Eric Red

Eric Red
Born Eric Joseph Durdaller
(1961-02-16) February 16, 1961
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Occupation Screenwriter, film director

Eric Red (born Eric Joseph Durdaller; February 16, 1961) is an American screenwriter and director, best known for writing the horror films The Hitcher and Near Dark,[1] as well as writing and directing Cohen and Tate.

Biography

Early life

Red was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Nancy (née Pickhardt) and Cornelius Gerard Durdaller.[2] He attended the AFI Conservatory and graduated in 1983.

Writing career

The first film written by Red was Gunmen's Blues, a short he produced and directed while a student at the AFI Conservatory.[3] He went broke trying to get national distribution for the film and had to drive a cab in New York City for a year to recoup.[4]

His AFI thesis script, The Hitcher, was produced in 1986. A major studio remake of The Hitcher was released in 2007 with Red as a consultant.[5] He wrote the original script to Lost Boys: The Tribe[6] and narrated the film at the 2010 Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles.[7]

Eric Red published his first novel, Don't Stand So Close, in 2011.

Fatal car crash

Red was found to be at fault in a car accident that caused two deaths after he drove his truck into a crowded bar in Los Angeles on May 31, 2000. After the accident, Red apparently exited his vehicle, and attempted suicide by slit his own throat with a piece of broken glass.[8] Red survived the incident and was taken to the hospital under an alias and released weeks later. No criminal charges were brought, but a jury in a civil suit found that he had acted intentionally. The suit, which awarded over a million dollars to the families of the two men killed in the accident, was appealed to state and federal courts, which confirmed the original jury finding.[9]

Filmography

References

External links

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