater	BS in Film and TV Hofstra University (1997)
Occupation(s)	Filmmaker, Actor
Years active	1996-present
Organization	ArieScope Pictures
Notable work	Hatchet (2006) Frozen (2010) Holliston (2012-2015)
Website	ariescope.com

Adam Green (born March 31, 1975) is an American actor-filmmaker known for popular horror and comedy films, including the "Hatchet" franchise, "Frozen", and the television series "Holliston."

Originating from Holliston, Massachusetts himself, Green earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Television and Film production at Hofstra University and founded ArieScope Pictures with fellow filmmaker Will Barratt in 1998.

Background

Born and raised in Holliston, Massachusetts and having finished high school in 1993, Green graduated from Hofstra University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in film and television production. In 1998, together with Will Barratt he founded production company ArieScope Pictures and eventually made feature film debut with the semi-biographical comedy - Coffee & Donuts (2000).

From 1997 to 2000, Green was the lead singer for the heavy metal band Haddonfield from Salem, Massachusetts. His first job after college was producing and directing local commercials for cable in Boston area. When Green first moved to Los Angeles and was still struggling to start in film/television industry, he worked as the DJ's at the world famous Rainbow Bar & Grill in Hollywood.

By 2013, Green had produced nine theatrical feature films, including three "Hatchet" films, "Frozen", "Spiral", Paul Solet's horror Grace (2009), "Chillerama", and Digging Up The Marrow." He is currently working on the teen action-adventure film Killer Pizza based on Greg Taylor's book and being produced by 1492 Pictures. (see filmography section) Green became a member of the Splat Pack, - a revolutionary group of filmmakers, who brought back gore and splatter to the horror genre in the 2000s, including Eli Roth, Alexandre Aja, Neil Marshall, Rob Zombie, Greg McLean, Darren Lynn Bousman, and James Wan.

Feature film and television career

Coffee & Donuts

Coffee & Donuts (2000) is a semi-Biographic, lighthearted romantic comedy about two friends, Adam and Steve, who strive to launch off their morning radio program of the small town, while Adam concurrently struggles to overcome breakup and resume dating. Green made the feature film for only $400 using equipment from the cable advertising facility, that he was working for at the time, and employing friends/volunteers for everything from cast to crew. Creator starred in the lead role, while other parts were played by Steven C. DeWitt Jr., Katie Bove and Jeff Davison. In 2004, Disney/Touchstone bought the film and remade it to a sitcom for UPN. The pilot episode’s script was written by Green himself and produced by Tom Shadyac's Shady Acres. The original show's concept was eventually completely re-developed by Green, re-titled Holliston and became the first original series for the FEARnet (see Holliston subsection).

Hatchet

Hatchet (2006) is the first feature in Green's successful cult-franchise. Story, described as "old school American horror", is about a group of tourists, who take a swamp boat ride and wind up pursued by the ghost of local legend Victor Crowley. The film was released theatrically on September 7, 2007 and earned a worldwide following among horror fans and was also well received by critics being called "the holy grail of slasher films" by Gorezone Magazine and having had created "the next icon of horror" by Ain't It Cool News' Harry Knowles. The film made both MTV's and Ain't It Cool News' "Top 10 Films of the Year" lists in 2006 and went on to spawn two sequels released in 2010 and 2013.

Spiral

Spiral (2007) is Joel David Moore's and JD Boreing's thriller, which Green co-directed. Story follows an isolated telemarketer (Moore), who befriends new co-worker and then struggles with troubling past feelings, threatening his personal dignity. Critics hailed Spiral as "nothing short of brilliant" and "the closest thing you'll get to Hitchcock in this day and age". Film won Gold Vision Award at the 2008 Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Grace

Grace (2009) is Paul Solet's dramatic thriller, which was produced by Green (ArieScope Pictures), who discovered the project during Hatchet's festival tour. Story presents a woman, who loses her baby in the womb, but still carries it to term only to find out, that the baby has returned to life and can only survive on human blood. Starring Jordan Ladd, Grace premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009 and was released in theatres and on DVD later that year.

Frozen

Green's thriller, starring Kevin Zegers, Emma Bell and Shawn Ashmore, Frozen premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was released in North American theaters on February 5, 2010. Film received positive reviews in the mainstream media with The NY Times saying that Frozen "delivers maximum fright" and Rex Reed of the NY Post saying "I was so paralyzed with fear that I chewed my pencil in half while watching."

Hatchet II

In December 2009, Green began casting the sequel to Hatchet which stars Kane Hodder and Danielle Harris. Filming began on January 5, 2010 and wrapped at the end of February. The theatrical release of "Hatchet 2" made headlines after the film's distributor Dark Sky made a deal circumventing the MPAA ratings board and released the film in major AMC theater multiplexes without a rating. The film was subsequently pulled from all AMC screens within hours of release with both the MPAA and AMC theaters refusing to comment or give an explanation to the media. Ultimately the film went on to be a financial success and another sequel was green-lit after just one week on home video. The film is the only entry in the franchise to receive positive reviews from all four major media outlets; the NY Times, LA Times, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.

Chillerama: "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein"

Green wrote and directed segment "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein" as part of the 2011 comedy/horror anthology Chillerama, which consists of four short films by four different filmmakers. The parody "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein" is shot in black&white and made entirely in German to look and feel like a lost 1940's foreign film. While Green cast authentic German speaking actors for all roles, the lead role of Adolf Hitler is portrayed by Joel David Moore, who does not know how to speak German and purposely fakes his way through the film by using a combination of gibberish and random words thrown to him by Green, such as "Boba Fett", "OshKosh B'Gosh" and "Goldie Hawn". Kane Hodder portrays the film's hero Meshugannah - a Hassidic Jewish take on the classic Frankenstein Monster, who ultimately turns against his master and kills him.

Holliston

Based on Green's life and largely adapted from his romantic comedy Coffee & Donuts (2000), sitcom Holliston follows the lives of Adam (played by Green) and Joe (played by a fellow genre director and real-life best friend, Joe Lynch) - two aspiring horror filmmakers - living in the small town of Holliston, Massachusetts. Together they work at a local cable advertising station and struggle with fledgling careers, making ends meet and dealing with the opposite sex. The ensemble cast includes Laura Ortiz (who plays Laura, Joe's girlfriend), Corri English (who plays Corri, Adam's ex-girlfriend and the greatest heartbreak of his life), Dee Snider (who plays Lance Rockett, Adam and Joe's cross dressing boss, still stuck in the 80's, who is the lead singer for a Van Halen cover band), and GWAR frontman Dave Brockie (who plays Oderus, Adam's imaginary alien friend who lives in his closet).

Holliston was the first original series for FEARnet. Green wrote and directed all six episodes comprising season one of this show that mixes comedy, horror, and romance and is described by the network as "Big Bang Theory meets Evil Dead 2". The first season was filmed in September–October 2011 and produced by ArieScope Pictures. Series was advertised in the January 13, 2012 issue of Entertainment Weekly and launched on the FEARnet network on April 3, 2012, with a second season formally announced after two episodes. Guest stars include Seth Green, John Landis, Kane Hodder, Brian Posehn, Ray Wise, Deanna Pappas, Derek Mears, Colton Dunn, Danielle Harris, Nick Ballard, Parry Shen, Magda Apanowicz, and Tony Todd. In interviews Green describes Holliston as his "most passionate of passion projects" and explained that the show took him over 13 years to bring to fruition.

Hatchet III

Third feature film of Green's franchise, directed by BJ McDonnell, staring Kane Hodder and Danielle Harris. In press announcements creator eagerly assured fans, disappointed about substitute director, to personally oversee all development. Though Green has clearly stated that Hatchet III is meant to be the end of the story and that he always had set out to make a trilogy, he has also alluded to the fact that this is only the ending to his story of Marybeth and Victor Crowley and that fans could potentially see more Hatchet films in the future with a different storyline, different characters, and (possibly) different storytellers behind the camera.

Production began in April 2012 and the film was released in the United States theaters and VOD on June 14, 2013. As part of Green's three-day fundraiser to benefit the victims of the horrific April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, all three Hatchet films were shown in Hatchet Marathon on May 30, 2013 at the Revere Hotel's luxurious Theater One in Boston, MA. Green received a standing ovation for his charity work contributing a $15,000.00 donation to Massachusetts's One Fund.

The Movie Crypt podcast

Free weekly Green's and Joe Lynche's, filmmaker interview and film commentary, podcast launched on GeekNation in May 2013. The name references creators' sitcom Holliston, along with other inside jokes in the content. The podcast was listed in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 20 Podcasts" in the January 5, 2015 issue and has been cited as being used as curriculum in film schools such as UCLA and Emerson. As of April 2015 the podcast is reported to have over 500,000 weekly listeners worldwide. Guests have included Chris Columbus, Seth Green, Slash, Jordan Peele, Neil Marshall, Mick Garris, Tom Holland, Sid Haig, Kane Hodder, Bear McCreary, Danielle Harris, James Gunn, Mike Dougherty, Todd Farmer, Dave Brockie, Don Coscarelli, Stuart Gordan, Rachael Leigh Cook, Brian Slagel, Tony Todd and Bill Moseley.

Digging Up the Marrow

Green's undercover project - Digging Up the Marrow - described as a reality based dark fantasy about monsters, was made in a collaboration between Green and popular urban artist Alex Pardee. Production began in 2010 and was fully completed in 2014. In the documentary style movie Green plays himself; Will Barratt, loyal Green's collaborator since 1997, is cameraman; and actor Ray Wise portrays Detective William Dekker, an eccentric and mysterious man who contacts Green with the claim that, monsters not only exist, but he knows where to find them.

After an unofficial preview of a work-in-progress cut in 2013 at Harry Knowles's annual Butt-Numb-A-Thon, the final version of Digging Up The Marrow premiered at FrightFest in London on August 23, 2014. The film was released in US cinemas and VOD on February 20, 2015, and on DVD and Blu-Ray March 24, 2015. Critical reception was extremely positive: "one of the scariest films of the past two decades" (UK Horror Scene); "an event movie that taps into primal fears you didn't even know existed" (Flick Feast). Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 53% of 15 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5.7/10. Metacritic rated it 45/100 based on eight reviews.

Adam Green's Scary Sleepover

Original on-line series, directed by Sean Becker - Adam Green's Scary Sleepover was launched on March 6, 2015. On the show, Green hosts various icons from the horror genre for a slumber party at his home or ArieScope Studio in Hollywood. While dressed in their pajamas, playing board games, eating junk food, watching movies, laying on the floor in sleeping bags and doing the very things that children would do at a sleepover, Green gets these horror heavyweights to open up honestly about what exactly scares them in their real lives. Guests for the first season's 12 episodes include Kane Hodder, Tiffany Shepis, Danielle Harris, Sid Haig, Derek Mears, Laura Ortiz, Tony Todd, Emma Bell, Bill Moseley, Darren Lynn Bousman, Zach Galligan, Jeffrey Reddick, and Tom Holland. Second season is announced for Halloween 2015.

Killer Pizza

Green's latest feature, Killer Pizza is an action adventure film being produced by 1492 Pictures. Based on Greg Taylor's children book of the same title, story follows sixteen year old Toby McGill, who gets a summer job at a mysterious Cape Cod pizza parlor only to discover that the restaurant is actually a front for a top secret monster hunting organization. Recruited into a band of heroic misfits, Toby spends his summer battling horrifying monsters and trying to save the world from imminent destruction at the hands of a mythical and deadly monster prophecy.

Filmography

Feature films

• Coffee & Donuts (2000)
• Hatchet (2006)
• Spiral (2007) written by JD Moore and JD Boreing
• Frozen (2010)
• Hatchet II (2010)
• Chillerama (2011) "Anne Frankenstein" segment
• Hatchet III (2013) directed by BJ McDonnell
• Digging Up the Marrow (2015)
• Killer Pizza (2016)

Television series

• It's a Mall World (2007) short form mini-series, 13 episodes
• Winter Tales (2007) claymation mini-series, 5 episodes
• Cheerleader Camp (2007) half-hour comedy, pilot episode
• Sexy Nightmare Slayers (2011) comedy, pilot episode
• Holliston (2012-2013-2015) half-hour horror sitcom, 10+11+12 episodes
• Adam Green's Scary Sleepover (2015) biographical talk-show, 14 episodes

Short films

• A Voice Named Reason (1996)
• Columbus Day Weekend (1998)
• Stagefright (2000)
• Oh, Sherrie (2001)
• Steven's Room (2002)
• The Real World Hollywood (2003)
• Midnight (2004)
• Trick or Treat (2005)
• King in the Box (2006)
• The Tiffany Problem (2007)
• The Tivo (2008)
• Fairy Tale Police (2008)
• Saber (2009)
• Jack Chop (2009)
• Just Take One (2010)
• Downloading and You (2011)
• Driving Lessons (2012)
• Halloween Hugs (2013)
• Saber III (2014)
• Turn Off your Bloody Phone (2014)
• Happy Halloween (2014)

Acting roles

• Columbus Day Weekend (1998) Michael Myers
• Coffee & Donuts (2000) Adam
• Steven's Room (2002) Matt
• The Real World Hollywood (2003) Shlomo
• Hatchet (2006) Buddy #1
• The Eden Formula (TV Sci-Fi - 2006) Maury
• The Tiffany Problem (2007) Gilligan
• Winter Tales (2007) Voices
• Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust (2008) Toothless McHomeless
• Fairy Tale Police (2008) Rudolph
• Jack Chop (2009) Guy from Lynn #1
• Grace (2009) Meat Clerk
• Ultradome (2010) Jedi Knight
• Frozen (2010) Guy on Chairlift #1
• Look: The Series (TV drama - 2010) Club Patron
• Just Take One (2010) Ernie
• Hatchet II (2010) Buddy #1
• Holliston (TV sitcom - season 1 - 2012) Adam
• Holliston (TV sitcom - season 2 - 2013) Adam
• Halloween Hugs (2013) Adam
• Hatchet III (2013) Drunken Prisoner
• Digging Up the Marrow (2015) Adam Green
• Holliston (TV sitcom - season 3 - 2015) Adam
• Tales of Halloween (2015) Carlo

Other appearances

• The Making of 'Hatchet' (2007)
• Anatomy of a Kill (2007)
• A Twisted Tale (2007)
• Guts & Gore: The FX of 'Hatchet' (2007)
• Meeting Victor Crowley (2007)
• The Making of 'Spiral' (2008)
• The Road to FrightFest (2008)
• His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (2009)
• The Road to FrightFest II: American Douchebags in London (2009)
• Grace: Conception (2009)
• Grace: Family (2009)
• Grace: Delivered (2009)
• The Psycho Legacy (2009)
• Into the Dark: Exploring the Horror Film (2009?)
• Brides of Horror (2010)
• The Rotten Tomatoes Show (2010)
• The Road to FrightFest III: The Douchebrothers Project (2010)
• The Making of Anne Frankenstein (2011)
• The Road to Holliston (2012)
• Adam Green's Scary Sleepover (2015)

External links

• Official website
• Adam Green at IMDb
• Adam Green at AllMovie
• Template:Myspace
• Adam Green on X
• Adam Green interviewed on Talk Radio Meltdown