About this item
HGTV meets Downton Abbey! A ready-for-TV story - with charm and humor in abundance - about a Los Angeles producer who moves to England to save his ancestral castle from ruin.Hollywood producer Hopwood DePree had been told as a boy that an ancestor - who he was named for - had left his family's English castle in the 1700s to come to America. One night after some wine and a visit to Ancestry.com, Hopwood discovered a photograph of a magnificent English estate with a familiar name: Hopwood Hall, a 60-room, 600-year-old grand manor on 5,000 acres. And with that, Hopwood DePree's life took an almost fairytale turn.Hopwood Hall, in northwest England, was indeed his family's ancestral home. It had been occupied continuously by the Hopwood family for five centuries until the last remaining male heirs were killed in World War I.
About the Author
Hopwood DePree grew up in Holland, Michigan, where one of his neighbors once said "he wasn't that great of a kid. "As a young adult, he fled for the bright lights of L.A. where he successfully landed a job in front of a restaurant as a dancing chicken. The next day he was fired for not being "enthusiastic enough".He managed to graduate from the University of Southern California, beginning his career as an actor and independent filmmaker with his first film, "Rhinoskin" - a comedic documentary that followed his hapless adventures attempting to break into the entertainment industry. Having charged up $20,000 on his credit cards to make the film, he crossed his fingers and hoped for the best. Fortunately, he found critical success on the film festival circuit and went on to write, produce and act in independent and studio film & television productions, often having the lucky opportunity of being able to, incredibly and fortuitously, work alongside Emmy & Academy Award winning and nominated artists. Hopwood has performed stand-up comedy at notable venues in both LA and the UK including The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where only a few people walked out (they later said they had food poisoning) . Hopwood continues to write and produce content and has been filming his journey of the rescue of Hopwood Hall Estate to share with those following him on YouTube, Patreon and across his other social media outlets (hint hint - this is a shameless subconscious plug to follow along if you like) .
