Catherine Hardwicke
Encyclopedia
Catherine Hardwicke is an American production designer
, film writer and film director. Her works include the independent film
Thirteen
, which she co-wrote with Nikki Reed
, the film's co-star, the Biblically-themed The Nativity Story
, the vampire film Twilight
, and the werewolf film Red Riding Hood. The opening weekend of Twilight was the biggest opening ever for a female director.
Despite a popular misconception, Catherine is not related to actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
, Texas, the daughter of Jamee Elberta (née Bennett) and John Benjamin Hardwicke. She grew up in McAllen
, Texas, on the U.S.–Mexico border, where her family lived on a giant farm off the Rio Grande
. "It was a wild life," she would recount. She graduated from McAllen High School
, Texas, and was raised in the Presbyterian denomination. While at UCLA film school
during the 1980s, Hardwicke made an award-winning short, Puppy Does the Gumbo. She has a brother named Jack, and a sister named Irene Hardwicke Olivieri, who is an artist.
She graduated from college with an architecture degree
, and after her father bought a 20-acre real-estate complex, she designed the property’s 120 townhouses. Hardwicke began her career as an architect, but the work she was offered began to feel too cookie-cutter, so she fled to Hollywood, where she landed her first motion picture job as a production designer
on the skateboard cult favorite Thrashin', directed by David Winters
and starring Josh Brolin
.
(1995), 2 Days in the Valley
(1996), The Newton Boys
(1998), and Three Kings (1999). The following year, she collaborated with director/screenwriter Cameron Crowe
and actor/producer Tom Cruise
on Vanilla Sky
(2001). The latter two films are notable for their original use of color-manipulation techniques to complement the narrative. Hardwicke, who always wanted to make her own movies, stumbled onto that chance while trying to help troubled teen, Nikki Reed
, a friend's daughter, who had fallen in with a bad crowd at school.
Hardwicke's first foray into film direction was with the award-winning Thirteen
. Hardwicke and fourteen-year-old Nikki Reed
collaborated in writing a movie that would reflect Reed's teenage experiences. They completed the script in six days, during Christmas break. Evan Rachel Wood
was contracted to star in the movie alongside Reed. Thirteen earned Hardwicke the directing award at Sundance
in 2003, establishing her as Hollywood’s hot new filmmaker at 47. She went on to direct Lords of Dogtown
(2005), a fictionalized account of skateboarding culture. The film is loosely based on the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys
by Stacy Peralta
, whom Hardwicke first met and worked with on the film Thrashin'. In 2006, Hardwicke directed the biblical film The Nativity Story
for New Line Cinema
. The movie closed out with almost US$38 million domestically and added to that almost US$9 million in foreign gross, bringing it to a worldwide total of almost US$47 million on a reported US $35 million budget.
She became the most commercially successful female director in Hollywood, when in 2008 she directed the film adaptation
of Stephenie Meyer
's best-selling novel, Twilight
. The film is the first in a series produced by Summit Entertainment
based on Meyer's four-book series. Like the late John Hughes, who discovered the teenage actors that became the Brat Pack, Hardwicke has created many of this generation's tween idols: Evan Rachel Wood
(Thirteen
), Emile Hirsch
(Lords of Dogtown
), Kristen Stewart
, Robert Pattinson
, and Taylor Lautner (Twilight
) all got their big breaks in her films. But unlike Hughes's comedic and melodramatic films, her movies are darker in story and tone. In 2009, she was awarded the Women in Film Dorothy Arzner Directors Award.
Amid rumors of a rocky relationship with Hardwicke, Summit Entertainment
announced that she would not direct the sequel, New Moon. Despite Twilights $400 million global success, Hardwicke left the franchise when it came to the sequel. She said it was her decision, despite a blog report that she was fired. "I couldn't even be fired, that's what's so funny," she says. "In my contract, I had the first right of refusal." She turned down the second film, she says, because the studio wanted to rush it out. "I do not regret it at all, thank the Lord," she says. "The truth is I liked the first book the best."
In 2011, Hardwicke directed Red Riding Hood.
Subsequent reports of an agreement to direct the adaptation of Gayle Forman's If I Stay, which Summit optioned prior to its publication, suggest that the relationship may not have deteriorated as much as reports indicated. Hardwicke will also be directing Maximum Ride, a film adaptation based on the book series
by James Patterson
, and is teaming up with actor Emile Hirsch
to create a modern-day, supernatural version of Hamlet
.
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
, film writer and film director. Her works include the independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
Thirteen
Thirteen (film)
Thirteen is a 2003 American drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and written by Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, the film's co-star. The film also stars Evan Rachel Wood and Holly Hunter. It is a semi-autobiographical film inspired by Reed's life at age 12 and 13 with Wood's character "Tracy" being...
, which she co-wrote with Nikki Reed
Nikki Reed
Nicole Houston "Nikki" Reed is an American film and television actress, and screenwriter. She became known in 2003, after the release of the film Thirteen, for which she co-wrote the screenplay. Reed has since appeared in several films, including Lords of Dogtown and Mini's First Time...
, the film's co-star, the Biblically-themed The Nativity Story
The Nativity Story
The Nativity Story is a 2006 drama film based on the nativity of Jesus starring Keisha Castle-Hughes and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Filming began on May 1, 2006 in Matera, Italy and in Morocco. New Line Cinema released it on December 1, 2006 in the United States and one week later on December 8 in the...
, the vampire film Twilight
Twilight (2008 film)
Twilight is a 2008 American romantic vampire film based on Stephenie Meyer's popular novel of the same name. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the film stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. It is the first film in The Twilight Saga film series...
, and the werewolf film Red Riding Hood. The opening weekend of Twilight was the biggest opening ever for a female director.
Despite a popular misconception, Catherine is not related to actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
Early life
Hardwicke was born in CameronCameron, Texas
Cameron is a city in Milam County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,634 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Milam County.-Geography:Cameron is located at . It is situated at the junction of U.S...
, Texas, the daughter of Jamee Elberta (née Bennett) and John Benjamin Hardwicke. She grew up in McAllen
McAllen, Texas
McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. It is located at the southern tip of Texas in an area known as the Rio Grande Valley and is part of the . Its southern boundary is located about five miles from the U.S.–Mexico border and the Mexican city of Reynosa, the Rio...
, Texas, on the U.S.–Mexico border, where her family lived on a giant farm off the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
. "It was a wild life," she would recount. She graduated from McAllen High School
McAllen High School
McAllen High School is one of three high schools serving the McAllen, Texas area as a part of the McAllen Independent School District. It houses over 2200 students from grades 9-12. The school originally opened in 1909 and moved to its current location at 2021 La Vista Avenue in 1963. The school...
, Texas, and was raised in the Presbyterian denomination. While at UCLA film school
UCLA School of Theater Film and Television
The UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television , is one of the twelve schools within UCLA. It is located in Los Angeles, California, USA, and is unique in that it combines all three of these aspects into a single school. The graduate programs are usually ranking within the top 3 nationally,...
during the 1980s, Hardwicke made an award-winning short, Puppy Does the Gumbo. She has a brother named Jack, and a sister named Irene Hardwicke Olivieri, who is an artist.
She graduated from college with an architecture degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
, and after her father bought a 20-acre real-estate complex, she designed the property’s 120 townhouses. Hardwicke began her career as an architect, but the work she was offered began to feel too cookie-cutter, so she fled to Hollywood, where she landed her first motion picture job as a production designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
on the skateboard cult favorite Thrashin', directed by David Winters
David Winters (choreographer)
David Winters is an English-born American dancer, choreographer, producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. Winters has participated in, directed and produced over 400 television series, specials, and motion pictures...
and starring Josh Brolin
Josh Brolin
Josh James Brolin is an American actor. He has acted in theater, film and television roles since 1985, and won acting awards for his roles in the films W., No Country for Old Men, Milk and True Grit.-Early life:...
.
Movie career
She spent most of the 1990s as a production designer, working on such films as Tombstone (1993), Tank GirlTank Girl
Tank Girl is a British comic created by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin. Originally drawn by Jamie Hewlett, it has also been drawn by Rufus Dayglo, Ashley Wood, and Mike McMahon.The eponymous character Tank Girl drives a tank, which is also her home...
(1995), 2 Days in the Valley
2 Days in the Valley
2 Days in the Valley is a 1996 film, directed by John Herzfeld. The film revolves around the events over 48 hours in the lives of a group of people who are drawn together by a murder. Several parallel storylines overlap one another in the film.-Plot:...
(1996), The Newton Boys
The Newton Boys
The Newton Boys is a 1998 drama film based on the true story of the Newton Gang, a family of bank robbers from Uvalde, Texas. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Skeet Ulrich, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Dwight Yoakam. It was filmed in Austin, Bartlett, New Braunfels, and San Antonio,...
(1998), and Three Kings (1999). The following year, she collaborated with director/screenwriter Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....
and actor/producer Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
on Vanilla Sky
Vanilla Sky
Vanilla Sky is a 2001 American psychological thriller film directed, co-produced and co-written by Cameron Crowe. The film is an English-language remake of the 1997 Spanish movie Abre los ojos , the screenplay for which was written by Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil...
(2001). The latter two films are notable for their original use of color-manipulation techniques to complement the narrative. Hardwicke, who always wanted to make her own movies, stumbled onto that chance while trying to help troubled teen, Nikki Reed
Nikki Reed
Nicole Houston "Nikki" Reed is an American film and television actress, and screenwriter. She became known in 2003, after the release of the film Thirteen, for which she co-wrote the screenplay. Reed has since appeared in several films, including Lords of Dogtown and Mini's First Time...
, a friend's daughter, who had fallen in with a bad crowd at school.
Hardwicke's first foray into film direction was with the award-winning Thirteen
Thirteen (film)
Thirteen is a 2003 American drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and written by Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, the film's co-star. The film also stars Evan Rachel Wood and Holly Hunter. It is a semi-autobiographical film inspired by Reed's life at age 12 and 13 with Wood's character "Tracy" being...
. Hardwicke and fourteen-year-old Nikki Reed
Nikki Reed
Nicole Houston "Nikki" Reed is an American film and television actress, and screenwriter. She became known in 2003, after the release of the film Thirteen, for which she co-wrote the screenplay. Reed has since appeared in several films, including Lords of Dogtown and Mini's First Time...
collaborated in writing a movie that would reflect Reed's teenage experiences. They completed the script in six days, during Christmas break. Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
was contracted to star in the movie alongside Reed. Thirteen earned Hardwicke the directing award at Sundance
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in 2003, establishing her as Hollywood’s hot new filmmaker at 47. She went on to direct Lords of Dogtown
Lords of Dogtown
Lords of Dogtown is a 2005 biographical film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, written by Stacy Peralta. The film is based on the story of "The Z-Boys", an influential group of skateboarders who revolutionized the sport...
(2005), a fictionalized account of skateboarding culture. The film is loosely based on the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys
Dogtown and Z-Boys
Dogtown and Z-Boys is a 2001 documentary film directed by Stacy Peralta. Using a mix of film the Zephyr skateboard team shot in the 1970s by Craig Stecyk and more recent interviews, the documentary tells the story of a group of teenage surfer/skateboarders and their influence on the history of...
by Stacy Peralta
Stacy Peralta
Stacy Peralta is an American director and entrepreneur. Peralta was previously a professional skateboarder and surfer with the professional skateboarding group, the Z-Boys.-Early life:...
, whom Hardwicke first met and worked with on the film Thrashin'. In 2006, Hardwicke directed the biblical film The Nativity Story
The Nativity Story
The Nativity Story is a 2006 drama film based on the nativity of Jesus starring Keisha Castle-Hughes and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Filming began on May 1, 2006 in Matera, Italy and in Morocco. New Line Cinema released it on December 1, 2006 in the United States and one week later on December 8 in the...
for New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
. The movie closed out with almost US$38 million domestically and added to that almost US$9 million in foreign gross, bringing it to a worldwide total of almost US$47 million on a reported US $35 million budget.
She became the most commercially successful female director in Hollywood, when in 2008 she directed the film adaptation
Twilight (2008 film)
Twilight is a 2008 American romantic vampire film based on Stephenie Meyer's popular novel of the same name. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the film stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. It is the first film in The Twilight Saga film series...
of Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer is an American author known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally, with translations into 37 different languages...
's best-selling novel, Twilight
Twilight (novel)
Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire,...
. The film is the first in a series produced by Summit Entertainment
Summit Entertainment
Summit Entertainment LLC is an independent film studio headquartered in Santa Monica, California with international offices in London.-History:...
based on Meyer's four-book series. Like the late John Hughes, who discovered the teenage actors that became the Brat Pack, Hardwicke has created many of this generation's tween idols: Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
(Thirteen
Thirteen (film)
Thirteen is a 2003 American drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and written by Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, the film's co-star. The film also stars Evan Rachel Wood and Holly Hunter. It is a semi-autobiographical film inspired by Reed's life at age 12 and 13 with Wood's character "Tracy" being...
), Emile Hirsch
Emile Hirsch
Emile Davenport Hirsch is an American television and film actor. He began performing in the late 1990s, appearing in several television films and series, and became known as a film actor after roles in Lords of Dogtown, The Emperor's Club, The Girl Next Door, Alpha Dog, and Into the Wild. In...
(Lords of Dogtown
Lords of Dogtown
Lords of Dogtown is a 2005 biographical film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, written by Stacy Peralta. The film is based on the story of "The Z-Boys", an influential group of skateboarders who revolutionized the sport...
), Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart
Kristen Jaymes Stewart is an American actress. She is best known for playing Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga. She has also starred in films including Panic Room , Zathura , In the Land of Women , The Messengers , Adventureland and The Runaways .- Early life :Stewart was born and raised in Los...
, Robert Pattinson
Robert Pattinson
Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson is an English actor, model, musician, and producer. Born and raised in London, Pattinson started out his career by playing the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...
, and Taylor Lautner (Twilight
Twilight (2008 film)
Twilight is a 2008 American romantic vampire film based on Stephenie Meyer's popular novel of the same name. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the film stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. It is the first film in The Twilight Saga film series...
) all got their big breaks in her films. But unlike Hughes's comedic and melodramatic films, her movies are darker in story and tone. In 2009, she was awarded the Women in Film Dorothy Arzner Directors Award.
Amid rumors of a rocky relationship with Hardwicke, Summit Entertainment
Summit Entertainment
Summit Entertainment LLC is an independent film studio headquartered in Santa Monica, California with international offices in London.-History:...
announced that she would not direct the sequel, New Moon. Despite Twilights $400 million global success, Hardwicke left the franchise when it came to the sequel. She said it was her decision, despite a blog report that she was fired. "I couldn't even be fired, that's what's so funny," she says. "In my contract, I had the first right of refusal." She turned down the second film, she says, because the studio wanted to rush it out. "I do not regret it at all, thank the Lord," she says. "The truth is I liked the first book the best."
In 2011, Hardwicke directed Red Riding Hood.
Subsequent reports of an agreement to direct the adaptation of Gayle Forman's If I Stay, which Summit optioned prior to its publication, suggest that the relationship may not have deteriorated as much as reports indicated. Hardwicke will also be directing Maximum Ride, a film adaptation based on the book series
Maximum Ride
Maximum Ride is a series of young adult science fiction and fantasy novels by American author James Patterson. The series chronicles the lives of six fugitive kids – Max, Fang, Iggy, Gasman, Nudge, and Angel – known collectively as the Flock...
by James Patterson
James Patterson
James B. Patterson is an American author of thriller novels, largely known for his series about American psychologist Alex Cross...
, and is teaming up with actor Emile Hirsch
Emile Hirsch
Emile Davenport Hirsch is an American television and film actor. He began performing in the late 1990s, appearing in several television films and series, and became known as a film actor after roles in Lords of Dogtown, The Emperor's Club, The Girl Next Door, Alpha Dog, and Into the Wild. In...
to create a modern-day, supernatural version of Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
.
Director
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Thirteen Thirteen (film) Thirteen is a 2003 American drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and written by Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, the film's co-star. The film also stars Evan Rachel Wood and Holly Hunter. It is a semi-autobiographical film inspired by Reed's life at age 12 and 13 with Wood's character "Tracy" being... |
Also Writer
|
| 2005 | Lords of Dogtown Lords of Dogtown Lords of Dogtown is a 2005 biographical film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, written by Stacy Peralta. The film is based on the story of "The Z-Boys", an influential group of skateboarders who revolutionized the sport... |
|
| 2006 | The Nativity Story The Nativity Story The Nativity Story is a 2006 drama film based on the nativity of Jesus starring Keisha Castle-Hughes and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Filming began on May 1, 2006 in Matera, Italy and in Morocco. New Line Cinema released it on December 1, 2006 in the United States and one week later on December 8 in the... |
also executive producer
Heartland Film Festival for Truly Moving Picture MovieGuide Awards Epiphany Prize for Film |
| 2008 | Twilight Twilight (2008 film) Twilight is a 2008 American romantic vampire film based on Stephenie Meyer's popular novel of the same name. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the film stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. It is the first film in The Twilight Saga film series... |
won the Young Hollywood Award |
| 2011 | Red Riding Hood | In Cinemas |
| 2013 | Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is the first book in the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson. The book was released in the US on April 11, 2005 and in the UK on July 4, 2005. The book is set in the near future and centers around the 'flock', a group of human-avian hybrids on the run from the... |
filming |