When filmmaker Paul Hannum, 45, died August 3 of complications from an appendectomy in Los Angeles, he left behind fiancee Sarah Percy and a baby girl due in October. He also left brother Curtis without his dearest friend and creative collaborator.
Born and raised in Denver, the brothers, who moved to Los Angeles, made very good locally when their irreverent feature “The Real Old Testament” (realoldtestament.com) won the audience award for best feature at the Boulder International Film Festival in 2005.
Often as wise-cracking as it was wise, the comedy spoofed reality TV by spending some quality time with characters from the Bible.
In addition to coproducing an codirecting the film, Paul played Snake to Curtis’ God.
“People like to hang out with me ‘cuz I tell good stories,” Hannum’s character mouthed off. “Partly because I’ve met God. People like to hear stories about God, and Adam and Eve… I know quite a few celebrities.”
God had some thoughts about the serpent, too: “I love Snake, he’s funny, he’s charming in his own way. But he doesn’t get that I’m God…he seems to think that I’m his roommate or something.” Some say that God and the Snake need each other for this strange creative tension we call existence. In the case of the Hannum brothers, that much seems true.
Hannum is survived by Percy, brother Curtis, sister Kristen Hannum of Denver and Portland, OR, and mother Evelyn Stokes Joiner of Denver. A memorial service will take place at 7 p.m., Friday, August 11, at the family home in Denver, Colorado: 3880 S. Hillcrest Dr.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to a fund for Paul and Sarah’s daughter. For more information please visit babyhannum.com
