Hal Barwood

Writer, director and producer Hal Barwood was born and raised in Hanover, New Hampshire. His father ran a local movie theater. Barwood graduated with honors with a BA in arts from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Hal then attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television, where he first met both George Lucas and future frequent collaborator Matthew Robbins. Barwood and Robbins wrote the screenplays for Steven Spielberg's debut theatrical feature "The Sugarland Express," the amiable sports comedy "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings," the magical science fiction classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (Hal also has a small role in this film), and the bio epic "MacArthur." Moreover, Barwood both co-wrote and produced two films that Robbins directed: the charming teen coming-of-age winner "Corvette Summer" and the first-rate fantasy cult favorite "Dragonslayer." Barwood made his sole foray as a director of a theatrical feature with the excellent and underrated medical horror chiller "Warning Sign." From 1990 to 2003 Hal worked as director, producer and scriptwriter for the video game company LucasArts; he's perhaps best known for his work on the 1992 game "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis." He was named one of the top 25 game designers in America in the August, 1999 issue of the magazine "PC Gamer." The video games Barwood has designed include "Star Wars: Yoda Stories," "RTX Red Rock," "Zengemsi," and "Mata Hari." Hal Barwood resides in Portland, Oregon and works as a freelance independent contractor for his company Finite Arts.