Awkward Family Photos is a doc series that premiered at Sundance in 2020. William directed, produced and co-wrote the series.
The families behind some of the most viral photos from the archives of AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com share their unique stories and reunite to re-create their original portraits, forcing them to reconcile their past and celebrate their awkwardness. We are proud to present the first two episodes of this hilarious, odd, and heartfelt exploration of being part of a clan.
Orange Sunshine is a doc feature that premiered at SXSW in 2016. William wrote, directed and produced.
The never-before-told story of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love – a spiritual group of surfers and hippies in Southern California that became the largest suppliers of psychedelic drugs in the world during the 1960s and early 1970s. Bonded by their dreams to fight social injustice and spread peace, this unlikely band of free-spirited idealists quickly transformed into a drug-smuggling empire and at the same time inadvertently invented the modern illegal drug trade. At the head of the Brotherhood, and the heart of this story, is the anti-capitalistic husband and wife team, who made it their mission to change the world through LSD.
Excavating Taylor Mead is a doc feature that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2005. William directed and co-wrote.
Excavating Taylor Mead is the story of one man's journey and struggle for survival in America's independent film and art community. Known primarily in the inner circles of New York's art historians and followers of Warhol, Mead's resume demonstrates how he may be one of underground film's most prolific yet overlooked artists.
Filmed over a four-year period and spanning nearly eight decades, we follow Taylor's eviction from his lower east side apartment to co-starring in Jim Jarmusch's Coffee & Cigarettes. Filtered through his life choices, Excavating Taylor Mead is an endearing character study of someone who has chosen a unique artistic path.
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William A. Kirkley
Filmmaker
William A. Kirkley is a director, writer and producer of documentary films. In 2020 William has two projects in completion, the doc series Awkward Family Photos premiering at Sundance 2020 and the documentary film Radical Love at SXSW 2020. William is currently in development with A24 on a doc series around a case of art fraud that was also the recipient of the IFP/HBO True Stories grant. William’s previous film Orange Sunshine premiered at SXSW 2016 and won multiple awards for Best Documentary as well as for it’s editing and cinematography. It currently has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has been especially noted by many critics including Variety for its well-crafted dramatizations. Orange Sunshine sold exclusively to Amazon and is in development as a scripted series. William is based in Los Angeles and when he’s not making films he loves to spend time with his family and exploring the outdoors.
DOCUMENTARY
