Hillman Curtis

David Hillman Curtis (February 24, 1961 – April 18, 2012) was an American new media designer, author, musician and filmmaker. Curtis was the Principal and Chief Creative Officer of hillmancurtis.com, inc., a digital design and film production firm in New York City. Curtis was successful in several creative disciplines; he started as a rock musician, became a pioneer in Web Design and interactive design with Flash and finally made short films and advertising commercials. After schooling he studied creative writing and film theory at San Francisco State University.

Career

Music

While studying at the San Francisco State University, Curtis formed a rock group, which was later called 'Green Things'. In the coming decade, the band toured and even recorded an album with MCA Records, before disbanding.

Film Curtis received acclaim for his online "Artist Series", a series of short documentaries on designers and artists, Milton Glaser, Paula Scher, David Carson, Lawrence Weiner, Stefan Sagmeister, James Victore, Pentagram, and the filmmaker Mark Romanek. He also has made short dramatic films as well as national commercials for IBM and BlackBerry, as well as web content for brands like Sprint, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, SVA, and Rolling Stone.

In 2008, Curtis made a short documentary for the David Byrne and Brian Eno album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today and later directed the feature-length documentary Ride, Rise, Roar which chronicled the Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour.

He co-directed The Happy Film (2016) alongside Stefan Sagmeister and Ben Nabors. The documentary follows Sagmeister’s self-experiments with meditation, therapy, and pharmaceuticals to explore happiness, combining personal narrative with creative visual storytelling.

Personal life Curtis continued to actively manage Hillmancurtis until his death on April 18, 2012, at his Brooklyn home after a prolonged battle with colon cancer, at the age of 51. He was married and had two children.

Filmography Soldiers (2008) Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far: Stefan Sagmeister (2008) Lawrence Weiner (2008) Embrace (2008) Bridge (2008) Ride, Rise, Roar (2010) Powerhouse Books (2011)