Focused on film

Published 9:47 am Wednesday, January 31, 2007

As a child, Hamilton Craig and his friends used to make short films around town.

“I think I had a little handi-cam, one of those Sony hand-cams. They were just little kid’s films. I don’t even recall the names now,” he said.

Craig, a 1997 graduate of Dalton High School, says he didn’t realize then that he’d make his career in the film industry.

“I went to college at Alabama for journalism. I was really into the writing. I also, of course, loved movies, and I started writing screenplays,” he said. “I realized that was what I loved, and I knew that if that was what I wanted to do, I needed to go to a film school.”

So Craig transferred to the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he earned a bachelor of fine arts in film and television in 2005.

“The good thing about SCAD is that it has such an extensive film school. I got to study all aspects of film. I took directing classes, and I directed some things. I took editing classes and got into editing quite a bit. I still do a lot of editing. I took some lighting classes, even though that really wasn’t my forte. You get a well-rounded film education,” he said.

Craig won awards for best screenplay at the college’s film festival for the films “Shelter” (2005) and “Combustible Russ” (2006).

“As of right now, I’m the only person ever to win the best screenplay award at SCAD. They started that award my senior year, and I’ve won it the past two years,” he said.

Both films were shown at the Monday Movie of the Art Spot at the Peachtree Branch of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library. And the latter film also played at the Australian International Film Festival.

“‘Shelter’ was a psychological thriller set in one setting with two characters. That was a simple story, but a very high-tension drama,” he said.

Craig not only wrote “Shelter” but directed and produced it as well.

But Craig gave the script to “Combustible Russ” to another student to direct.

“That was a bit lighter. It’s about a man who spontaneously combusts. It’s a lighter take on the stresses of everyday life,” he said.

While at Savannah, Craig met Branden Chapin, whom he became engaged to about six months ago.

“She’s from Chattanooga, and she’s a painter,” he said.

After graduation, Craig moved to New York. He says he has served as editor and production assistant on several music videos and commercials.

In December, Craig took a job with StandOff Studios in Lincolnton. He’d been working for the studio on a freelance basis for several months before that.

“We’re still in the infancy of the company. I’m the editor. I’m also a screenwriter,” he said.

Craig says Standoff was founded just last summer, but it has already created a number of films.

“We do a whole range of films. We’ve done two national commercials for the Dish Network. We are just wrapping up our first feature film, which is called ‘12 Fluid Ounces.’ I didn’t write that one. They’ve been making that for a while,’” he said.

“We are developing a fishing show for the Outdoor Living Network. Obviously, I don’t do a lot of writing for it because it is a reality based show, but I do a lot of the editing,” he added.

Craig says he splits his time between Athens, where he lives and writes, and at the studio in Lincolnton, where he edits film.

“My focus is totally with this studio. We’ve gotten off to a great start, and the sky is the limit,” he said.

Craig’s mother Carey, a retired English professor at Dalton State College, still lives in Dalton, he says. And his brother Bo, a writer, lives in Athens.