Hopwood DePree

Hopwood DePree

Hopwood DePree is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He has been named as one of "20 PEOPLE TO KNOW" by The Hollywood Reporter and is the founder of TicTock Studios and co-founder of the annual Waterfront Film Festival. He also has been appointed under two administrations to the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council by both Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and current Governor Rick Snyder.

He has produced, written, directed and starred in two award-winning independent feature films and has sold and/or written feature film scripts for TriStar Pictures, MGM, The Weinstein Company, Artisan Entertainment, Neal Moritz and Lionsgate.

He also often works as an advisor on entertainment and media related projects for celebrities and brands.

Hopwood was born and grew up in Holland, Michigan. After graduating from Holland High School, he moved to Los Angeles where he attended the University of Southern California. He won his first paying role (Rhinoskin: The Making of a Movie Star) when a casting director (Mali Finn) saw him in a U.S.C. play. After Hopwood's performance in The Last Big Attraction, director Whit Stillman introduced him to a producer who got Hopwood a deal with Warner Bros. to create, executive produce and star in his own TV show.

After a visit home to Michigan, Hopwood saw an opportunity to give back to the community that he grew up in. He decided to convert an old, abandoned whip-cream factory into several sound stages and hire unemployed auto and manufacturing workers as crew members. That factory eventually became Tictock Studios which has developed a training program, targeted at below-the-line workers, to get new crew members ready for work. Hopwood was able to recruit Jeffrey Stott, a veteran Hollywood movie producer, to help teach the training classes. Stott served as the Executive Vice President of Castle Rock Entertainment between 1988 and 2002.

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