Todd Hughes (born August 13, 1963 in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

) is an American screenwriter, author, producer and film director. He is a

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

graduate and currently resides in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

and

Mérida, Yucatán Mérida (, ) is the capital of the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southeastern Mexico. The city is also the seat of the Mérida Municipality, eponymous municipality. It is located slightly inland fro ...

Career

His short film directing credits include '' Kaka Ferskur'' (1988) and ''Ding Dong'' (1995). He directed the

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

''The New Women'' (2001) starring

Mary Woronov Mary Woronov (born December 8, 1943) is an American actress, writer, and Figurative art, figurative painter. She is primarily known as a cult film star because of her work with Andy Warhol and her roles in Roger Corman's cult films. Woronov has ...

and wrote for the 2007

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

television series ''

Wicked Wicked Games ''Wicked Wicked Games'' is a telenovela that debuted on December 6, 2006 on the American television network MyNetworkTV. Twentieth Television produced 62 episodes to air weekdays. The limited-run serial was directed by Terry Cunningham, Dennis ...

'' starring

Tatum O'Neal Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (born November 5, 1963) is an American actress. At the age of 10, she became the youngest person ever to win a competitive Academy Award, for her performance as Addie Loggins in '' Paper Moon'' co-starring her father, Ry ...

. He produced his first documentary ''

Hit So Hard ''Hit So Hard'' is a 2011 American documentary film directed by P. David Ebersole. The film details the life and near death story of Patty Schemel, drummer of the seminal '90s alternative rock band Hole, and charts her early life, music career, a ...

'' with Christina Soletti about drummer

Patty Schemel Patricia Theresa Schemel (born April 24, 1967) is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998. Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, ...

of the seminal

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

band

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

, which premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

2011 and was released theatrically in 2012. In 2001, he was named one of Filmmaker Magazine's New Faces of Indie Film and he is half of a long-standing creative partnership with filmmaker P. David Ebersole, his husband. Together, Ebersole and Hughes executive produced ''

Room 237 ''Room 237'' is a 2012 American documentary film directed by Rodney Ascher about interpretations of Stanley Kubrick's film '' The Shining'' (1980) which was adapted from the 1977 novel of the same name by Stephen King. The documentary includes ...

''. a subjective documentary that explores the numerous theories about the hidden meanings within

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's film '' The Shining''. In 2013, Todd produced the Lifetime documentary ''

Dear Mom, Love Cher ''Dear Mom, Love Cher'' is a 2013 American television documentary about Georgia Holt, mother of singer and actress Cher. The film, directed by P. David Ebersole, recounts Cher's family history and features in-depth interviews with her, Holt, Holt ...

'', a insightful look at singer/actress

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

's mother

Georgia Holt Georgia Holt (born Jackie Jean Crouch; June 9, 1926 – December 10, 2022) was an American singer-songwriter, model, and occasional bit part actress. She was best known for being the mother of Cher. Early life Holt was born Jackie Jean Crouch on ...

and their family history, as well as Executive Producer along with Ebersole (also writer and director), Cher, Risa Shapiro and Tanya Lopez. His documentary directorial debut, ''

Mansfield 66/67 ''Mansfield 66/67'' is a 2017 documentary musical directed by P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes about the last two years of actress Jayne Mansfield's life. The film examines the rumors surrounding Mansfield's untimely death, and relationship wi ...

'', premiered at the 2017

International Film Festival Rotterdam International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

where Paris-based International sales outfit Stray Dogs picked up worldwide rights. The film, directed by Hughes with Ebersole, and produced by Ebersole, Hughes and Larra Anderson, follows the last two years of movie goddess

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, ''Playboy'' Playmate, and sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. He ...

’s life and the rumours swirling around her untimely death being caused by a curse after her alleged romantic dalliance with Anton LaVey, head of the

Church of Satan The Church of Satan (CoS) is a religious organization dedicated to the religion of LaVeyan Satanism, Satanism as defined by Anton Szandor LaVey. Founded in San Francisco in 1966, by Anton LaVey, LaVey, it is considered the "oldest satanic reli ...

. ''Mansfield 66/67'' is "a true story based on rumour and hearsay," celebrating Jayne's life on the 50th anniversary of her death. The award-winning feature documentary ''

House of Cardin House of Cardin is a 2019 Franco/American documentary film directed by P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes. The film details the life and career of Pierre Cardin, the Italian-born French designer and futurist whose influence shaped the global econom ...

,'' about the iconic designer Pierre Cardin, directed by Ebersole and Hughes, premiered to a standing ovation at the 2019

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

in the prestigious

Giornate degli Autori The Giornate degli Autori (; 'Authors' Days') or simply the Giornate, formerly also known in English as Venice Days, is an independent section of Venice Film Festival. Anac and 100autori are engaged to support and promote the Giornate. It was fou ...

section, and it is in distribution worldwide, with Utopia taking North American rights. In 2021, '' My Name Is Lopez,'' a concert/documentary feature film about the life and legend of Trini Lopez, one of the first Latino rock and rollers in the U.S., won Best Documentary Feature Film when it premiered at AmDocs in Palm Springs CA and it was picked up for distribution by

Cinedigm Cineverse Corp. (originally Access IT Digital Media, Inc., and later, Cinedigm) is an American entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Cineverse’s businesses encompass digital cinema, streaming channels, content marketi ...

. In September 2022, Pelekinesis Press published Hughes' first book, called "Lunch With Lizabeth" in which his "heartfelt bond with noir actress Lizabeth Scott colors this compelling memoir."

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Todd 1963 births Living people American male screenwriters Film producers from Utah Film directors from Utah American LGBTQ film directors LGBTQ people from Utah