Duane Graves is an American film director, writer, producer, cinematographer and editor who has produced a body of work spanning multiple genres.[1] In 2023, Deadline Hollywood announced he was named one of Coverfly's best up and coming screenwriters.[2] His career began with the documentary Up Syndrome, which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2001.[3] A portrait of his childhood friend born with Down syndrome,[4] Up Syndrome won numerous awards, including the National Media Award from the National Down Syndrome Congress in 2002,[5] and the Grand Prize at the 2006 Movies Askew Film Festival hosted by Clerks (film) director Kevin Smith.[6] He formed Greeks Films with film school peer, actor and filmmaking partner Justin Meeks in 2001.[7]
Duane Graves | |
|---|---|
 Duane Graves at the 2019 Victoria TX Indie Film Festival. | |
| Born | San Antonio, Texas, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, editor |
| Years active | 2000–present |
Graves then co-wrote/co-directed his first narrative film with Meeks, The Wild Man of the Navidad, a 70's-inspired creature feature based on real-life journals and starring Meeks.[8] The film premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival[9] and later Fantastic Fest,[10] before being released internationally by IFC Films in 2009,[10] and again in 2021 by MPI Media Group.[11]
In 2011, Graves and partner Meeks were two of 26 Austin filmmakers selected - including Jay Duplass, Bob Byington, Ben Steinbauer, David Zellner and others - to remake Richard Linklater's acclaimed 1991 debut feature Slacker (film).[12] Graves and Meeks' segment in the Slacker 2011 anthology was photographed in the same location and with the same actress some twenty years after the original.[13]
Graves' sophomore effort - the cannibal-themed horror Butcher Boys (2012 film) - was written and produced by Kim Henkel, co-creator of the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and loosely based on Jonathan Swift's satirical 1729 essay A Modest Proposal.[14] It debuted at the 2012 Fantasia International Film Festival under the original moniker Boneboys,[15] before being released in North America as Butcher Boys by Phase 4 Films in 2013.[16]
Graves then served as editor[17] for the award-winning[18] short film Black Metal, written and directed by Kat Candler.[19] Black Metal, about a husband, father and musician struggling with the guilt and blame of a tragic and senseless murder, premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival,[20] as well as the 2013 SXSW Film Festival.[21]
Also in 2013, Graves co-wrote/co-directed the horror Western Kill or Be Killed (2015 film), also starring partner Meeks and featuring genre icons Michael Berryman, Pepe Serna, Edwin Neal, and Luce Rains.[22][23] Originally titled Red on Yella, Kill a Fella, it premiered at the 2015 Dallas International Film Festival[24] before being acquired by RLJE Films for wide release in 2016.[25]
Most recently, Graves and Meeks served as executive producers of Dane Sears's The Hopewell Haunting, a period ghost story released in 2023 by MPI Media Group/Dark Sky Films.[26][27]
Graves is currently based in Austin, Texas.[7]
Bio
Duane Graves grew up in San Antonio, Texas.[4] He attended The University of Texas at Austin[28] and Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi.[10]
Notable filmography (as director, producer, or editor)
- Up Syndrome (feature documentary) (2000)[29]
- Headcheese (short) (2001)[30]
- Voltagen (short) (2002)[31]
- Rio Peligroso (short) (2004)[32]
- The Hypostatic Union (short) (2005)[33]
- The Wild Man of the Navidad (narrative feature) (2008)[34]
- Slacker 2011 (directed segment) (2011)[12]
- Butcher Boys (2012 film) (narrative feature) (2013)[35]
- Black Metal at IMDb (short, editor) (2013)[36]
- Kill or Be Killed (2015 film) (narrative feature) (2016)[37]
- Melontana (short documentary) (2020)[38]
- The Hopewell Haunting at IMDb (narrative feature) (2023)[27]
