High-Land

Eric Hinwood, a Salinas native who began making movies at 7 years old with a home video camera, co-founded an independent film production company, ATAEC Studios, that garnered immediate success for the young actor/filmmaker. Eric Hinwood graduated from the HARA Motion Picture Conservatory's Script-to-Screen program, shot his first feature film, a European travel comedy, which secured international distribution through Amazon Prime, and began attending Whittier College. However, he fell off a cliff half-way through his sophomore year, during which he suffered from two hemorrhagic strokes, multiple brain contusions, spinal compression, hearing loss, and many other injuries. He was slowed down by recovery for quite a while, but managed to go back to school and even shoot his second European feature later that year. The timing had to be perfect, but with 3 months in London and 4 in Paris, and many trips to other areas, Hinwood was able to study abroad and complete principal photography on the film. Upon returning to the US, Hinwood finished his studies and graduated with a B.A. in Film Production and Business, a B.A. in French Language and Literature, and a minor in Spanish. The day after commencement he was hired to direct his first US feature film, a narrative fiction drama/thriller about Syria and other human displacement crises, and immigration. Hinwood was passionate about these topics because his godfather was born and raised in the Middle-East and his grandmother was an immigrant from Mexico, so he returned to his hometown to make the film. After this production was completed, much like before graduation, he returned to LA to do freelance work in different crew positions while signed with talent agencies, and even began working as a film consultant from time to time. As the head of ATAEC Studios, Hinwood continues to act, direct, produce, edit, shoot, and model in Los Angeles.