C.K. Lichenstein II is the youngest of three children, born in New
Jersey and raised in Alabama and Texas. In 1993 he moved to Portland,
Oregon and in 1999, with no formal training, began working there in its
burgeoning indie film scene when he produced the small, cult hit,
The Sexy Chef (2002). He has gone
on to produce numerous ultra-low budget feature films and shorts (and
even wrote/directed a few) and worked on several others, all while
usually holding down a day job.
Finding he had a natural talent for dealing with the pitfalls of
filmmaking, C.K. has been able to deliver diverse films in such genres
as comedy, action, science fiction and art-house drama. He won several
festival awards with his productions of the feature film,
[error] and the
short film Rifle Workbook (2007).
He has also been active in getting more support for indigenous low
budget filmmakers as a founder of OPA (Oregon Producer's Alliance) and
as one of the writers of the bill and now law, IOPIF. Besides
filmmaking he has co-produced several of the Portland 48 Hour Film
Project, spoken at several festivals and schools, judged numerous film
events, including the 2011 Student Academy Awards, was the honorary
co-chair of the 2011 Beloit International Film Festival and has
produced several filmmaking seminars.
