Kurt Kuenne
{{short description|American filmmaker and composer (born 1973)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kurt Kuenne
| image = Kurt Kuenne - Cleveland International Film Festival 2012 (cropped2).jpg
| caption = Kurt Kuenne at the Cleveland International Film Festival 2012
| alt =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|10|24}}
| birth_place = Mountain View, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = University of Southern California
| occupation = Filmmaker, composer, writer
| years_active = 1995 to present
| known_for =
| notable_works = Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
| website = {{url|kurtkuenne.com}}
}}
Kurt Kuenne (born October 24, 1973) 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",Brown, Lane, [http://www.vulture.com/2009/02/dear_zachary_filmmaker_kur.html "Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne Punches Your Stub"], Vulture.com, February 2009. and the documentary Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father.Sartin, Hank, [https://archive.today/20130204100242/http://www.timeout.com/film/chicago/reviews/86114/dear_zachary-a_letter_to_a_son_about_his_father.html "Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father"], Time Out Chicago, Issue 193: November 6–12, 2008.
Life
Kuenne was born October 24, 1973, in Mountain View, California{{cite web|url=https://www.soundtrack.net/person/kurt-kuenne/|title=Kurt Kuenne - Soundtrack.Net|website=www.soundtrack.net}} He grew up in Northern California and began making films aged seven on Super 8 film and later video. He attended Lynbrook High School{{cite web|url=https://patch.com/california/cupertino/shuffle-to-camera-3-to-see-lynbrook-grad-s-movie|title=Shuffle to Camera 3 to see Lynbrook Grad's Movie|date=October 25, 2012|publisher=}} and then studied film at University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television, where he made Remembrances (1995) and was awarded the Harold Lloyd Scholarship in Film Editing.Dawson, Nick, [http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/news/2008/10/kurt-kuenne-dear-zachary-a-letter-to-a-son-about-his-father/ "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 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for a script titled Mason Mule.{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/awards/nicholl/fellows/1986-present.html |title=Academy Nicholl Fellows 1986–present |website=Oscars.org |accessdate=February 6, 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302233824/http://oscars.org/awards/nicholl/fellows/1986-present.html |archivedate=March 2, 2009 }}
Career
=''Validation''=
Validation (2007), written, directed, and scored by Kuenne, was distributed through Gay Hendricks's Spiritual Cinema Circle and is a short film about a parking attendant (played by T. J. Thyne) who dispenses compliments to his customers.Ford, Arielle, [http://wisdom-magazine.com/Article.aspx/763/ "FREE FILM ONLINE: Validation: Interview with Writer/Director Kurt Kuenne".] It won Best Short Grand Prize at the 2007 Heartland Film Festival, and The Independent Critic rated it A+.[http://theindependentcritic.com/validation "Validation" review], The Independent Critic. It has received more than 10 million YouTube views.[http://www.youplusdallas.com/stories/validation-by-kurt-kuenne "Validation" by Kurt Kuenne], You+Dallas.
=''Dear Zachary''=
Kuenne's documentary Dear Zachary (2008), about the murder of his childhood friend Andrew Bagby,Tsai Martin, [http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-10-29/film/dear-zachary-a-letter-to-a-son-about-his-father-is-a-lifetime-in-the-making/ "Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is a Lifetime in the Making"], Village Voice, October 29, 2008 was received as a documentary that "will rip you apart inside and pour your guts out through your tear ducts".Campbell, Christopher, [http://www.movies.com/movie-news/doc-talk-crying-in-movies/7960?wssac=164&wssaffid=news "Doc Talk: Who Wants to Cry at the Movies?"], movies.com 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.[http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-835366 "New Film from Kurt Kuenne and TJ Thyne 'Shuffle'"], CNN, August 30, 2012.[http://santacruz.festivalgenius.com/2012/films/shuffle_kurtkuenne_santacruz2012 "Shuffle"], Santa Cruz Film Festival Festival Genius, 2012. It won the Jury Award for Best Feature at the 17th Stony Brook Film Festival.[http://stonybrookfilmfestival.com/fest12/fest-winners-12.html "17th Annual Stony Brook Film Festival Winners"], Stony Brook Film Festival.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{youtube|Cbk980jV7Ao|Validation}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuenne, Kurt}}
Category:American male composers
Category:USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni
Category:American documentary filmmakers
Category:Filmmakers from California
Category:People from Mountain View, California
Category:21st-century American composers
Category:Film directors from California
Category:21st-century American male musicians