Biography
An award-winning feature film writer and director, Gordie Haakstad’s directorial debut, ABEL’S FIELD, starring Kevin Sorbo and Samuel Davis, was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2013. It garnered Best Film, Best Feature, and Best Actor, and Gordie won Best Director at The Attic Film Festival. In 2019, his short film, AETERNITAS, won him the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association’s Rosie Award for Best Director in the Short Film category and went on to screen at multiple Oscar-qualifying film festivals.
Gordie gained his directing background as a filmmaker specialized in cinematography and editing. He began his education at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema and Television where he graduated Magna Cum Laude from the prestigious Production Program.
Following school, Gordie interned under cinematographer Don Burgess (FORREST GUMP, SPIDERMAN, CAST AWAY) on the set of TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES. He kept involved with academia by teaching filmmaking at the New York Film Academy – as well as developing much of the curriculum for the cinematography and editing departments. After relocating to Canada, Gordie developed curriculum and taught at Grande Prairie Regional College for three years and at Edmonton’s film collective, FAVA, for two years.
He continued his creative pursuits by helping create a number of branded, short, and feature-length projects. Notably, Gordie directed the award-winning short films ANYONE OUT THERE, THE SOUVENIR, and DATING BITES and was the cinematographer behind the award-winning 11 MINUTES AGO – a feature-length film that shot entirely in one day. His most recent screenplay, ASHES AND DUST, was an Alberta Foundation for the Arts grant recipient.
Gordie continues to write and direct in Edmonton, Alberta, while maintaining filmmaking ties in Los Angeles, CA, and Austin, TX.
Selected Filmography
Abel’s Field
Director
Feature film 2013 – Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Affirm Films
Winner: Audience Award – The Attic Film Festival Winner: Best Film – The Attic Film Festival Winner: Best Feature – The Attic Film Festival Winner: Best Director – The Attic Film Festival
Details:
First directorial feature; hired for development through release Acquired by Sony Home Entertainment within four months of completion Crew average of 50 people, max of 110 Twenty day shoot schedule, finished on time and on budget
View trailer | View scene excerpts
Aeternitas
Director, Writer, Producer, Editor
Short film 2018
Winner: Best Director – Alberta Film and Television Awards
Details:
Sixteen-minute short film, with original edit (Kairos) funded by Telus STORYHIVE
Anyone Out There
Director
Short musical 2016
Winner: Audience Choice – Frantic48 Film Challenge 2016 Winner: Judge’s Choice – Frantic48 Film Challenge 2016
Details:
Seven-minute short musical From concept to delivery in 48-hours
Cold Decision
Director
Short film 2016
Official selection: Reel Shorts Film Festival 2015
Making of a Museum
Director
Promotional documentary 2015
Client: Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum / County of Grande Prairie No. 1 Featuring the voice of Dan Aykroyd
Fly Home
Co-director
Music Video 2017
Telus Storyhive – Music Video edition, funded project
The Souvenir
Director
Short film 2015
Winner: Best Peace Region Film – Reel Shorts Film Festival 2016 Winner: Audience Choice – Frightening48 Film Challenge 2015 Winner: Judge’s Choice – Frightening48 Film Challenge 2015
Details:
Original short from concept to delivery in 48-hours Updated version delivered for Reel Shorts Film Festival
Shine Your Light
Co-director
Music video 2017
Client: Suicide Prevention Resource Centre
Arnie the Viking
Director
Branded content 2014
Client: nine10 Incorporated 8x 1-minute spots, 4x 4-minute spots
Dating Bites
Director
Short film 2015
Winner: Audience Choice – Frantic48 Film Challenge 2015 Winner: Judge’s Choice – Frantic48 Film Challenge 2015
Details:
From concept to delivery in 48-hours
A Medical Mission
Director
Promotional documentary 2003
Details:
Client: South Texas Physicians Outreach Shot on location in Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras
11 Minutes Ago
Cinematographer
Feature film 2007
Winner: Best Feature – FAIF International Film Festival Winner: Best Feature Sci-Fi – WorldFest Houston Winner: Best Feature – Phoenix International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival
Details:
Director: Bob Gebert Shot entirely in one day (choreographed for two weeks prior) 20-person ensemble cast with four simultaneously shooting cameras
Stellina Blue
Cinematographer: 2nd Unit
Feature film 2009
Director: Gabriel Scott Super16 color
Fuzzy Huggy Fun Bears
Cinematographer
Theatrical commercial 2002
Details:
Director: Nick Lovell Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Awards Finalist 35mm Color
Back and Forth
Cinematographer
Music video 2002
Details:
Director: Nick Lovell 35mm color
Killing Babies
Cinematographer
Short film 2001
Details:
Director: Jamieson Fry Based on the award-winning short story by TC Boyle 16mm color
Selected Theatrical Work
The Grapes of Wrath
Adapted by Frank Galati, Based off the novel by John Steinbeck
Director, Scenic Design
Ursa Productions 2018
Details:
An epic, 2-act drama set in the dustbowl era. The set included a moving 1936 Plymouth Brothers truck, a river across the stage, and a rainstorm.
Butcher
by Nicolas Billon
Director, Scenic Design
Grande Prairie Live Theatre 2017
Details:
A gripping, 4-scene thriller starring Darren Bennett, Clint Webb, Abby Webb, and Garry Troutman
Wait Until Dark
by Frederick Knott
Director, Scenic Design
Grande Prairie Live Theatre 2016
Details:
The beloved, 2-act thriller, starring Laura Beauchamp and Clint Webb.