Eric Wayne Key – Founder & Creative Director, Cogknockers Filmmaking Company
Eric Wayne Key is a filmmaker, screenwriter, composer, and creative director whose work is deeply infused with the Southern gothic landscapes and contradictions of his upbringing. Born in 1964 in Jacksonville, Alabama, Key was raised in the heart of a small town wrapped in red clay, cotton fields, and kudzu vines—a place where stories whispered through generations, and silence often spoke louder than words.
From an early age, storytelling was a means of survival. Raised by a mother with quiet resilience and a father whose life was forever marked by trauma—Jackie Wayne Key was burned as a six-year-old child during a violent attack that left him hospitalized for years—Eric learned to navigate a world of deep love and deep wounds. His father’s pain and their volatile relationship would later become central to Key’s exploration of generational trauma, addiction, and redemption. Eric would also carry the imprint of his great-grandmother, Bessie Key, who burned to death in a house fire, a recurring motif in his work—fire as both destroyer and symbol of rebirth.
By the time he was old enough to escape the gravitational pull of his hometown, Eric was already immersed in music, theater, and writing. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Drama from Jacksonville State University in 1988, where he was trained in classical performance but drawn to raw, emotionally-driven work. Shortly after graduation, he was hired by Disney-MGM Studios, performing in live shows and working behind the scenes. It was there that his fascination with visual storytelling and special effects took root—so much so that he later worked as a pyro-technician, orchestrating fire with precision and spectacle. Ironically, while creating illusions of destruction on stage, his parents’ home caught fire, destroying his childhood room and possessions, marking yet another literal and symbolic flame in his life’s timeline.
In 1991, Eric moved to San Francisco, seeking distance, reinvention, and artistic freedom. He worked as a web developer and creative lead for major interactive companies like Mindscape, Broderbund, and Mattel Interactive, while continuing to write screenplays and produce original music. It was in this creative space that he met Soyung, his future wife and closest collaborator. Together, they founded a boutique design and content firm, merging art and technology while raising two sons, Griffin and Ethan, in a home filled with creativity, music, and unwavering partnership.
Eric’s screenwriting career was profoundly shaped by his two-decade mentorship with the late Ken Rotcop—Hollywood veteran, former creative head of Embassy Pictures, and award-winning screenwriter of For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers. Under Rotcop’s guidance, Eric refined his storytelling voice, focusing on character-first narratives that challenged norms and reached for emotional truth.
In 2000, Key optioned his first screenplay, A Tiller of the Field, to Zeta Entertainment—a significant career milestone. Though the film was ultimately never produced, the experience opened doors and forged relationships that would continue to shape his artistic journey. That same year was marked by profound personal milestones: the death of his father and the beginning of his marriage—a year where grief and love intertwined, transforming him both personally and creatively.
In 2023, Eric was diagnosed with a rare intramedullary spinal cord tumor—a condition so delicate that surgical removal was deemed impossible. The tumor, likely linked to Von Hippel-Lindau disease, caused chronic pain and limited mobility, but Key’s creative fire remained undiminished. Despite facing multiple surgeries and physical setbacks, he refused all narcotics—a personal vow influenced by witnessing his father’s addiction to painkillers. He chose, instead, to manage the pain through discipline, meditation, and creative focus, pouring his energy into his current projects.
Through Cogknockers Filmmaking Company, Key now dedicates himself fully to independent filmmaking, screenwriting, and scoring original music. His work explores the tension between beauty and violence, memory and myth, often blurring the lines between past and present. Whether through raw, character-driven dramas or poetic explorations of Southern identity, his films carry the unmistakable imprint of a life lived with depth, complexity, and an unshakable desire to tell the truth.
Key’s creative philosophy is simple: “Story is survival. Art is fire. Music is medicine.” He is currently in development on several original film projects and a memoir titled The Kudzu and the Cotton, which intertwines his personal journey with the history and shadow of the Deep South.
He lives with his wife, two sons, and a couple of charmingly spoiled pugs in a house where guitars hang on the walls, old family photos tell unspoken stories, and the writing desk is always lit.
