Filmmaker Name: Duffy Hecht

Short Biography About Filmmaker: I grew up in LA, went to high school in NYC, studied film in college at Cal-Arts and Simon Fraser in Canada. In my 20’s I was in a band with Woody Guthrie’s son Joady (got to play Woody’s big arch top Gibson) and later ran Artists Relations at the Seymour Duncan music company where I met and sometimes worked with unbelievable musicians like Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, James Burton, Peter Frampton, John Fogerty, Chuck Rainey and others. But film was my passion, so I switched careers and ended up producing three feature films (co-wrote one, another written by David Mamet that starred Wm H Macy, Julia Stiles and Joe Mantegna) and a number of documentaries. These films and videos have screened in over 30 film festivals including Venice, Telluride, Seattle, Deauville and Santa Barbara winning Best Film, Best Actor, Best Score, Best Documentary and my favorite, Social Justice.

What type of films do you most love to create?: Something with a point of view. 70’s cinema, today’s political documentaries.

Any notable awards or recognitions?: I put some of my festival awards in my bio. I have some for screenwriting too. I received an award of recognition from the California State Senate for my video work with Bellas Artes.

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0372953/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Any additional details you'd like to share.: Over the years, I've made quite a few films and videos about Carpinteria. I was the staff videographer for Bellas Artes, Carp’s after school program. I created a short film about the 8th Street Bridge that was featured in the Santa Barbara Film Festival. I co-directed a documentary for Carpinteria's 50th-anniversary celebration (SRO at The Plaza). I co-wrote and produced the feature film First, Last and Deposit, which starred local Carpinteria and Santa Barbara actors including Glen Phillips of Toad The Wet Sprocket. My latest documentary, Shopping Cart People, is the film I submitted to your festival (awards and podcasts on this one), and I'm currently in production on a project called Main Street Politics (open mic, corner of Carp and Linden).
I served on the Board of Santa Barbara's Legal Defense Center and have worked on many local issues and campaigns. Good luck Carp Film Festival!