Hopwood DePree

A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. (August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Hopwood DePree

This article reads like a press release or a news article and is largely based on routine coverage or sensationalism. Please with properly sourced content to meet Wikipedia's quality standards, event notability guideline, or encyclopedic content policy. (May 2019)

Hopwood DePree (born circa 1972) is an American actor, author, comedian, filmmaker, entrepreneur and philanthropist.

In September 2020, it was announced that DePree landed a global publishing deal with HarperCollins and William Morrow and Company for his comedic memoir entitled, “Finding Hopwood”. DePree’s book chronicles his journey moving from Hollywood to northern England to rescue the enormous but dilapidated 600-year-old Hopwood Hall, formerly owned by the Hopwood family. The book was developed from DePree's one-hour live stand-up comedy show that toured in 2019 and culminated at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. DePree has also been chronicling the estate renovation on his YouTube channel. ^[1]

DePree has produced, written, directed and starred in two award-winning independent feature films and has sold and/or written feature film scripts for TriStar Pictures, MGM, The Weinstein Company, Artisan Entertainment, Neal Moritz and Lionsgate. He was previously credited as Tod Hopwood DePree or Tod DePree, before shortening the name to Hopwood DePree.^[2][3]

He is the co-founder of the non-profit arts organization Waterfront Film Festival and has been appointed under two administrations to the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council by both Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and Governor Rick Snyder.^{[citation needed]}

Early life[]

DePree was born and grew up in Holland, Michigan, the son of Thomas DePree and Deanna, daughter of Herbert Hopwood Black (1911-2008), who was recruited to Michigan as a mechanical engineer in the early years of General Motors. Black had been raised near Hopwood, PA and descended from American Revolutionary War-era civil servant John Hopwood. ^{[4] [5]} Hopwood DePree has two sisters, Dana and Dori. DePree's father was a politician, political advisor and the founder of an insurance company.^[6] 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 USC play.^{[citation needed]}

Career[]

After his performance in The Last Big Attraction, director Whit Stillman introduced him to a producer who got DePree a deal with Warner Bros. to create, executive produce and star in his own TV show.

After a visit home to Michigan, DePree 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. DePree 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.^{[citation needed]}

DePree was featured across national US media for his accomplishments and was appointed by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm 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. After being term-limited in 2017 he was succeeded by his sister.^{[citation needed]}

Hopwood Hall[]

Hopwood Depree

DePree has stated in interviews that when he was a boy his grandfather used to tell him bedtime stories about Hopwood Hall but he always assumed it was a fairy tale. It was decades later, as an adult, that while researching his family's genealogy he discovered Hopwood Hall to be still standing and a real place. ^[7] The name Hopwood dates back to 1100 A.D. in Middleton outside Manchester, England. Hopwood Hall was built in the 15th century, owned by the Hopwood family, to whom DePree had traced his ancestry.^[8]

In January 2018, The Daily Telegraph released a feature story about DePree's move from Hollywood to Greater Manchester to restore the Hall to its former glory.^[9] Also in 2018, DePree appeared as a guest on Good Morning Britain to discuss his latest project of restoring Hopwood Hall.^[10] His story was also covered in multiple major newspapers.^[11] and The One Show aired a film about the project on the BBC.^[12]

Hopwood DePree at Hopwood Hall

In 2019, USA Today released a feature story called 'Downton Shabby' about DePree's project which he also showcases on his YouTube channel.^[13]

Stand-Up Comedy[]

In May 2019, BBC Entertainment & Arts announced DePree's UK stand-up comedy tour playing dates in Brighton, Manchester, London and culminating in Edinburgh, Scotland at the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2019. ^[14]

DePree’s stand-up show has become the basis of his comedic memoir. Worldwide rights were won to the novel by HarperCollins in a multi-house auction, secured with a six-figure advance. ^[15]

Filmography[]

Film

In 1995, DePree produced, directed, wrote and starred in Rhinoskin: The Making of a Movie Star,^[16] 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."^[17]

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. DePree was one of the producers of the 2010 film Virginia, directed and written by Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black and starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly and four time Academy Award nominee Ed Harris. DePree and Rebecca Green were the executive producers of the 2010 independent film Tug, written and directed by Abram Makowka.^[18]

Television

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.^[19]

Philanthropy[]

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

Additionally, he 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.^[20]

In early 2015 FOX news announced DePree was partnering with ArtPrize to launch ArtPrize OnScreen.^[21] ArtPrize is a privately funded non-profit organization that gives away the world's largest cash prizes (over $500,000 annually) to competing artists.^[22] 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.^[23]

In 2019, UK's Heritage Trust Network invited DePree to join their Board of Trustees and he accepted.^[24]

Politics[]

Beginning in 2006, DePree 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 him 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.^[25]

References[]

External links[]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (April 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

• Hopwood DePree at IMDb
• Official website
• Hopwood Depree
• Michigan Film Office Advisory Council
• Governor Announces Appointments to new Michigan Film Office Advisory Council
• NYT Filmography
• Rhinoskin: The Making of a Movie Star
• Michigan native whips up new Studio
• Hollywood Veteran Movie Producer to Train Area Residents
• [4]
• [5]