Filmmakers

Bill VanDerKloot’s career as a Director and Producer, spans four decades and includes shorts, broadcast commercials, television documentaries and theatrical feature films. He has traveled the world creating films on a range of topics from public sculpture to political history; from southern blues to environmental science. He has won numerous international awards, including Emmy Awards and the Peabody Award.

VanDerKloot’s work has been shown on such venues as PBS, National Geographic, Turner Broadcasting, CNN, HBO, Showtime, as well as iTunes, amazon, and Netflix. His television documentaries include, IRON HORSE, about a sculpture that caused a riot; ENERGY: Progress Revisited, a history of the world’s energy development; CUMBERLAND: Island In Time, a lyrical profile of Georgia’s largest barrier island; FLYING THE SECRET SKY, the story of a secret band of WWII airmen, presented by WGBH Boston on PBS and internationally on the National Geographic Channels. His latest production, INSIDE The Warren Commission, a look at the investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy, aired nationally on PBS in 2023.

He produced the Atlanta Olympic Film, TIME AND DREAMS, which helped win the bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. VanDerKloot’s productions include special video installations for the Carter Presidential Museum and Library, the Columbus Museum, and the Special Collections Library at the University of Georgia. Bill has also directed hundreds of commercial and branded content projects for such clients as CNN, Delta Air Lines, Coca-Cola, Invesco, US Marine Corps, and Porsche, to name just a few.

VanDerKloot created the award-winning Little Mammoth children's programs, The BIG Adventure Series®, which are licensed in over 30 countries worldwide. Based in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward, VanDerKloot founded Magick Lantern in 1990, a video post- production house and digital production studio serving the advertising, broadcast and film production industries. He recently sold the studio in order to focus on his independent projects.

He and his company have supported the local community with pro bono work for dozens of organizations, including Trees Atlanta, Literacy Action, Homeless Taskforce, The Carter Center, The Georgia Conservancy, Habitat for Humanity, and the Girl Scouts.

VanDerKloot was the founding director of the Atlanta Film Festival and has written about filmmaking for such publications as American Cinematographer. He was a long- time board member and past president of the Georgia Production Partnership (GPP), an industry association responsible for creating Georgia’s successful film tax incentives.