Jimmy Willden

Jimmy Willden is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. He is also an American musician and composer. Beginning his career in music in 1998, Willden has since forayed into the world of film with his debut short film, "Haunting Kate" in 2004 -- at the present, he has written, directed and produced over fifteen short films, and has had two of his feature-length scripts optioned and/or in development. At many of the film festivals his works have been screened, Willden's films have otherwise been awarded or nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay; the casts awarded Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Ensemble. Willden credits growing up watching Star Wars and Steven Spielberg films for giving him the dream of becoming a filmmaker. But it was 1999's "American Beauty" (written by Alan Ball) and 2000's "Almost Famous" (written by Cameron Crowe) that inspired him to write his first screenplay. In 2004, after being accepted into the Brooks Institute of Photography film school, and immediately realizing he could not afford to go, Willden instead stepped out, and together with the help of early collaborators Christopher James Thompson and James Arlen, directed his first short film -- "Haunting Kate". Since, Willden has continued his "real life" film school, exploring many different genres, topics and filmmaking styles over the years, to eventually settle into his own.