Courtney Hunt (born 1964) is an American director and screenwriter.
Her debut feature film, Frozen River, won the Grand Jury Prize at the
2008 Sundance Film Festival.Hunt was raised in Memphis and Nashville,
Tennessee by a single mother. Hunt attended The Field School in
Washington, D.C. before following her mother's educational path and
attending law school at Northeastern University. She then graduated in
1994 from New York's Columbia University in film when she realized law
was not an interest for her. Even though law was not a field she would
be going into, it gave her a new perspective on the world. In an
interview with Film Catcher on YouTube, Hunt stated that law school
gave her the opportunity and experience of attending co-op jobs that
allowed her to work for a federal judge and a criminal defence firm.
Her husband would give her murder appeals from which she learned about
dialogue and point of view from the transcripts which built onto her
knowledge of film and how to write screenplays. Shortly after
graduating from her film class, Hunt began to write and develop the
story for her film Frozen River, by researching the Mohawk people.Hunt
directed and wrote the screenplay for Frozen River, a film starring
Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, and Charlie McDermott in 2008. Frozen River
was originally a short film and it first premiered in 2004 at the New
York Film Festival. She then turned Frozen River into a feature-length
film. It was nominated in 2009 at the 81st Academy Awards, and it was
also nominated for the 24th Independent Spirit Awards. It won the
Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.Hunt is a film
screenwriter and director, but she also wants to be seen as a director
for hire so that filmmakers could see her in control of both aspects.
Her debut feature film, Frozen River, won the Grand Jury Prize at the
2008 Sundance Film Festival.Hunt was raised in Memphis and Nashville,
Tennessee by a single mother. Hunt attended The Field School in
Washington, D.C. before following her mother's educational path and
attending law school at Northeastern University. She then graduated in
1994 from New York's Columbia University in film when she realized law
was not an interest for her. Even though law was not a field she would
be going into, it gave her a new perspective on the world. In an
interview with Film Catcher on YouTube, Hunt stated that law school
gave her the opportunity and experience of attending co-op jobs that
allowed her to work for a federal judge and a criminal defence firm.
Her husband would give her murder appeals from which she learned about
dialogue and point of view from the transcripts which built onto her
knowledge of film and how to write screenplays. Shortly after
graduating from her film class, Hunt began to write and develop the
story for her film Frozen River, by researching the Mohawk people.Hunt
directed and wrote the screenplay for Frozen River, a film starring
Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, and Charlie McDermott in 2008. Frozen River
was originally a short film and it first premiered in 2004 at the New
York Film Festival. She then turned Frozen River into a feature-length
film. It was nominated in 2009 at the 81st Academy Awards, and it was
also nominated for the 24th Independent Spirit Awards. It won the
Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.Hunt is a film
screenwriter and director, but she also wants to be seen as a director
for hire so that filmmakers could see her in control of both aspects.
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