Biography
Bradley Hawkins began his acting career in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early '90s starring on stage in several theatrical productions before working as an on-camera actor. Upon moving from Sunnyvale, California to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1997, Hawkins taught film studies, acting, and humanities courses at the high school level, and directed several stage productions throughout his 12 years as an educator.
Upon retiring from teaching at the high school level in 2012, Hawkins returned to acting on-camera and branched out as an award-winning indie film director of family-friendly shorts with his debut comedy, Roller Coaster (2015) earning 30 film festival awards across the country. His second short, the comedy-fantasy, Filling In (2016), more than doubled the award count of his directorial debut and was not only screened in 19 states across the country but also in Australia, Canada, England, Italy, and Lithuania, as well. Hawkins' next short, the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age family drama, Calf Rope (2020) exceeded the success and critical acclaim of his two previous short films, combined, and secured his notoriety as a successful filmmaker of family-friendly content. However, Hawkins' latest work, Night Voices (2023) an intense psychological thriller with adult themes (such as aging, grief, isolation, and spirituality), stretches his previously self-imposed boundaries as a maker of family-friendly fare with his darkest and yet most redemptive film of his career. Night Voices has won over 70 awards from both secular and faith-based film festivals around the world and continues its journey on a global film festival circuit still today.
As a result of his being an award-winning film director, and his decades of experience as a stage and on-camera actor, Hawkins has a history of drawing powerful performances out of the talent in his films who have accumulatively won over 50 awards for their work in both lead and supporting roles in each of the projects that he has directed. Over the past 30 years, Hawkins has studied with some of the best-known acting coaches in the country, and as a result, has developed his own unique coaching/directing style for actors of all ages which he continues to enjoy doing between film projects.
57 wins and 13 nominations
