Sheriff

After graduating from the University of Iowa in 1997, Daniel Kraus moved to North Carolina where he worked as freelance writer. For more than a year, Kraus was a cameraman for the NBC TV affiliate in Wilmington. It was while covering news in Brunswick County that he met Sheriff Ronald E. Hewett, who would become the subject of Sheriff. The film, a pure cinema verité project shot on the streets, beaches, and swamps of Brunswick County, North Carolina, took more than five years (and three hurricanes) to complete. A Fairfield, Iowa native, Kraus completed his first feature-length documentary during his senior year in college. The film, Jefftowne, told the story of a controversial man with Down Syndrome. Jefftowne premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival and won the Festival Choice Award at the New York Underground Film Festival. Kraus’ subsequent film, the narrative feature Ball of Wax, told the story of a sociopathic professional baseball player, and won the Director’s Award at the Cinequest San Jose Festival. Kraus lives in Chicago with his wife, Amanda. Between shooting films, he makes a living as a freelance writer, writing for such publications as Playboy, Cosmopolitan, Salon.com, and Maxim. Kraus plans to graduate with a master’s in information and library sciences from the University of Illinois in May 2006.