Ron Schildknecht is an independent filmmaker and screenwriter working in Louisville, Kentucky and Chicago, Illinois. Working in both dramatic and documentary form, his work, including The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster, My Porcelain Past, Borderlines, and Fragments of a German American Mind, often explores local history and culture. These films and others - Heavens Above and Muggs & Toast - have received awards at film festivals across the country. The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster continues to be a cult classic.
Schildknecht presented his multi-channel film exhibition, Fragments of a German American Mind: The Films of Konrad Mueller, at the 849 Gallery at Kentucky College of Art & Design at Spalding University in 2017, and screened his short film, Children Without a Voice, during a live performance of the Louisville Orchestra in 2019.
A passionate educator, Schildknecht has taught filmmaking, digital media, and screenwriting at institutions across Kentucky including Spalding University, Bellarmine University, University of Louisville, Bluegrass Community & Technical College, Louisville Visual Art Association, Governor’s School for the Arts, Speed Art Museum and the Moving Image Academy. He has produced feature presentations for the Gheens Science Hall and Rauch Memorial Planetarium and numerous education videos for the University of Louisville.
Schildknecht is a two-time recipient of the Al Smith Fellowship in Media Arts from the Kentucky Arts Council and he received his MFA in Writing from Spalding University.