biography

Named for an unforgettable character in American literature, Rhett Kingsley was born with writing in his veins. Born in New York to a novelist and a playwright, his parents weren't the most successful of writers but they were published and they made certain that Rhett was reading as early in his childhood as he could manage. He was raised in the literary world and though they never had much money he felt much richer for the knowledge that his parents bestowed upon him and the creativity that he inherited from them. Much of his youth was spent lost in reading and when he wasn't doing that he retreated into his own mind, setting up elaborate fantasies and stories of fantastic worlds. It was difficult for him to pull himself out of his head long enough to be social and as a direct result socialization was difficult for Rhett. School became a miserable endeavor so he would bury his head in his books and study throughout the day to keep himself away from the other students. When he applied himself he could do almost anything except for make friends. His grades were good and he took all honors classes but he had a lot of difficulty fitting in. It wasn't until he got to high school that he started to find his niche. The drama program was small but welcoming and there were a handful of students that were willing to accept him, no matter how socially awkward he was. With the drama club his writing talent was able to flourish and he wrote and directed several student productions before he graduated high school.

While he was very dedicated to the stage, it was a logical step for Rhett to turn to film. As a child and well throughout his adolescence he had been memorized by films. The good and the bad. He would dissect movies and put them back together in his mind, thinking of how he would make the bad ones good and the good ones better. What he would have done differently if he were behind the camera. During his senior year of high school he gathered together a group of the most talented drama students and together they made a small independent film that he submitted to several film contests. While it didn't earn him any notoriety or even any prizes in any of the festivals, the short film did earn him a scholarship to New York University and an invitation to join the film program. There was no hesitation on Rhett's part in accepting. Not only had he wanted to go to film school, he knew that his parents wouldn't have had any way to afford his admission into NYU or any other four year university without financial aide or the aide of a scholarship. A few of his friends from high school followed him off to NYU and being able to go out with a few people he already knew helped him to flourish when he moved in on campus. Rhett was able to slowly break away from the socially awkward youth he'd been as he started his career at the school. For four years he played hard, and worked harder, and he graduated with a degree in film production.

Immediately after graduating from NYU, Rhett up and moved to Los Angeles in order to be in the center of the film world. He did everything he could do to get work on films. From running a craft services table to working as a p.a. on the set of several incredibly low budget films. His big break didn't come too long after that, though it was entirely by luck that he was able to get his script looked at. Rhett had written The Following his senior year of college and had filmed a short film based around it for his senior project and it was that short film and script combination that got him noticed in Hollywood. It was complete luck that a film produce caught wind of it and offered him the opportunity to refine the script and to turn it into a feature length film. It would be his directoral debut and it was certainly ambitious but if there was anyone up for the job it was Rhett. The film was difficult but in the end worthwhile. While The Following never really reached a mainstream audience, it opened doors for later projects that Rhett would have otherwise never had the chance to do.

Neither of Rhett's subsequent films were box office successes, but Momento gained him a lot of notoriety. The film was critically acclaimed and developed a cult following that boosted Rhett's success with the follow up, Insomnia. However it wasn't until Rhett's script for the reboot of the Batman series was optioned that he really made a name for himself in the film world. Batman Begins was his first real commercial success as a writer and a director and it allowed him to pull out all of the stops in his career. From there he went on to direct both The Prestige, which he had read in high school and had written a script for in college, as well as The Fountain, which had been an idea he had been holding onto all throughout school. While neither film had the wild success of Batman Begins the films only went on to showcase his talent for writing and directing.

2008 marked the release of the highly anticipated sequel in the Batman franchise and it certainly put Rhett's name on the map. The film was a box office smash and set several records, including the highest gross for opening weekend as well as the second highest grossing film of all time. It was nominated for several awards, including eight academy award nominations. Following the release of The Dark Knight, Rhett was offered a deal to set his next major work into motion. Pre-production for Inception began in late 2009 and he begun filming in the late spring / early summer of 2010. The only other film he has on the books is the currently unnamed Batman sequel that is scheduled for 2012.