SCOTT DERRICKSON
Raised in a family that watched a lot of movies, Scott Derrickson grew to love the medium, but solely as entertainment. He didn’t consider film an art form until he was in college and discovered foreign cinema.
After graduating from Biola University with bachelor’s degrees in Humanities and Communications, Derrickson received his master’s degree in film production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema and Television.
His thesis short, Love in the Ruins (1995), won numerous awards at film festivals and enabled him to find a good agent, but he soon discovered that studios looking for a young first-time feature film director were more inclined to hire a top music video or commercial director than an award-winning film school graduate.
Instead, Derrickson found that his writing talent would be the key to open Hollywood doors. His first chance to direct came with his screenplay Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), a straight-to-video sequel to the Hellraiser films. He then wrote the screenplay for the sequel Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000).
His second chance to direct was the yet-unreleased Ghosting (2001). His story "Land of Plenty" was made into a 2004 movie, and Derrickson interviewed the director, Wim Wenders, for a book called The Best Christian Writing 2004.
Derrickson finally had the opportunity to direct and write his first theatrically-released feature with The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), about the demonic possession of a teenager.
A devout Christian, Derrickson lives in Los Angeles where he is a member of Hollywood Presbyterian Church.
Filmography:
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)