Blog
Three Films I Keep Returning To
There are a handful of films I've watched, conservatively, more than thirty times each. I don't say this as a flex. I mean that for whatever reason, three films in particular have…
Journal · Essays & Writings
Journal
Essays, observations, and writings on filmmaking, storytelling, and the work.
92 posts
2026
Blog
The PR Degree Was the Best Film School Decision I Ever Made
I was 19 years old, sitting in my department chair's office at Georgia Southern University, crying. I was in the wrong major. There was no film degree to transfer into, because Georgia…
Blog
A Letter From Someone Not at Cannes This Year
Cannes opens Tuesday. By the time most of you read this, the Marché du Film will be open for accreditation, the Croisette will be filling up, the Carlton will already be booked…
Blog
What I've Started Asking Before I Sign Anything
Early in my career, I attached to a project I should have walked away from. Everything looked right on the surface. The producer and financier I respected and had a track record.…
Blog
What I Learned Joining a Film Halfway Through
I want to talk about Infection. It is a short film I am directing this year for Kids in the Spotlight. The shorthand I have been using is Severance meets American Psycho.…
Blog
A Lecture I Prepared, And the Conversation I Should Have Had Instead
The first time a film festival asked me to speak, I made a mistake that took me a year to undo. The festival had asked for a craft talk on documentary direction.…
Blog
How I Rebuilt My Own Website, and What Filmmakers Are Getting Wrong About Discovery
Sometime late last year, I pulled up my own website on my phone and felt something I have not felt looking at my own work in a long time. Embarrassment. It loaded…
Blog
What I Wish Agencies Knew Before They Brief a Director Like Me
The best commercial brief I ever got was one page long, written in plain language, and ended with the sentence "the brand is nervous, the agency is excited, and the budget is…
Blog
What I've Learned About Documentaries That End Up On Streaming Platforms
The Sound of Identity aired nationally on STARZ. The American Question debuted at number one on Apple TV's documentary chart in 2024. A limited documentary series I'm executive producing for Lionsgate Television…
Blog
A New Site, and the People Who Built the One Who Built It
For the past several weeks, I've been quietly rebuilding jameskicklighter.com from the ground up. New theme, new architecture, faster load times, a proper Press archive, real project pages, an On-Location photos archive…
2024
Films
GRAVITAS VENTURES WILL RELEASE “THE AMERICAN QUESTION”
Gravitas Ventures, an Anthem Sports & Entertainment Company will release The American Question on Tuesday, October 29th on all streaming on demand platforms (including Apple TV, Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube TV and all…
2021
Blog
After 84 years, Good Night, Bobby Zarem.
Bobby Zarem knew two people in this world: a great friend and a fucking piece of shit meshuggeneh cunt, may G-d strike him/her dead. You were one or the other, there was…
Blog
Award-Winning Filmmaker James Kicklighter Directs Documentary “The Sound of Identity"
Award-Winning Filmmaker James Kicklighter Directs Documentary “The Sound of Identity,” Coming to Digital and On Demand in North America on June 1.
2020
Blog
In Theaters 2021: Exciting News for The Sound of Identity
In the midst of our COVID-19 pandemic, we have been lucky to bring The Sound of Identity to select audiences across the United States. But in 2021, I’m thrilled to bring it…
Blog
Desires of the Heart (2013) film on Amazon Prime
I was notified by a Google Alert that Desires of the Heart is now streaming on Amazon Prime. In 2012, I was given the opportunity to direct this film, and I have…
Blog
2 Special Screenings: The Sound of Identity at OUTShine & Macon Film Festival
We’ve found terrific landing spots for The Sound of Identity at the 2020 OUTShine Film Festival and Macon Film Festival.
Blog
Coronavirus Film Production: Returning to Filmmaking
I was honored to speak with Fontys University students Tringa Hasaj and Tijmen Schauwaert about the influence of coronavirus on the film industry.
Blog
1st Worst First Date and Quarantine Misadventures
I had a great time doing a fun interview for a change with my friend, comedian Adam Carr, with AfterBuzz TV’s Horrible Hollywood Single.
Blog
COVID-19: Making No Movies in the Unforgettable Age
It is amazing how trite and trivial these things that are important become in a time of crisis. At risk people are dying, healthy people are carrying the illness to them, and…
Blog
Hiring Scam
It has come to my attention this morning that messages are being sent from “James Kicklighter,” stating that I am hiring a production assistant. This is a hiring scam.
Blog
The Second Stage In A Filmmakers Career
Film Courage: One of the things we always talk about with film or acting or whatever is when it rains, it pours. And when it dries up, it really dries up. It…
2019
Blog
2 films, doubt, time and perspective in the holidays
This year, we did 2 films, The Sound of Identity and just finished another round of shooting on The American Question, both of which will be released in 2020.
Blog
Biggest Mistakes A Director Can Make On The First Day Of Production by James Kicklighter
What are the biggest mistakes film directors make on day one, and for you, that you’ve made on the first day of shooting?
Blog
Negative Feedback, Positive Notes and Editing Your Film
One of the toughest lessons to learn in making a film, perhaps life in general, is processing notes and feedback.
Blog
Lucia Lucas Documentary: The Sound of Identity, 2019 performance as Don Giovanni
Here is your first look at my Lucia Lucas documentary, The Sound of Identity, profiling her historic performance as Don Giovanni at the 2019 Tulsa Opera.
Blog
How Filmmakers Screw Themselves Over by James Kicklighter
How do you avoid being a screwball filmmaker? Do you think it’s easier to work on your own or to have collaborators?
Blog
5 Rules A Filmmaker Should Consider Before Making A Movie (2019)
The 5 rules that I think have changed and evolved for me in some way have a lot to do with preparation process more than being on set.
Blog
Advice To Anyone Having Money Trouble Making Their First Movie
if you want your first film to be made, unless you are independently wealthy, being a child of teachers, I had to figure out the money to do it.
2017
Blog
Axel Rockham: Angel of Anywhere – The Genisys & 5 day pitch
Director James Kicklighter and I meet for coffee and I briefly tell him, I’m Axel Rockham, my journey as an actor, the challenges I’ve had, and what I’d like to do next.…
2016
Blog
The staggering beauty of failure in 2016
There is something beautiful in failure, passion that has been reignited amongst the complacent, who forget our history and its repetitions.
Blog
24 hours. Vote #StrongerTogether 2016
Don’t let anyone tell you that America isn’t great; vote for the best of what we represent, not the vast darkness.
Blog
1 day with Miley Cyrus: “I’m about to be blessed by a fucking queen!”
Upon word of Miley Cyrus’s arrival, throngs of college students gathered outside the dorm, along with paparazzi, screaming & acting like generally crazy people.
Blog
Interviewing Madeleine Albright will go down as a highlight in my life.
Around her 4th call, I extended my hand and said, “I’m James, the weird guy in the corner randomly filming you.” Madeleine Albright laughed and proceeded calling.
Blog
Bellamy Young and the patience of a saint in the dense Puerto soaked daze.
On Saturday, we planned to film a nice, in-depth interview with Bellamy Young at the Arlington Field Office at 10 AM. That time was wrong.
Blog
Michelle Kwan and the 1st filming experience with Hillary for America.
In front of a New York Magazine reporter, who was following her for a profile, Michelle Kwan said my interview was like 20/20.
Blog
Travel exhaustion hit on the 2016 campaign trail, but then I met some Veterans for Hillary.
The most striking story was from a Ugandan refugee, Sgt. Jimmy Ochan, who fled to the U.S. and enrolled as a Marine.
Blog
Film #101: Who said you aren’t allowed to direct? Break the haters.
In today’s digital world, when you can create a film on your iPhone, anybody can take a risk and be a film director. However, not everyone can tell a story; that’s what…
Blog
Off to work for Hillary Clinton in 2016, America feels strikingly large as you cross it.
It’s ironic that most big decisions in America are made on the coasts where I work. In this vast between, perhaps if more of us left our urban bubbles, we’d see.
Blog
3 tips: My Public Relations Degree and My Film Career
As my former professors and department chair would tell you, I never intended to practice public relations in my life; just use it in film.
Blog
Fail Hard, Try 1 More: How I Became a Professional Director
I have plenty times left to fail and learn, and believe me, I certainly don’t have all the answers.
2015
Blog
Advice to Film School Grads on Success Making a Living
In this interview with Film Courage, I discuss how to make a living as a filmmaker as a film school grad. Film School doesn’t usually teach you that lesson.
Blog
Are you failing, spending $50K on your first short film?
Spending too much money on your first short is a big mistake. I know filmmakers who spent $50K on their first short film and it ruined them.
Blog
How to Know if Someone Isn’t Cut Out to be a Filmmaker
Featured on No Film School, director James Kicklighter discusses what he feels it takes to be a filmmaker – professionally.
Blog
Caleb Mock: I turned 25 and I was dying of Cancer.
In dying, I realized that life is shorter than I ever thought. Worse still, I had spent all of my time thinking about doing great things.
Blog
Dale and Mose Mock: Our son, Caleb, 25 year old with Burkitt’s Lymphoma
Our son Caleb’s continued stomach pains led him to having a CAT scan a month later. Much to our dismay, the diagnosis was stage four lymphoma, and it took several days to…
Blog
Jada Mock: A Newlywed’s Journey through Burkitt’s Lymphoma
As soon as I heard the words, “Cancer” and “Burkitt’s Lymphoma,” my whole world crumbled inside. It was as if I was in a horrible dream and could not wake up!
Blog
Elizabeth Kaiser: The Universal Human Connection of Cancer Treatment
Medicine and treatment has luckily come a long way in thirty year. In 1988, when my younger sister had a birth defect in her stomach that nearly killed her.
Blog
Kyle Maddux-Lawrence: Your Cancer Support System
My father died of cancer when I was four years old, my grandfather died of cancer when I was in high school, and my grandmother is a breast cancer survivor.
Blog
Meeting Caleb Mock Again, dying with Burkitt’s Lymphoma
As time marched on, as many relationships do, slowly, the interconnectedness became broken into isolated strands, and my fraternity brother was dying of Burkitt’s Lymphoma.
2014
Blog
Filming for 1 month in the isolated heat of Rajasthan, India (Video Blog)
While filming in the heat of Rajasthan, India for 1 month, I was able to focus on the creative; while my local co-director was able to focus on executing logistics & cultural…
2012
Blog
Gifted Actor Edith Ivey is the #1 reason I’m directing films in the first place (Day 10): Video blog
From my first film (The Car Wash) to my first feature film, Desires of the Heart, actor Edith Ivey (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) has been with me.
Blog
Farewell to Alicia Minshew (Day 9): Video Blog
In this video blog, we say farewell to actor Alicia Minshew on her last day of filming in Savannah.
Blog
The love of photography with Maryann Bates (Day 7): Video blog
While filming Desires of the Heart in Bonaventure Cemetery, I sat down with my longtime collaborator, set photographer Maryann Bates, to discuss her love of photography.
Blog
Making it rain and thunder loudly (Day 4): Video blog
Shooting an overnight sequence, we brought in some bigger pieces of equipment to make it rain and thunder for a fantasy sequence that will be seen in the film. My apologies to…
Blog
We made Savannah film history! First inside the Airport terminal (Day 3): Video blog
Desires of the Heart made film history today in Savannah, Georgia; the first film ever to shoot inside the terminal at the Savannah International Airport.
Blog
Beautiful Savannah Locations (Day 1): Video Blog
In this video blog, created entirely on an Apple iPad, Desires of the Heart director James Kicklighter shows some moments from location scouting in Savannah, Georgia.
Blog
Excited Girl Scouts on Tybee Island (Day 2): Video Blog
A group of eager Girl Scouts and their mothers, Troop 3520, from North Carolina were on location today. We did pictures and autographs after shooting.
Blog
Remembering 89 years of my Wonderful, Beloved Nana Dot
From a very young age, Nana Dot instilled the value of community through the Brooklet Peanut Festival in Bulloch County, Georgia and old cemeteries – often in the context of its historical…
2011
Blog
Reflecting on a personal idol, Steve Jobs (2011)
If I had not spent all those early years learning how to run a fake business on Steve Jobs Apple II, I seriously doubt that I would be experiencing my nominal success today.
Blog
Movie Director James Kicklighter discusses Followed (2011) with ABC-22 Savannah WJCL’s Jenifer Andrews
Followed is a movie directed by 22 year old James Kicklighter of Savannah, opening at the NFFTY, National Film Festival for Talented Youth.
Blog
The delicate art of persistence: Fake it until you make it.
Since 2005, I learned quickly that filmmaking and persistence is not only about producing one project, but being prepared to produce many.
2010
Blog
Time Learned At Georgia Southern: Senior Year
At Georgia Southern, someone else will live where we lived, as others before. But for an all too brief moment in time, these walls were ours, moments we shared.
Blog
Tough Creating at Georgia Southern: Year 3, Junior Year
The activities that exclusively involved my friends would be adjusted to creating my career, slowly breaking away from my social life and leadership in Delta Tau Delta.
Blog
Roommate Challenges Learned At GSU: Sophomore Year
Somewhere around February of Sophomore year, we realized the end of the academic year would mark the halfway point in our college career. It didn’t seem right or fair to make so…
Blog
Georgia Southern: My 2006 Freshman Year
Collecting my things into the orange bins, I realized things were going to be different than in my hometown of Bellville, Georgia, population 123.
Blog
Remembering an Evening with Dixie Carter
Since Dixie Carter didn’t want us to go hungry, she sent us with Pimento Cheese and Pineapple sandwiches and two gallons of Sweet Tea to get us going through the ride.
Blog
The Car Wash, My First Film
In November and December, I directed a short film called The Car Wash with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’s Edith Ivey.
2009
Blog
A new decade: The good bad and ugly from 1999 to 2009
It was the turn of the century, turn of the millennium, and perhaps, one of the scariest points in my life up to that point. Y2K was coming! And now, a new…
Blog
Everything Breaks
As I began to clean, there were programs, newspapers, pictures, and magazines from years gone past, and I wondered if it meant anything, or if they were just things that had begun…
Blog
The Long, Winding Road
Some of my best friends are graduating in a week, leaving the 30460 forever. This is the great tragedy of life, I suppose. We have a short time to really become a…
Blog
2009 NAB Show: impressions for a turbulent future
At the 2009 NAB Show, one message is clear; if you’re not ready to take your productions to mobile platforms, very shortly, your content will become obsolete.
Blog
“Theater of the Mind” (2009): Exclusive Interview with James Kicklighter
The project was sponsored by Georgia Southern University and kicks off a decade-long celebration of radio for the Broadcast Education Association.
Blog
To the Fabulous Cast and Crew of Di Passaggio
Di Passaggio would have not happened if it wasn’t for the tireless dedication of this team, and for that, I am deeply grateful.
2008
Blog
Truth and Lies: I haven’t been honest for a long time
Originally written as a Facebook note to all of my friends and family, revealing lies told through 2008, this has been edited slightly for content in 2019, but the truth found within…
Blog
The Long, Sad Return Home from Italy Experiences
It is not enough to visit a place and stay there, even if it seems that it could be done forever. You have to take the experience with you to make the…
Blog
The Beginning of the End of 5 powerful weeks of Study Abroad in Italy
It has been a wonderful study abroad trip to Italy, and I’m encouraged about the direction my film Di Passaggio has been taking.
Blog
Traveling and learning lessons in Assisi, Pisa, and Venice
Pisa is fun, but when you see the leaning tower, it’s easy to ask yourself — that’s it? When we see pictures, they’re normally photoshopped.
Blog
Hope, Doubt, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the 2008 Election
Though I support Hillary Clinton, I plan to do everything I can to get involved and ensure that Sen. Barack Obama will be our next President.
Blog
The Amazing Amalfi Coast and Pompeii
I have been instructed to quit using “amazing,” “awesome,” and “incredible” in my blogs describing study abroad. Currently, I’m in the Amalfi Coast.
Blog
The Weekend Deux and “people-who-don’t-deserve-to-be-here”
When I say there are “people-who-don’t-deserve-to-be-here” in Italy, I’m referring to the people who don’t appreciate the landmarks and experiences that they can be exploring.
Blog
Catch Phrase, Game Strategy and Florence Deux in Italy
If I’m not qualified to do a job, I don’t mind someone else getting it. But if someone purposefully cuts you, as a game strategy, this is cheating.
Blog
Wine Tasting Lessons and Drunks in Florence
We were treated to a special wine tasting at one of the local wineries on Wednesday. This ended up being less of a tasting and more of a drunk-ing for most people.
Blog
My 2008, Montepulciano, Italy, Study Abroad Apartment
I have to run, but here are 4 quick pictures of the view from my Montepulciano, Italy apartment while I am here on Study Abroad.
Blog
3 things: The Vatican, Heart Attack and Experience
I received some sad newsl; a lady at my church died, someone who had been very kind to me all my life. I wonder if she got to experience anything like this.
Blog
8,068 miles: I Made It to Italy from Statesboro, Georgia for Study Abroad
All 8,068 miles were very long. I was awake a grand total of 34 hours by the time I got to sleep at my Apartment here in Montepulciano.
Blog
Passing Through…Di Passaggio
“Di Passaggio,” which is the name of this personal/production blog for my film and trip to Italy over the course of May 16 – June 23rd, 2008.
2007
Blog
13 years since Dub Taylor’s death
Today marks the 13th anniversary of Dub Taylor’s death, which really, marks a celebration of his life.
Blog
Finding Distribution and That Guy: the Legacy of Dub Taylor, June 2007
We don’t have distribution yet, because frankly, we’re not at the point where we’re ready to present the project yet. The Taylor Family has seen the rough cut and we’re encouraged by…
Blog
John Mellencamp! Project Update on That Guy: Summer 2007
We’re interviewing John Mellencamp, who worked with Dub Taylor on the film Falling from Grace
Blog
Kasey Ray-Stokes: The journey of making That Guy
People remember not who Dub Taylor was or what he looked like, but that he contributed to some of the best memories of people’s lives.
Blog
Filming Dub Taylor documentary in Oklahoma City
We had an hour of sleep on Thursday Night en route to Oklahoma City, and left for Jacksonville at 4:00 am.
Blog
Welcome to That Guy: the Legacy of Dub Taylor!
You might be wondering who the heck Dub Taylor is and why the heck anyone might want to make a feature documentary about him.
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