Kevin Hamedani began his filmmaking career with the feature ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction. Produced by Academy Award nominee John Sinno (Iraq in Fragments), the film went on to receive critical acclaim in film festivals worldwide. ZMD was acquired by Lions Gate and premiered theatrically in January 2010. In 2013, Hamedani’s second feature, Junk was acquired by Breaking Glass Pictures, received a limited theatrical release and is available on DVD/VOD. The film won the Audience Award at Austin Film Festival, and stars Brett Davern (MTV‘s Awkward!), Jake Johnson (New Girl), and James Hong (Blade Runner), with music by OK GO. In June 2015, Hamedani won his second audience award for his short film In Her Place at the LA Film Festival. Co-written and produced by Max Borenstein (Godzilla, Minority Report) and starring Sheila Vand (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night), In Her Place is a show piece for the feature version currently in development.
What was a major turning point in your career? Finding a co-writer for my first script, Zombies of Mass Destruction. Ramon Isao is, literally, the funniest human being I‘ve ever met – so when I finished the first draft of ZMD I realized it needed to be funnier. It suddenly dawned on me that finding another voice to fill in that void would finally get the script focused and finished.
Do you have a favorite or memorable experience at Austin Film Festival? Meeting P.T. Anderson. Only at AFF are artists of such caliber so approachable.