Harold Cronk

Harold David Cronk (born October 27, 1973) is an American writer, director and producer of Christian films, and founding partner in 10 West Studios and EMC Productions. Cronk won the Best Director award at the Beverly Hills International Film Festival in 2006.

Harold Cronk
Born
Harold David Cronk

(1973-10-27) October 27, 1973
Reed City, Michigan
Alma materCentral Michigan University
OccupationDirector, Producer, Writer
Known forGod's Not Dead
Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy
Jerusalem Countdown

Early life

Born in Reed City, Michigan, Cronk went to school in the Baldwin School District until about sixth grade. He then attended school in Scottville, Michigan, where he was active in the Theatre department, and graduated from Mason County Central High School in 1993.[1][2] Cronk graduated from Central Michigan University in 1998, with a Bachelor of Science in Art and K-12 Education.[1][2]

Career

Cronk taught high school Art courses and was voted Teacher of the Year, for two of his four years at Evart High School.[3] When the Reed City elementary school hired another art teacher in 1998, Cronk made a point of introducing himself to the new-hire, Matthew Tailford. The two teachers found that they had a lot in common, both had participated in college athletics, both had studied sculpture and both had acting experience in school.[4]:2

Back then, Cronk concedes, “I didn’t even know people made livings as art directors.” To him, movies just appeared on the screen, almost magically. “I didn’t understand that it could take hundreds of people on a movie set to make it happen.” [4]:3

"Two Filmmakers Bring Michigan Movie Industry to Manistee", by Jeff Smith, April 27, 2010

In 2000, Tailford landed a job as the art director on a television pilot, Dear Doughboy. Cronk and Tailford traveled to Los Angeles to work for the show.[4]:2 The experience in Los Angeles motivated the pair to try their hand at producing Cronk's screenplays South Manitou and The Agent. Using their own funds, Cronk and Tailford completed the South Manitou and The Agent projects and considered the life-experience as equivalent to film school coursework.[4]:3 Upon completion, a film screening was set up by Compass College of Cinematic Arts with producer Ralph Winter in attendance. Winter enjoyed the film(s) and encouraged Cronk and Tailford to continue with film-making, buoyed by the reception of the work, Cronk moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2004.[4]:3 Within months of the relocation to Los Angeles, Cronk and Tailford found themselves on location in Ireland, working on the Secret of the Cave (2006), starring Kevin Novotny and Patrick Bergin, with Cronk as Production Designer and Tailford as Art Director.[5][6] Other assignments followed, direction of a Magic Johnson Foundation, Lincoln Navigator commercial starring Earvin “Magic” Johnson[3] and Cronk directed, Eve Ensler's, The Vagina Monologues, Vday West (2006) at the Ivy Substation during this time period.[3]

Cronk and Tailford also had greater ambitions to develop their own screenplays, Cronk found that he enjoyed directing and Tailford was interested in producing and acting. With some industry experience behind them, they returned to Michigan to create a ten-minute short, War Prayer, based upon Mark Twain's short story, The War Prayer, a controversial war-story that was embargoed by Harper's Bazaar, until six years after Twain's death.[7] A wind-damaged stand of pine trees near Evart, Michigan served as the set and battlefield props were fashioned from junkyard remnants.[4]:4 After receiving several rejection notices from various film festivals, the War Prayer was accepted by the Beverly Hills International Film Festival, the festival's Best Director Award for 2006, going to Harold Cronk, came as "... a total shock."[4]:4[8]

10 West Studios

Cronk is currently the CEO of 10 West Studios. His win for Best Director at the Beverly Hills Film Festival resulted in a three-picture deal with Origin Entertainment for the studio.[9] Cronk had already spent a year and a half on his screenplay, set in West Michigan, Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy, a children's comedy adventure film.[1][2][4][10]

Filmography

Cronk directed God's Not Dead, starring Kevin Sorbo, David A. R. White and Willie Robertson. The film was Cronk's first significant box office opening, with a gross of $2.8 million on Friday (March 21, 2014),[11] and $8.5 million for the weekend, in a limited 780 theater release.[12]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2006 War Prayer Best Director, Beverly Hills Film Festival[8][10] Won
YearFilmRoleNotesReference
2005Midnight ClearArt DirectorJenkins Entertainment
2005The Red Veil (short)Production DesignUnder the Fog Productions
2005The AgentCo-DirectorMendicant Pictures[4]
2006War PrayerDirector10 West Productions[8][10]
2006Secret of the CaveProduction DesignerCarmel Entertainment, School of Visual Art and Design, Southern Adventist University[6]
2010TugSet DecoratorJumpstart Pictures, TicTock Studios
2010What If...Co-producerJenkins Film Group
2010 Christmas with a Capital CProduction DesignerPure Flix Entertainment[13]
2010JohnnyAssociate Producer10 West Studios, Pure Flix Entertainment
2011Return to the Hiding PlaceAssociate ProducerSpencer Productions, 10 West Studios[14]
2011 Jerusalem CountdownDirector, Screenwriter10 West Studios, God & Country Entertainment, Pure Flix Ent[13][15]
2012Mickey Matson and the Copperhead ConspiracyDirector, Screenwriter10 West Studios, EMC Productions[13][15]
2013Silver BellsDirectorFilmed in Manistee, Grand Rapids and Ludington in March, 2013.
2014God's Not DeadDirectorPure Flix Entertainment, Red Entertainment Group[11]
2016God's Not Dead 2DirectorPure Flix Entertainment, Red Entertainment Group
2017God Bless the Broken RoadDirector and WriterFreestyle Releasing
2018Unbroken: Path to RedemptionDirectorPure Flix Entertainment
gollark: Well, to some extent, but that's not an excuse for terrible phones.
gollark: Which I *don't want*.
gollark: Yeees, a bad one.
gollark: You're painting it as an either/or when it probably isn't.
gollark: Cases won't magically make it invulnerable.

References
  1. Harold Cronk, Paula Homes-Greely (9 March 2009). Newsmaker: Harold Cronk, filmmaker (MP3) (Radio broadcast). Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  2. ALWAY, ROB (19 January 2012). "Scottville director nears completion of movie". Mason County Press. Retrieved 17 March 2013. Cronk wrote and directed the movie, which was filmed exclusively in Mason and Manistee counties.
  3. "V-Day West LA 2006 Director Harold Cronk". Celebrity-Network.net. 2006. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  4. Smith, Jeff (27 April 2010). "Two Filmmakers Bring Michigan Movie Industry to Manistee". Traverse. p. 5. Archived from the original on 1 May 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  5. "Harold Cronk". Filmography. Fandango. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  6. "Secret of the Cave (2006)". Overview. AllMovie. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  7. Twain, Mark. "The War Prayer". LewRockwell.com. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  8. Guis, Dee (16 April 2006). "Beverly Hills Film Festival: And the Envelope Please..." Canyon News. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2013. Harold Cronk won the Best Director Award for War Prayer, an intense short film inspired by a Mark Twain story, proving that great art can come in small packages.
  9. Ratny, Ruth L. (30 March 2009). "10 West Studios ready for business in Manistee". ReelChicago.com. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  10. YUNG, KATHERINE (26 October 2009). "Manistee studio steals the show". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  11. King, Susan (22 March 2014). "The religious drama 'God's Not Dead' surprises at box office". Movies Now. The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014. Directed by Harold Cronk ("The Adventures of Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure"), "God's Not Dead" revolves around a Christian college student (Shane Harper) who finds his faith challenged by a philosophy professor (Kevin Sorbo of "Hercules" fame)...
  12. Cunningham, Todd (23 March 2014). "'Divergent' Scores $56 Million Box-Office Opening, 'A' CinemaScore – And a Franchise Is Born (Video)". The Wrap. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014. The independent faith-based movie “God's Not Dead” finished a surprising fifth, taking in $8.5 million from just 780 screens...
  13. "Harold Cronk on AllMovie". Credits. AllMovie. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  14. Boissoneau, Ross (July 2010). "Northern Michigan's Movie Moguls". Vol. 16 - Number 12. Traverse City Business News. Archived from the original on 29 August 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2013. Right now, the duo has four films in various stages, from the completed What If starring Kevin Sorbo, to Jerusalem Countdown, which found the two back in California wrapping up production. The others are Johnny and A Return to the Hiding Place.
  15. "Harold Cronk". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
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