Tim Kirkman is an award-winning writer and director who teaches screenwriting at UCLA TFT. His most recent film, Lazy Eye, was released in November 2016. He and Todd Shotz produced the film through their company T42 Entertainment, which produces and develops content for theatrical, television, cable and streaming platforms. Kirkman’s first feature film, the personal diary documentary Dear Jesse (1998), was named Documentary of the Year by the Boston Society of Film Critics, won the Audience Award at Frameline, and screened in film festivals all over the world. It was also nominated for Gotham, GLAAD and Independent Spirit awards and Kirkman was nominated for an Outstanding Documentary Writing Emmy Award after the film’s debut on HBO/Cinemax Reel Life. He wrote and directed Loggerheads (2005), which premiered in Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, won the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest, the top screenwriting prize at the Madrid International LGBT Film Festival and audience awards at the Florida Film Festival and Nashville Film Festival. Additionally, he directed 2nd Serve (2012), a romantic comedy set in the world of professional tennis and The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me (2000), the film of David Drake’s solo show.

In 2010, Kirkman received an Alfred P. Sloan Award for development of Kitty Hawk, his biopic screenplay about Wilbur and Orville Wright. More recently, he has completed Mr. Fix-It, an original screenplay based on true events in the days leading up to the 1964 presidential election.

A North Carolina native, Kirkman received his bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University’s College of Design, where he majored in graphic design and minored in journalism. After graduation, he moved to New York City and worked for more than 10 years as an art director for Miramax Films, designing posters and advertising campaigns for award-winning films. While at Miramax, Kirkman completed an M.A. in media studies at The New School where he made his first documentary short, Jasmine, which received the top student prize and subsequently screened at festivals around the country.

Kirkman has taught directing and screenwriting at the University of Southern California, and screenwriting at the Vermont College of Fine Art. He previously taught filmmaking at Hunter College in New York City. Kirkman has served as a mentor for Outfest’s screenwriting lab and also works as a freelance commercial director and script consultant.

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