01/28/2022
It is with a heavy heart we mourn the loss and sudden passing of our Citizen Skull client and dear friend, Tilke Hill. Tilke was an incredible actress, writer, producer and fearless creator. Her passion and vibrant energy was contagious. When she entered a room with her beauty, engaging personality and loud laughter, you couldn’t help but be taken by her presence. Tilke was such a dedicated artist. She had a strong love for theater. She had an immense knowledge of her craft and it’s history. Tilke was the holder of a BA Degree in Performance from Fordham University and received her MFA for Theater and Performance from University at Buffalo.
Even as a young actress in Los Angeles, she had a thirst for learning every aspect of filmmaking and the business. She interned for a talent manager in her early twenties, played on the boards of the Hayworth Theater, and auditioned and booked roles in commercials and indie films, before heading back east to be closer to family.
She was ahead of her time when her Masters’ thesis became a series called #WIMMR (aka Why I Murdered My Roommate), a micro-series, now seen on Amazon. Her out of the box thinking helped her create a fun, offbeat cast of characters set in the quirky world of Buffalo, NY. This story could have been a simple feature film or pilot, Tilke instead, expanded it into a comic book, a video game, and video content on Youtube. She was intuitive and had the forethought that interactive content creation was just around the corner. She created a complex project that I have never seen before. And that was perfectly Tilke because there was nothing simple and boring about her.
In the twenty plus years of watching her drive her creative ideas and how she expressed her talent, she never seized to amaze me. Tilke was also one of the most kind hearted, supportive friends and collaborator anyone could ask for. She was a person who believed in her friend’s abilities so strongly that she would make a point to remind you of your own greatness, especially when you needed a boost. She would show her love for you in a relatable pep talk or even proving it by casting you in her next project.
She could write, star in, cast, direct, produce, location scout, pull wardrobe, cater, coordinate, and I am sure drove a transport bus or two along the way in her colorful filmmaking career. Whatever it would take to get the job done she would go above and beyond to make her art come to fruition. She was a true renaissance woman. She was a big part of the Buffalo Film & Theater community. Tilke worked the Buffalo International Film Festival since 2015, starting as a Diversity Development Director to eventually move into Festival Director.
Tilke started her own production company, The New Hotness with her producing partner Lukia Costello. This female lead company focused on bringing more social awareness and opportunity to more diverse storytelling. Tilke was a powerful voice for change in the world. She was an advocate of the LGBTQA community and pushed for more Diversity and Inclusion for all in our Industry.
Tilke was a force of nature and a true lightworker. She will be forever missed. Please honor Tilke by watching her projects, which you can discover on IMDB.com. Google her and read articles and interviews about her accomplishments. Go to her page to see the outpouring of love from her family & peers. And most importantly keep creating. If you knew her you’d know she’d say something cheeky right now like The show must go on! or M***e, don’t tell me to break a leg, I’m busy breaking glass ceilings.
Tilke’s co-collaborators at Sparkfilmmakers.org are making plans to create a female filmmaker fund in her name. Please follow them on their mission to create such a worthy cause, which will honor the calling and legacy of Tilke Hill.
Tilke’s recent credits include, DIRECTING: Rust Belt Driller, Q***r Suffragist on PBS, FILMS: Twisted Heaven, Adjunct, Let Them Have Their Way, Cold Brook, THEATRE: The Plight of The Royal Dandie –One woman show, Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Bernadette in Every Tongue Confess, TV: The Last Year - Pilot, Why I Murdered My Roommate on Amazon.
