Hal Barwood
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Writer, director and producer Hal Barwood was born and raised in
Hanover, New Hampshire. His father ran a local movie theater. Barwood
graduated with honors with a BA in arts from Brown University in
Providence, Rhode Island. Hal then attended the University of Southern
California's School of Cinema-Television, where he first met both
George Lucas and future frequent collaborator Matthew Robbins. Barwood
and Robbins wrote the screenplays for Steven Spielberg's debut
theatrical feature "The Sugarland Express," the amiable sports comedy
"The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings," the magical science
fiction classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (Hal also has a
small role in this film), and the bio epic "MacArthur." Moreover,
Barwood both co-wrote and produced two films that Robbins directed: the
charming teen coming-of-age winner "Corvette Summer" and the first-rate
fantasy cult favorite "Dragonslayer." Barwood made his sole foray as a
director of a theatrical feature with the excellent and underrated
medical horror chiller "Warning Sign." From 1990 to 2003 Hal worked as
director, producer and scriptwriter for the video game company
LucasArts; he's perhaps best known for his work on the 1992 game
"Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis." He was named one of the top
25 game designers in America in the August, 1999 issue of the magazine
"PC Gamer." The video games Barwood has designed include "Star Wars:
Yoda Stories," "RTX Red Rock," "Zengemsi," and "Mata Hari." Hal Barwood
resides in Portland, Oregon and works as a freelance independent
contractor for his company Finite Arts.