Eric Daniel Peddle

Eric Daniel Peddle (born March 8, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director, casting director, author, and artist.

Peddle was born on March 8, 1970, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Betty and Larry Peddle. He was raised in rural North Carolina, just outside of Winston-Salem.

He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating with honors with a bachelor's degree in Anthropology and RTVMP (radio television motion picture). In 1992, he relocated to New York where he attended graduate film school at New York University.

While attending New York University, Peddle worked as a "street scout" finding undiscovered talent for his student films. This unconventional means of casting soon evolved into a thriving fashion casting company with an international clientele such as Comme des Garçons, Phillip Lim, and Givenchy. His discoveries range from Donald Cumming, former lead singer of "The Virgins", to Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, whom he discovered near Union Square in New York when she was fourteen-years-old, to model Mitchell Slaggert. Through this discovery, Lawrence modeled for an Abercrombie and Fitch advertisement in 2004/05.

Filmmaking

In 2001, Peddle formed a casting agency named The Secret Gallery Inc. with partner Drew Dasent. The company works with international modeling and talent agencies and cast for worldwide print advertising, magazine editorials, runway shows, TV commercials, independent films, and digital media.

It was through street casting that Peddle first encountered the subjects of his debut feature documentary film in 2005 The Aggressives (starring Kisha Batista and Marquise Balenciaga). The film is considered an important and penetrating work on gender identity in the modern world. It was awarded the Alfred C. Kinsey Honor from the Kinsey Institute in 2006, and also won numerous "Best of" awards at documentary film festivals worldwide. In 2005, Peddle's written piece on The Aggressives was published in the subcultural book Transculturalism by Powerhouse books.

In 2009, Peddle released his second documentary Trail Angels—a portrait of unsung heroes who have made it their quest to help the seasonal thru-hikers of the Appalachian Trail, a pilgrimage of five million footsteps. The documentary was showcased on the Documentary Channel.

In 2014, Peddle completed his first narrative feature, Sunset Edge. Sunset Edge had its world premiere at the Museum of the Moving Image (New York City). The film was released by Kino International in 2015. Part gothic thriller, part coming-of-age tale, Sunset Edge upends teenage horror films.

In 2017, he released a romance drama named Moss, which was directed, produced, and written by him. The entire cast of the film—Mitchell Slaggert, Christine Marzano, and Dorian Cobb, etc.—was discovered by him. In this Southern Gothic coming-of-age tale, an isolated and troubled young man, Moss (played by Mitchell Slaggert), meets a mysterious and beautiful hiker (Marzano) on the banks of the river near his home on his eighteenth birthday. She guides him on a journey of self-discovery and helps him overcome the tragic death of his mother and the shadow it has cast on his relationship with his detached father. Gail Lyon served as the executive producer on the film.

Most recently, in 2019, Peddle directed and co-produced (with Karim López) a biographical documentary titled Garden of the Peaceful Dragon. The documentary follows the life of Luvell Benford III, a Pasadena, California-born elderly African-American veteran who occupies an abandoned plot of land on Kauai, Hawaii, and shares his fascinating off-the-grid existence and incredible life-story. The film premiered at the Harlem International Film Festival as the opening night feature and won the Best Documentary award. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltxtVncXD3k

Art

Peddle's work has been described as "At the nexus of a New Romanticism his works share an affinity with the solitary poetics of Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau, yet with ample contemporary cultural cues."

His debut solo painting show "Undertow", displayed at Envoy Enterprises in 2012, was named "Critic's pick" by NY Magazine and garnered national praise. Peddle is represented as a fine artist by Envoy Gallery in NY.

Books

Peddle is also a published author and has written many children's books.

In 2000, he published Snow Day, a wordless children's book, with Doubleday publishing. He then released three other books in the seasonal series: Daisy Diary, Sand Stars, and Pumpkin Peace.

His other books include:

• When Mr. Grand Flew (October 17, 2015)
• Clyde's Dogs (November 15, 2015)
• The Back Talk Trio (October 17, 2015)
• Ooooh Baby! (September 27, 2015)
• Close Your Eyes- a bedtime meditation (January 23, 2014)

• The Aggressives (2005)
• Trail Angels (2010)
• Sunset Edge (2014)
• Garden of The Peaceful Dragon (2017)
• Moss (2018)