DAMIEN HEDGECOTH

Who I am and What I'm Doing

I was raised in the small town of Crossville, Tennessee, where there was little to do and not much culture. However, one of the best attractions the town had to offer was the Cumberland County Playhouse, a theater built by a Broadway actor, producer, and director who had moved from New York after being mesmerized by Crossville in the early 1960s. At the age of twelve, I became involved in the theater and quickly spent every bit of my free time there. I learned everything from acting, set building, and dance to stage combat and directing.

In 2003, at the age of twenty-three, I packed up and moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Though it took some time to get my footing, I quickly became involved with the late filmmaker Remmurd L. Carter when I was cast as the lead in his short film Therapy. Eager to learn all that I could, I asked questions that Remmurd would happily answer. Seeing my enthusiasm, he took me under his wing and mentored me in production. Before long, I was helping other filmmakers bring their projects to fruition.

I worked on award-winning short films such as Inferno, Yoga Man, Red Handed, Horror Movies Suck, and Angel of Death, and worked as a grip on the McG-produced television series Aim High, starring Jackson Rathbone and Clancy Brown. I co-produced and was the production manager on the award-winning short Crazy Town, starring Sean Young, Michael Monks, and Kyla E. Druckman. I was also a producer on the music video Animal and the viral short horror film Deep 6, which has garnered over 5 million views on Crypt TV and YouTube.

Looking to further expand my skills beyond the independent film world, I enrolled at The Los Angeles Film School in January 2016, where I focused primarily on directing. I have directed multiple shorts both in class and independently, including Little Lost Things, which is currently being submitted to festivals, and my thesis film Transplant, which was specifically crafted for the festival circuit with a strong, thought-provoking storyline.

Over the past five years, I have continued to grow and diversify my production experience through my work with the startup LA Digital Productions. There, I have been responsible for shooting, editing, and producing a variety of podcast shows, including The Bill Bellamy Network, Mark Curry 360, as well as broadcast television programs such as Hot in Hollywood, After Midnight with Tyrone Jackson, The Urban Movie Review, & HiH Talk. In addition to these productions, I have filmed and edited numerous live events and red carpet segments for these shows. My experience also includes directing and producing educational videos, managing projects from concept through delivery. Most recently, I’ve expanded into music and influencer content, collaborating with Andrea Botez to shoot DJ sets and music videos, further broadening my creative scope across multiple media platforms.