Don Hertzfeldt

Don Hertzfeldt (born August 1, 1976) is the creator of many animated films, including Everything Will Be OK and the Academy-Award nominated Rejected. His films have received over 200 awards and have been presented around the world.

The popularity of Hertzfeldt's work is unprecedented in independent animation. In 2009, the Sundance Film Festival wrote, "If cinephiles think shorts don't generate the same sort of hype and fanbase as feature films, they obviously haven't heard of Don Hertzfeldt."

In his book "The World History of Animation," author Stephen Cavalier writes, "Hertzfeldt is either a unique phenomenon or perhaps an example of a new way forward for individual animators surviving independently on their own terms... he attracts the kind of fanatical support from the student and alternative crowds usually associated with indie rock bands."

In 2012, Hertzfeldt combined all three chapters of his short film trilogy about a man named Bill (Everything Will Be OK, I Am So Proud of You, and "It's Such a Beautiful Day"), to create a seamless new feature film out of the story. His first feature film, the movie shares the same title as the third short film in the series, "It's Such a Beautiful Day", and went into limited release in movie theaters in autumn 2012. The LA Film Critics Association named it runner-up for Best Animated Feature Film of 2012 and the annual Indiewire critics poll ranked Hertzfeldt the 9th Best Film Director of 2012.. The AV Club film critics ranked it # 8 on their list of the Best Films of 2012.

Hertzfeldt supports himself and his movies entirely from self-distribution, such as ticket sales from theatrical screenings, DVD sales, and television broadcasts. He has refused all advertising work. He has twice gone on nationwide tours in support of new films (a 22-city theatrical tour in support of I Am So Proud of You in 2008-09, and a 30-city tour in support of "It's Such a Beautiful Day" in 2011-12). "An Evening with Don Hertzfeldt" presented a 35mm selection of his work followed by an onstage interview and audience chat with him.

Hertzfeldt was the youngest director named in the "They Shoot Pictures, Don't They" list of "The 100 Important Animation Directors" of all time, and in 2012, Hertzfeldt was ranked # 16 in an animation industry and historian survey of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in Animation." In 2010, he received the San Francisco International Film Festival's "Persistence of Vision" Lifetime Achievement Award at the age of 33.

Hertzfeldt lives in Austin, Texas. He spent many years in Santa Barbara, California after attending college there. He has kept a continuous blog on his website since 1999.