Biography for
Todd Haynes More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Mini Biography

Todd Haynes was always interested in the arts, and made amateur movies and painted while he was still a child. He attended Brown university and majored in art and semiotics. After he graduated he moved to New York City and made a very controversial short film 'Superstar'. The movie uses dolls instead of actors to tell the the story of the late Karen Carpenter. The movie was a success at several film festivals, and because of a lawsuit by Richard Carpenter (over musical rights) is very hard to see but it is a true classic for bootleg video buyers. His first feature, Poison (1991) was even more controversial. The film was attacked by right wing fanatics who said it was pornographic, it won the Grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It is now considered a seminal work of the new queer cinema. His next film Safe (1995) was a very different work for Haynes, it told the story of a women suffering from a breakdown caused by a mysterious virus. She ends up in a very strange clinic. Many thought the film was a metaphor of the Aids virus. The movie was a considered to be an outstanding work and was one of the best films of the year. In his most recent movie Velvet Goldmine (1998), he combines the visual style of 60s/70s art films and his love for glam rock music to tell the story of a fictional rock star's rise and fall. The film proved that Haynes has the talent to be seriously respected by critics and film lovers everywhere.

Trivia

Received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and Semiotics with honors, from Brown University, 1985. Is a member of ACT-UP.

Brother of Shawn Haynes and Wendy Haynes

Often works with Christine Vachon.

Biography in: "Contemporary Authors". Volume 220, pp. 165-168. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2004.

Personal Quotes

I mean, making a film is so scary and there's such a kind of void that you're working from initially. I mean, you can have all the ideas and be as prepared as possible, but you're also still bringing people together and saying, "Trust me", even when you don't necessarily trust every element. You're making something out of nothing and it requires so many people's collaborative efforts and participation that it seems like at any moment it could just fall through the cracks and be gone forever.

You can be a smarty-pants director, but that won't matter if the movie doesn't work emotionally as well as intellectually.

	You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.
	With our Resume service you can add photos and build a complete resume to help you achieve the best possible presentation on the IMDb. Click here to add your resume and/or your photos to IMDb.

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z