Joseph Strickland

Background

Joseph Strickland was born to parents Jamie Strickland and Joseph Harper on November 9, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois. Raised on Chicago's West Side, Strickland is the fourth eldest of ten children, including nine brothers and one sister.

Education

As an elementary school-aged child, Joseph Strickland majored in art; and during his mid-twenties, he studied various languages at the Inlingua School of Languages in Chicago, IL. As a student at Columbia College of Chicago, Strickland majored in art and writing.

Career

Since he was a child, Joseph Strickland has always had a taste for visual flair: from watching the incomparable The Twilight Zone TV series and The Outer Limits to Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The images remained burned in his mind's eye, which compelled him to start drawing. As a self-taught artist, Strickland discovered the lure of comic books that further fed his passionate imagination. Upon attending middle school, he joined a burgeoning group of artists who introduced him to the works of master fantasy artists, such as Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, H.R. Giger, and Michael Whelan.

In 1983, Strickland enrolled at Columbia College of Chicago, where his majors included art and writing, specializing in the fine arts and creating oil paintings and sketches. Simultaneously, he worked on creating stories: he wrote short stories and, eventually, wrote his first screenplay titled The Epidemic, which Strickland authored after noticing the absence of the AIDS epidemic in the news media during the Reagan era. In time, Strickland became involved with working on a student film project titled Daily Mass. The film was written and directed by fellow Columbia College of Chicago alumn Tim O'Neill who invited Strickland to assist him on the thesis project by performing the role of a villainous character. Additionally, Strickland would lend his screenwriting, producing, cinematography, art direction, and storyboard skills to the project. Daily Mass was released to respectable fanfare, premiering at the 24th Chicago International Film Festival in 1989.

In 1992, Strickland visited Kenosha, Wisconsin, and watched the televised trial of the notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. During the legal proceedings, he noticed no mention of or focus on the murderer's childhood or upbringing. And this curious oversight sparked an idea in Strickland's mind: he wrote a screenplay, which would be the blueprint for his first feature film titled Dual Mania: the film focused on a young Caucasian man who meets an African-American psychotherapist to discuss his troubled life. The multi-award-winning psychological thriller would not be released after principal photography was complete until twenty years later, no thanks to distribution mishaps.

In September 2018, Strickland authored his first book, The Making of Dual Mania: Filmmaking Chicago Style, a personal account of the director's journal detailing his feature film debut, Dual Mania, a fascinating narrative co-authored by Chicago theater critic B.J. Patterson and Dual Mania casting director Cat Ellington. Strickland would continue adding his creative writing talents to additional works of literature and sheet music books, including his co-authoring Reviews by Cat Ellington: The Complete Anthology, Vol. 5 (2021), Gett Out: Sheet Music (2021) and Reviews by Cat Ellington: A Trilogy of Unique Critiques #2 (2022).

In 2021, Dual Mania had its first theatrical premiere at the elegant Trylon Cinema in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And in August 2022, the film had a private screening at the famed Gene Siskel Film Center in the director's native city of Chicago. Dual Mania is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Cineverse, Vimeo, and Plex TV. And the film's soundtrack, including the film score, Dual Mania (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora, Deezer, and Tidal.

Strickland is currently in pre-production on his second feature film, a dramatic thriller tentatively titled The Crimson Sun.

Achievements

• In 1985, Joseph Strickland wrote his first screenplay titled "The Epidemic."
  
  In 1985, Joseph Strickland founded Vital Vision Productions, a film production company in Chicago, IL.
  
  In 1987, Joseph Strickland founded Innovative Music, a music video/cable TV program. Strickland produced and directed concert videos that featured well-known and up-and-coming Chicago-based musical acts. The music genres spanned from R&B and Jazz to Rock and Pop. The program dispersed in 1989.
  
  In 1989, Strickland co-produced and performed in a Columbia College of Chicago student film titled "Daily Mass."
  
  In 1991, Joseph Strickland began drafting the original screenplay for his first feature film, titled "Dual Mania."
  
  In 1999, Strickland completed principal photography on his directorial debut, "Dual Mania."
  
  In 2018, Joseph Strickland released his first book, The Making of Dual Mania: Filmmaking Chicago Style, published by Vital Vision Publications.
  
  In 2018, Joseph Strickland won the Golden Earth Film Awards award for Best First Time Director for "Dual Mania."
  
  In 2018, Joseph Strickland won the Pinnacle Film Awards Gold Award for Best Screenplay for writing "Dual Mania."
  
  In 2018, Joseph Strickland won the Pinnacle Film Awards Silver Award for Best Director for "Dual Mania."
  
  In 2019, Joseph Strickland won the Mindfield Film Festival of Albuquerque Bronze Award for Best Screenplay for writing "Dual Mania."
  
  In 2019, Joseph Strickland won the Mindfield Film Festival of Albuquerque Bronze Award for Best Director for "Dual Mania."
  
  In 2020, Vital Vision Records released Dual Mania (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), on which Strickland served as a co-writer and co-composer of the film score. The label re-released the motion picture soundtrack in 2021.
  
  In 2021, Vital Vision Records released Instrumentals: Music from the Motion Picture Dual Mania, the first release from Strickland's discography as an artist.
  
  In 2021, Joseph Strickland co-authored Reviews by Cat Ellington: The Complete Anthology, Vol. 5.
  
  In 2021, Joseph Strickland received credit as a co-composer on Gett Out: Sheet Music.
  
  In 2022, Strickland co-authored Reviews by Cat Ellington: A Trilogy of Unique Critiques #2.
  
  In 2024, Joseph Strickland co-authored Dual Mania (Music from the Original Soundtrack Album) Piano/Guitar/Chords - Sheet Music Book
  
  In 2024, Strickland co-authored The Complete Works: Reviews by Cat Ellington, Books 1-9

Works

More photos

• album

  • ‎Dual Mania (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Album by Jaki Cavins, DeCarlo Jackson & Marcus Robson - Apple Music

    (Listen to Dual Mania (The Original Motion Picture Soundtr...)

    2021
  • ‎Instrumentals: Music from the Motion Picture Dual Mania - EP by Cat Ellington & Joseph Strickland on Apple Music

    (Listen to Instrumentals: Music from the Motion Picture Du...)

    2021

• book

  • Reviews by Cat Ellington: A Trilogy of Unique Critiques #2 (The Unique Critique Trilogies)

    (Reviews by Cat Ellington: A Trilogy of Unique Critiques #...)

    2022
  • Gett Out: Sheet Music (The Cat Ellington Sheet Music Collection Book 5) eBook : Ellington, Cat, Strickland, Joseph, Schutte, Greg, Brown, Princeton, Strickland, Joseph: Books

    (Buy Gett Out: Sheet Music (The Cat Ellington Sheet Music ...)

    2021
  • The Making of Dual Mania: Filmmaking Chicago Style

    (The Making of Dual Mania: Filmmaking Chicago Style - Kind...)

    2018
  • Reviews by Cat Ellington: The Complete Anthology, Vol. 5

    (Reviews by Cat Ellington: The Complete Anthology, Vol. 5 ...)

    2021

• movie

  • Dual Mania (2020) - IMDb IMDb, an Amazon company

    (Dual Mania: Directed by Joseph Strickland. With Lara Phil...)

    2020

Religion

Joseph Strickland's faith is deeply rooted in Pentecostal Christianity.

Politics

Joseph Strickland is a staunch Democrat.

Personality

He is humorous, analytical, adventurous, and strongly opinionated. Born under the star sign Scorpio, he is true to the nature of it.

Quotes from others about the person

• Alan Ng of Film Threat Movie Guide: "Strickland has a palpable passion for Dual Mania, evidenced by the small nuances he puts into it and how he takes no shortcuts to reach the conclusion."

Connections

Joseph Strickland married songwriter Cat Ellington in Chicago on New Year's Eve, 1994. The couple shares three children named Nathaniel, Nairobi, and Naras.

Wife:

Cat Ellington

(born 28 November 1970)

Cat Ellington is an American songwriter, casting director, voice actress, author, and the wife of American film director Joseph Strickland.

References

• Screen Magazine Strickland Targeting Fall to Film Latest Thriller, The Crimson Sun
  2021
• Thriller Goes Indie: Interview with Joseph Strickland, Director of Dual Mania | Film Voice No 4 2020 Web by beliff - Issuu Read Film Voice No 4 2020 Web by beliff on Issuu and browse thousands of other publications on our platform. Start here!
  2020
• Toronto Film Magazine Joseph Strickland On Filmmaking and Inspirations
  2020
• Poze Magazine Volume 61 Award-Winning Writer/Director Joseph Strickland - Debut Feature Film "Dual Mania" - Poze Magazine Volume 61
  2023
• From Chicago to Hollywood: A Conversation with Joseph Strickland - FilmmakerLife Discover the cinematic journey of Joseph Strickland, acclaimed filmmaker known for "Dual Mania." Explore his inspirations, his upcoming project "The Crimson Sun," and insights into his career in this exclusive interview.
  2023