Biography
Will De Los Santos is a half-Hawaiian, half-Irish American filmmaker, author and poet. He is the son of actor, entertainer and Hawaiian politician Tiki Santos (Abraham Kealiilakakeikiokalani De Los Santos) and Kathleen Marie O'Carroll (Cornett/Petroff). He is also the grandson of Herman Haimowitz, an American painter and woodcut artist. He was raised by a fireman, William Raymond Hilbert. De Los Santos has 10 half brothers and sisters.
De Los Santos attended Chaffey High School in Ontario, California where he finished as the basketball program's second all-time leading scorer.
De Los Santos was recruited to play basketball by Gregg Popovich at Pitzer College but instead attended Point Loma College in San Diego, California on a basketball scholarship. He then transferred to Eastern Oregon State University in La Grande, Oregon. De Los Santos then attended University of La Verne in La Verne, California and University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.
In 1989, De Los Santos founded a poetry/fiction monthly publication, The South Ash Press, in Tempe, Arizona, publishing original works by notable poets Rita Dove, Norman Dubie, Ai and Charles Bukowski. Derrick Bostrom (drummer of Meat Puppets) contributed cartoons.
De Los Santos has lived in Rome, Italy and Marrakech, Morocco as well as San Jose, Costa Rica.
De Los Santos wrote the original screenplay for Spun (2002) (Columbia Pictures/TriStar Pictures), a work inspired by his experience in the Eugene, Oregon drug subculture. Originally ignored by director Jonas Åkerlund, De Los Santos continued to phone Åkerlund for two years until he finally agreed to read his script.
Spun (2002) has been billed as an autobiography of sorts featuring De Los Santos as the character Ross, portrayed by Jason Schwartzman.
Along with Schwartzman, Spun (2002) also stars Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Debbie Harry, Peter Stormare and Patrick Fugit. Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) does the soundtrack. Roger Ebert described the film as having "effortless wickedness".
De Los Santos wrote the adaptation for the upcoming motion-picture based on Iceberg Slim's black pulp-classic novel, Mama Black Widow (????).
De Los Santos directed the music video 'Mistakes Like This' for Atlantic Records recording artists Prelow, in 2014.
De Los Santos often works with producer Chris Hanley of Muse Productions.
De Los Santos is a close friend of actor Mark Boone Junior.
De Los Santos is a gifted musician who plays most stringed instruments including the ukulele, guitar, bass and banjo.
Journalist Alexandra Gill from The Globe and Mail (Toronto), wrote of De Los Santos, "...one of the most fascinating free spirits I've ever met."
Writer Chris Campion, from Dazed & Confused magazine, calls De Los Santos, "...the most exciting American screenwriter of his generation...one minute he appears to be a deranged hustler trapped by mad ambition, and locked on a path determined by self-delusion. The next, he is a visionary poet whose wild and inspired ideas bear the spark of unfettered genius."
De Los Santos lives in the Hollywood Hills with his wife actress and Miss Asian-America (2007) Jennifer Field and son Abraham De Los Santos.
