Cory Edwards

Cory Edwards (born August 21, 1968) is an American film director, screenwriter, and stand-up comedian. He is probably best known for co-directing, co-writing, and voice acting in Hoodwinked (2005), and for co-writing and voice acting in the 2011 sequel Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil. He is the older brother of screenwriter/director, Todd Edwards, and film producer Katie Hooten. --- Cory Edwards was born on August 21, 1968 in Anderson, Indiana to James L. Edwards and Deanna Monteith. His father grew up as the son of a minister in Kettering, Ohio and graduated from Anderson University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1965. Deanna grew up in Springfield, Ohio, where she worked in a law office while attending classes part time at Wittenberg University. She enrolled at Anderson University during the same semester as James and they married in 1964 after their junior year. Throughout college, James worked at a J.C. Penney, held various jobs on campus, and served as a minister of music in a small church. Upon graduation, he took on a job as the university’s Director of Student Recruitment, which he held until earning a Master of Divinity from Anderson School of Theology in 1970. Deanna also continued her studies, following a degree in Elementary Education with a master’s degree from Ball State University. They then moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where James served as a pastor at Pasadena Park Church of God. Cory’s younger brother Todd was born there in 1971. A year later, the family returned to Anderson and James resumed work at the university. He directed church and alumni relations until 1975, at which point they all moved to Columbus Ohio. James served as a senior pastor of Meadow Park Church of God for the next fifteen years and also studied at Ohio State University, where in 1987 he received a PhD. in Educational Policy and Leadership. Cory, Todd, and their younger sister Katie showed an interest in the arts from an early age. They would put on puppet shows and plays and used a tape recorder to create their own radio shows. Cory was around seven or eight years old when they first started experimenting with their family’s Super 8 video camera. Their first film, succinctly titled Movie Stuff, did not have a plot and was simply a chance for them to learn how to use the camera and try out special effects. As they continued, they made films in several different genres, including a superhero film called Captain Lightning that was directed by Cory, a Laurel and Hardy type comedy called Crime Doesn’t Pay that was directed by Todd, and an action-adventure film that centered on a character named Jack Francisco. As they grew older, their films became more elaborate, often taking them months to complete. Starting with storyboarding the shots, they would go on to create their own sets, miniatures, and costumes. Neighborhood kids joined in as extras and sound and special effects were added after filming. In school, Cory usually turned in films for class projects and occasionally won national competitions with them. --- Cory Edwards acted in his brother Todd's 1999 film Chillicothe. Private investor Maurice Kanbar enjoyed the film and eventually offered to finance them to make an animated fairy tale told in a contemporary style. Cory, Todd, and their friend Tony Leech decided to make a film of Little Red Riding Hood told in the context of a police investigation. However, once their film was finished, Maurice Kanbar was not in the financial position to make and distribute it, so he took it to the newly formed Weinstein Company, which agreed to buy the film. The film, titled Hoodwinked! was released in late 2005 in order to be eligible for award consideration and then received a wider release in January 2006. Hoodwinked! received mixed reviews and made a world wide total of $110,011,106, making it a success due to its small budget. Edwards co-wrote Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil alongside his Hoodwinked! co-creators and co-writers Tony Leech and Todd Edwards. Despite Hoodwinked 's mediocre reviews many people at the Jim Henson Company enjoyed the film. They started to talk with Cory about the possibility of him rewriting the script for the sequel to Dark Crystal, however instead they agreed that he would write and direct a feature length version of Fraggle Rock. --- Cory Edwards is a Christian and attends Bel Air Presbyterian Church where he is a member of their drama department.