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IMDbPro

Duane Graves

  • Director
  • Editor
  • Sound Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Director Duane Graves
Based on real-life journals, "Wild Man" is a 70s-inspired drive-in creature feature from the producer of the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre which follows a small Texas community terrorized for years by a mysterious beast in the surrounding woods.
Play trailer2:00
The Wild Man of the Navidad (2008)
3 Videos
35 Photos
Award-winning director Duane Graves has produced a remarkably diverse body of work spanning multiple genres including documentary, slapstick comedy, drive-in period horror, spaghetti Western, and pitch black Jonathan Swift re-imaginings. Known for crafting movies that hearken back to bygone eras in cinema, Graves both edits and co-directs many of his original films with actor and filmmaking partner Justin Meeks, and also served as cinematographer for many of their early outings.

Born in 1975 in San Antonio, Texas, Graves attended Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he met film school peer and future collaborator Meeks before graduating in 1999. Graves continued his motion picture studies at The University of Texas at Austin film school before eventually partnering with Meeks, forming Greeks Films in 2000.

In 2001, Graves premiered his own award-winning documentary Up Syndrome (2000) at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City. An intimate, playful portrait of his childhood friend born with Down Syndrome, Up Syndrome (2000) took home numerous awards at festivals across the globe, including the National Media Award from the National Down Syndrome Congress in 2002, and the Grand Prize at the 2006 Movies Askew Film Festival hosted by director Kevin Smith in Hollywood. Critically-acclaimed for its refreshingly unsentimental approach to an often serious subject, it is available in the USA on Prime.

Graves then co-wrote/co-directed his debut narrative feature with Meeks, The Wild Man of the Navidad (2008), a 70's drive-in style horror yarn based on the real life journals of Dale S. Rogers and starring Meeks. The film premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and, following a later stop at Austin's Fantastic Fest, was released internationally by IFC Films in 2009. It was recently named the best Bigfoot movie ever made by AICN and was streaming on Shudder.

Graves' sophomore effort, the 80's-influenced urban cannibal horror Butcher Boys (2012), was written and produced by Kim Henkel, co-creator of the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) with Tobe Hooper, and loosely based on Jonathan Swift's satirical essay A Modest Proposal. Graves and Meeks met Henkel while studying in his screenwriting and film production courses at A&M in the late 90's. Featuring the largest cast of Chainsaw franchise alumni ever assembled, Butcher Boys debuted at the 2012 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal - one of the largest genre fests in the world. It was recently named by Blumhouse.com as one of "10 Amazing Horror Movies You Might Have Missed," and was released to North American audiences by Phase 4/Entertainment One in 2013.

In 2013, Graves co-wrote/co-directed the 60's-inspired spaghetti Western Kill or Be Killed (2015), also starring partner Meeks and featuring genre icons Michael Berryman, Pepe Serna, Edwin Neal, and Luce Rains. The indie Western was shot across 600 miles of rugged Texas locations, and premiered in competition at the 2015 Dallas International Film Festival before being picked up by RLJE Films for wide release in March, 2016.

Most recently, Graves and Meeks served as executive producers of Dane Sears's The Hopewell Haunting (2023), a period ghost story slated for release in 2023 by MPI Media Group/Dark Sky Films.

Graves resides in Austin, Texas.
BornOctober 29, 1975
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornOctober 29, 1975
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Awards
    • 4 wins & 1 nomination

Photos35

L-R: Duane Graves (The Wild Man of the Navidad) with  Joe Dante (Gremlins) in 2007
Co-writer/director Duane Graves with Michael Berryman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Weird Science, The Hills Have Eyes), on the set of KILL OR BE KILLED, December, 2012
(L-R) Directors Duane Graves, John Landis (Blues Brothers, Animal House, American Werewolf in London), and Justin Meeks
Duane Graves (Up Syndrome) accepts the grand jury prize from Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) at the 2006 Movies Askew Awards in Los Angeles, California.
Cast and crew on the red carpet for the world premiere of KILL OR BE KILLED, Dallas International Film Festival, April 10, 2015
Director Duane Graves on the set of his dark western KILL OR BE KILLED, December, 2012
(L-R) Co-directors Justin Meeks and Duane Graves at the world premiere of MELONTANA, Victoria TX Indie Film Fest, April 6, 2019
(L-R) Co-directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks at event for Alamo City Film Festival 2015, San Antonio, Texas.
Cast and crew of KILL OR BE KILLED on the red carpet at the Alamo City Film Festival, September 11, 2015, San Antonio, Texas.
(L-R) Co-writer/directors Justin Meeks and Duane Graves on location for KILL OR BE KILLED, December, 2013
(L-R) Co-writer/directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks with producers Karrie and Marcus Cox (Tangerine, Adult Beginners) at the world premiere of KILL OR BE KILLED, Dallas International Film Festival, April 10, 2015
(L-R) Co-writer/directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks at event for KILL OR BE KILLED, Dallas International Film Festival, April 11, 2015

Known for:

The Hopewell Haunting (2023)
The Hopewell Haunting
  • Producer
  • 2023
Kill or Be Killed (2015)
Kill or Be Killed
4.2
  • Director
  • 2015
The Wild Man of the Navidad (2008)
The Wild Man of the Navidad
4.6
  • Director
  • 2008
Ali Faulkner and Tory Taranova in Butcher Boys (2012)
Butcher Boys
3.5
  • Director
  • 2012

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Director

  • Melontana
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2019
  • Kill or Be Killed (2015)
    Kill or Be Killed
    • co-director
    • 2015
  • Ali Faulkner and Tory Taranova in Butcher Boys (2012)
    Butcher Boys
    • Director
    • 2012
  • Slacker 2011 (2011)
    Slacker 2011
    • Director (segment Never Traumatize a Woman Sexually)
    • 2011
  • The Wild Man of the Navidad (2008)
    The Wild Man of the Navidad
    • Director
    • 2008
  • Headlong
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2005
  • Rio Peligroso: A Day in the Life of a Legendary Coyote (2004)
    Rio Peligroso: A Day in the Life of a Legendary Coyote
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2004
  • Voltägen
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2003
  • The Hypostatic Union
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2002
  • Headcheese (2002)
    Headcheese
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2002
  • Up Syndrome (2000)
    Up Syndrome
    • Director
    • 2000

Editor

  • Melontana
    • Editor
    • Short
    • 2019
  • Kill or Be Killed (2015)
    Kill or Be Killed
    • Editor
    • 2015
  • Black Metal (2013)
    Black Metal
    • Editor
    • Short
    • 2013
  • Ali Faulkner and Tory Taranova in Butcher Boys (2012)
    Butcher Boys
    • Editor
    • 2012
  • Slacker 2011 (2011)
    Slacker 2011
    • Editor (segment Never Traumatize a Woman Sexually)
    • 2011
  • The Wild Man of the Navidad (2008)
    The Wild Man of the Navidad
    • Editor
    • 2008
  • Headlong
    • Editor
    • Short
    • 2005
  • Rio Peligroso: A Day in the Life of a Legendary Coyote (2004)
    Rio Peligroso: A Day in the Life of a Legendary Coyote
    • Editor
    • Short
    • 2004
  • Voltägen
    • Editor
    • Short
    • 2003
  • The Hypostatic Union
    • Editor
    • Short
    • 2002
  • Headcheese (2002)
    Headcheese
    • Editor
    • Short
    • 2002
  • Up Syndrome (2000)
    Up Syndrome
    • Editor
    • 2000

Sound Department

  • Melontana
    • re-recording mixer
    • sound designer
    • Short
    • 2019
  • The Wild Man of the Navidad (2008)
    The Wild Man of the Navidad
    • sound designer
    • sound editor
    • sound mixer
    • 2008
  • Headlong
    • sound editor
    • Short
    • 2005
  • Rio Peligroso: A Day in the Life of a Legendary Coyote (2004)
    Rio Peligroso: A Day in the Life of a Legendary Coyote
    • sound editor
    • Short
    • 2004
  • Voltägen
    • sound editor
    • Short
    • 2003
  • The Hypostatic Union
    • sound editor
    • Short
    • 2002
  • Headcheese (2002)
    Headcheese
    • sound editor
    • Short
    • 2002
  • Up Syndrome (2000)
    Up Syndrome
    • sound editor
    • 2000
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos3

THE WILD MAN OF THE NAVIDAD Official Trailer
Demo Reel 1:10
THE WILD MAN OF THE NAVIDAD Official Trailer
Trailer: Up Syndrome
Trailer 3:31
Trailer: Up Syndrome
Trailer: The Wild Man of the Navidad
Trailer 2:00
Trailer: The Wild Man of the Navidad

Personal details

Edit
  • Official site
    • Greeks Films
  • Born
    • October 29, 1975
    • San Antonio, Texas, USA

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Studied screenwriting and film production under Kim Henkel, co-writer of the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), who has since co-produced several of his projects.
  • Nickname
    • Ghost

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