Jonathan Hammond (filmmaker)

Jonathan Hammond is an American film director, film editor, screenwriter and film producer who directed the films Expect A Miracle: Finding Light in the Darkness of a Pandemic (2020), Isabel (2018), Kathy (2018) and We All Die Alone (2021). Hammond won the Copper Wing Award for short film directing at the Phoenix Film Festival and received multiple nominations for a Pacific Southwest Emmy Award at National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Early life
Hammond is the son of Belva Gadlage. A grant recipient from National Endowment for the Arts, he grew up in Decatur, Illinois and attended Eisenhower High School. Hammond studied at University of Illinois and New York University Tisch School of the Arts before relocating to San Diego and later to Los Angeles.

Career
Hammond has cited influences from the works of Steven Spielberg, Alfonso Cuarón, Quentin Tarantino, and Taika Waititi. His film Expect A Miracle depicts San Diego's handle on AIDS in the 1980s, a time where sexual orientation towards the same gender was confined. Hammond was a panelist at San Diego Comic-Con and compared being selected to screen his film Kathy there as exciting as having an Emmy nomination. He was a judge for the Minneapolis 48 Hour Film Project in 2020 and his film Before depicted a dinner party within the COVID-19 Pandemic. Hammond and Jodi Cilley talked about the challenges faced when recruiting talent when turning true local stories into films. Film Threat praised Hammond's film We All Die Alone, scoring it 8 out of 10. Hammond is part of an expanded network of LGBT filmmakers who have influence to project styles of horror.

Kathy
Kathy is a 2018 horror short film directed by Jonathan Hammond and written by Hammond and Ryan Roach. The film stars Samantha Ginn, Cristyn Chandler, Suzana Norberg, Frank DiPalermo and Jared Sarvis.

Plot
Frankie's mother and her friends enjoy an afternoon prayer circle and exorcism.

Cast

 * Samantha Ginn as Kathy
 * Cristyn Chandler as Anne
 * Suzana Norberg as Mrs. Yost

Production
The film was made in San Diego. The story was originally written as non fiction about a gay local writer's early life within his strict, faithful family. It was then redrafted as a horror film, taking place in the 1980s. Hammond mentioned being influenced on inspecting important topics of interest to come up with characters of a different degree.

Release
Kathy screened at Horrible Imaginings Film Festival,  Catalina Film Festival, Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival, FilmOut San Diego Film Festival,  Indie Short Fest, San Diego Film Week and IndieX Film Fest. It was distributed by Alter.