Adam Green (born March 31, 1975) is an American actor, filmmaker and musician, best known for his work in horror and comedy films, including the Hatchet franchise, 2010's Frozen, and the television series Holliston.
Originating from Holliston, Massachusetts, Green earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Television and Film production at Hofstra University and founded ArieScope Pictures with fellow filmmaker Will Barratt in 1998. Green was also the lead singer for the hard rock and metal band "Haddonfield".
Background
Green was born and raised in Holliston, Massachusetts. After graduating from high school in 1993, he left for New York to study film and television production at Hofstra University graduating in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree. After studies, Green worked in Boston making local commercials for Time Warner Cable, where he met his future collaborator Will Barratt. In 1998, together they founded production company ArieScope Pictures and the following year made their first feature-length film – semi-biographic comedy Coffee & Donuts . Encouraged by friends and success in small film festivals, in 2000, Green packed his belongings and drove out to Hollywood. However, the film did not receive much attention and for a few years the new filmmaker was struggling with urban life and career. He worked as DJ at the Rainbow Bar & Grill, while also undertaking various supporting roles in media industry. Green describes experience: "The next three years saw loads of struggle and disappointment as I did every odd job I could score in Hollywood and waited for something to pan out with C&D." During that period the upcoming director wrote the original installment of what would become the Hatchet franchise and met his future wife Rileah Vanderbilt.
Feature film and television career
Steadily working within a small group of friend-actors, Green self-produced most of his 2000s projects. By 2013, he had released two seasons of television sitcom Holliston together with seven theatrical feature films, including horror Hatchet (2006) and thriller Frozen (2010). Consequently, director became a member of the Splat Pack, – group of filmmakers, who brought back gore and splatter, consisting of Eli Roth, Alexandre Aja, Neil Marshall, Rob Zombie, Greg McLean, Darren Lynn Bousman, and James Wan.
Coffee & Donuts
Coffee & Donuts (2000) is a semi-biographical, lighthearted romantic comedy about two friends, Adam and Steve, who strive to launch their morning radio program of the small town, while Adam concurrently struggles to overcome a breakup. Green made the feature film for only $400, using equipment from the cable advertising facility that he was working for at the time and employing volunteers for everything from cast to crew. Green starred in the lead role, while other parts were played by Steven C. DeWitt Jr., Katie Bove and Jeff Davison. This amateur production has not been widely released.
In 2003, Touchstone Pictures bought Coffee & Donuts, hired Green as a writer and remade the film into a sitcom for UPN. The pilot episode, being produced by Tom Shadyac's Shady Acres, was rejected and for the next five years, the rights remained with Touchstone. After regaining the rights in 2009, there were efforts to sell it to another network. However, the sitcom got canceled again. Eventually, the original concept was completely re-developed as Holliston and released by FEARnet . Green has since expressed his wish to independently distribute the original film, but also referred to issues such as the high price of clearing the soundtrack rights.
Hatchet
Hatchet (2006) is the first feature of Green's successful franchise. The horror comedy tributes old-school American slashers and follows a group of tourists, who take a swamp boat ride and wind up pursued by the ghost of local legend Victor Crowley. Theatrically released on September 7, 2007, the film was relatively well received by some critics and earned a worldwide horror cult following, resulting in three sequels for 2010, 2013, and 2017.
Spiral
Spiral (2007) is Joel David Moore's and JD Boreing's thriller, which Green co-directed. The story follows an isolated telemarketer (Moore), who befriends a new co-worker and then struggles with troubling past feelings, threatening his personal dignity. Critics hailed Spiral as "nothing short of brilliant" and "the closest thing you'll get to Hitchcock in this day and age". The film won Gold Vision Award at the 2008 Santa Barbara Film Festival.
Unmade Aquaman film
Green was commissioned to write a screenplay for an animated Aquaman film, which was ultimately not produced, by Warners Bros.