Craig Hammill

Craig Herbert Hammill was born on July 29th, 1977 in Los Angeles, California. Born to a Catholic mother and a Jewish father, who later divorced and went on to marry different spouses, Hammill is one of seven siblings when all the families are combined. Hammill wrote articles on teen life for the Los Angeles Times while attending Laguna Beach High School and lived, for a time, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia when he was 15 and 16 on a scholarship. Hammill received his B.A. and M.F.A. at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. He spent a half-year at the Czech Republic's famed film school, FAMU, studying with Jiri Menzel, director of the Academy-Award winning 1966 Czech film, Closely Watched Trains. While at USC, Hammill was also mentored by Mean Streets and Raging Bull screenwriter, Mardik Martin, who helped Hammill with his screenwriting. Hammill's short film as writer/director, The Cleats of Imminent Doom, about soccer parents and soccer kids, played in festivals internationally before being bought and distributed on television by IFC in 2006. Hammill has gone on to direct commercials for the San Diego Chargers' charities, documentaries, including one in El Salvador, educational webisode series, and worked as a camera operator for Academy-award winning cinematographer, Haskell Wexler, shortly before Wexler's passing.