Hopwood DePree

Biography

Hopwood was born and grew up in Holland, Michigan. After graduating from Holland High School, he moved to Los Angeles where he attended the University of Southern California. He won his first paying role (Rhinoskin: The Making of a Movie Star) when a casting director (Mali Finn) saw him in a U.S.C. play. After Hopwood's performance in The Last Big Attraction, director Whit Stillman introduced him to a producer who got Hopwood a deal with Warner Bros. to create, executive produce and star in his own TV show.

After a visit home to Michigan, Hopwood saw an opportunity to give back to the community that he grew up in. He decided to convert an old, abandoned whip-cream factory into several sound stages and hire unemployed auto and manufacturing workers as crew members. That factory eventually became Tictock Studios which has developed a training program, targeted at below-the-line workers, to get new crew members ready for work. Hopwood was able to recruit Jeffrey Stott, a veteran Hollywood movie producer, to help teach the training classes. Stott served as the Executive Vice President of Castle Rock Entertainment between 1988 and 2002.

Hopwood was appointed to the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council to represent broad areas of film and motion picture making, production of television programs and commercials, and related industries in Michigan for a term expiring September 30, 2017.

Family lineage

Hopwood's ancestry is English and Dutch and the name Hopwood dates back to 1100 A.D. in Middleton outside Manchester, England. It was there that the Ancient Manor House of Hopwood was built in the 15th century. It still remains there today. The Manchester Evening News announced a partnership between Hopwood Hall College and Hopwood DePree to restore his ancestral home. The enormous 600-year-old castle and estate are expected to take at least three years to renovate.

Filmography

In 1994, Hopwood produced, directed, wrote and starred in Rhinoskin: The Making of a Movie Star, a "mockumentary" about the struggle of young actors seeking work in Hollywood. The film received a limited U.S. theatrical release and was bought by the Sundance Channel after screening at 17 international film festivals. At the age of 23, DePree was globe-trotting to promote his film. "Good Morning America" called it "wickedly funny." The Los Angeles Times declared it "amazing."

He produced, directed, wrote, and starred in The Last Big Attraction in 1999, which received a nomination at the Hamptons International Film Festival and won three awards at the Newport International Film Festival.

Hopwood also produced Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black's "VIRGINIA" (2012) starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly and four time Academy Award nominee Ed Harris as well as Emma Roberts. Christine Vachon of Killer Films also produced and Gus VanSant and Yeardley Smith executive produced.

One of his first roles was the defendant in a 1993 episode of Doogie Howser, M.D. and he was Paul Watkins in the 2004 CBS TV movie Helter Skelter which was nominated for a primetime Emmy.

Philanthropy

Hopwood supports many philanthropic causes often focused on arts and education and betterment of society. In late 2009, he opened his home for several weeks of public tours as a fundraiser for The Boys and Girls Club of America. The nearly 100-year-old 7 bed/ 7 bath manor was built by his relatives in 1920 and is rumored to have been sought after as a summer residence by mobster Al Capone.

In 2012, Hopwood was honored by ArtServe at the 50th Annual Michigan Youth Arts Festival with an Inspiration Award for his contributions to students.

Additionally, Hopwood co-founded and hosts the annual Waterfront Film Festival held in the beach resort area of West Michigan. The festival is a non-profit organization whose goal is to provide a "middle coast" venue for independent filmmakers eager to show their work to sophisticated audiences. It is supported in-part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and was named as a top "Ten Fantastic Film Festival Vacation" by FilmThreat.com, and ranked in the "Top 5 Film Festivals" by SAG Indie in the Screen Actors Guild magazine.

In early 2015 FOX news announced Hopwood was partnering with ArtPrize to launch ArtPrize OnScreen. ArtPrize is a privately funded non-profit organization that gives away the world's largest cash prizes (over $500,000 annually) to competing artists. September 2015 and was the first year for feature, short and documentary films to be added into the competition overseen by Hopwood. Several films won cash prizes and the documentary "T-Rex" advanced into the final round for the $200,000 Jury Prize.

Politics

Hopwood grew up in a family involved in politics, attending rallies, conventions and inaugurations as his late-father often served as a political advisor and was on the committee to select U.S. Ambassador's during the Reagan era.

Beginning in 2006, Hopwood worked closely in Michigan with the House of Representatives and Senate to craft a tax-based incentive program that would help bring the film industry to his home state. He was called upon numerous times to testify for the Senate before the bill eventually passed almost unanimously in late 2007 and signed into law in April 2008. Shortly thereafter, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm appointed Hopwood as an Advisor to continue to help bring the film industry to the State of Michigan.

Subsequently, the film industry in Michigan went from under 2 million dollars in film production annually to hundreds of millions in expenditures by productions in Michigan in less than two years.