Filmmaker George Hickenlooper Dies at 47 in Denver

Filmmaker George Hickenlooper was found dead in Denver on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2010. Hickenlooper was acclaimed as a director of such films as "Heart of Darkness" and the recent film premiering at the Denver Film Festival, "Casino Jack". Hickenlooper was the cousin of Denver Mayor and gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper.

The Denver Mayor's office issued a release stating that George, at 47, "appears to have died from natural causes," according to the Denver Post. The director was in Denver for the Starz Denver Film Festival and to help support his cousin's campaign for Governor.

Hickenlooper's recent film, starring Kevin Spacey, is a featured Red Carpet event at the new Denver Film Center on Colfax for the Starz Denver Film Festival. Festival director Britta Erickson said the 2010 Starz Film Festival "will be dedicated in its entirety to our friend George Hickenlooper."

The filmmaker garnered wide acclaim for his documentary "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" about Francis Ford Coppola's tumultuous production of "Apocalypse Now." When Hickenlooper screened the documentary at the Denver Film Festival in 1991, it was the first time he meet his cousin John.

At the time, John Hickenlooper still owned the Wynkoop Brewery before embarking on his political career. John wrote about the experience of realizing he and George were cousins in the book Take 30: The First Three Decades of the Denver International Film Festival. In 2008, George joined his cousin on the campaign trail, filming the documentary "Hick Town."

Hickenlooper has directed feature films such as "Dogtown," "The Man from Elysian Fields" and "Factory Girl." In 1994, George directed the short film "Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade" before star Billy Bob Thornton went on to make the feature "Sling Blade," based on the short. With his latest feature film, "Casino Jack," Hickenlooper authored a book by the same name and also authored the book Reel Conversations: Candid Interviews with Film's Foremost Directors and Critics.

The LA Times called Hickenlooper "an independent filmmaker par excellence." One could even say that Hickenlooper learned to be an independent from the best in the business. After producing "Hearts of Darkness," Hickenlooper interned with acclaimed indie filmmaker and King of the B-Movies Roger Corman. Hickenlooper was identified within a luminary group called the "Corman Film School," a group of young directors who worked with Corman early on in their careers. The Corman Film School also includes Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, John Sayles, James Cameron and Peter Bogdanovich.

Hickenlooper considered filmmaker and film historian Peter Bogdanovich a mentor as well, directing a film about him in 1991, "Picture This: The Times of Peter Bogdanovich...." Hickenlooper also appeared in a documentary about Corman with Bogdanovich, "King of the Bs: The Independent Life of Roger Corman."

The director often dealt with characters or documentary subjects under tremendous pressure or within a personal struggle. George once said in an LA Times interview:

"I'm fascinated by failure, and I'm fascinated by finality. Shakespeare's historical plays are more universal than his comedies because they relate to the finality of life. Without finality, life would not be beautiful."