Jamie Blanks (born 29 November 1971) is an Australian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

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. He directed the cult

slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...

s ''

Urban Legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

'' (1998) and '' Valentine'' (2001). He later directed the

horror films Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

Storm Warning At sea, a storm warning is a warning issued by the National Weather Service of the United States when winds between are occurring or predicted to occur soon. The winds must not be associated with a tropical cyclone. If the winds are associate ...

'' (2007) and ''

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'' (2008).

Biography

He attended film school at

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

's Swinburne Film School (becoming the

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM). It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus ...

during his three years of study). The path to landing the directing gig on ''

'' began with Blanks receiving the screenplay for '' Scream'' – called ‘Scary Movie’ at the time – from a manager who had seen his student film. “I didn’t get the job, obviously, because I was well outgunned by

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Amongst his Wes Craven filmography, prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the Horror film, horror genre, particularly sla ...

– deservedly so because he is the master,” says Blanks. “Then I got the

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

for '' I Know What You Did Last Summer'', also by Kevin Williamson, and I thought the only way I could convince producers in Hollywood that I’m capable of making a film is to take the screenplay and try to direct a couple of scenes. Then I had a better idea, which was to make a trailer – shoot all the money shots, all the things that would sell this movie. And that’s what I did with $3,000 and a whole bunch of friends. “We shot it on 35mm and it turned out really well. I sent it over to the producer, who was ready to hire me on the film, but the ink had already dried on the director’s contract – they hired Jim Gillespie to direct that movie. But they said ‘don’t worry, we’ll find a film for you to direct’ and true to their word, nine months later I was offered ''Urban Legend'' based on the strength of that one trailer and student film.” Blanks credits Phoenix Pictures, producer Neal Moritz and his team for taking a chance and providing him with the opportunity, despite his limited experience. “I think they responded to the fact that I loved the genre. Blanks gave commentaries on the ''Urban Legend'' and '' Valentine'' (2001) DVDs. His third feature ''

'' won awards for Special Effects and Score at Screamfest 2007. Blanks shot, edited and composed the score for his fourth feature, ''

'' (released on video in the United States as ''Nature's Grave''), starring

Jim Caviezel James Patrick Caviezel Jr. ( ; born September 26, 1968) is an American actor. He played Jesus in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004), Tim Ballard in Sound of Freedom (film), ''Sound of Freedom'' (2023), and starred as John Reese (Person of Inte ...

and Claudia Karvan, which was released in 2008.

Selected filmography

''Silent Number''

''Silent Number'' was Jamie Blanks' first film. The film revolves around a babysitter as she spends the night at a creepy house during an electrical storm. During the night, she receives a number of telephone calls from an unidentified caller. The voice sounds scared and pleads the babysitter for help. We eventually discover the calls are not coming from any normal source. ''Silent Number'' is available to view on YouTube and can be viewed on-site at the VCA library in Melbourne, Australia. It may also be available for viewing at some other libraries.

Director

*''Silent Number'' (1993) *''

'' (1998) *'' Valentine'' (2001) *''

'' (2007) *''

'' (2008)

Composer

*''The Abbarant'' (1991) *''

'' (2007) *''

'' (2008) *'' Machete Maidens Unleashed!'' (2010) *'' Needle'' (2010) *'' Crawlspace'' (2012)

References

External links

*
James Blanks
on

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''Silent Number''
(short film) on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanks, Jamie Living people Australian film directors Place of birth missing (living people) Australian horror film directors 1971 births