Luke Hickman grew up in the nasty desert town of Hesperia, Calif. Because there is obviously nothing good to do in the desert, Luke wasted his childhood watching television and movies. He was one of those nerds who watched Siskel and Ebert, even though two-thirds of the movies reviewed would never open in a theater near him. From a very young age, Luke always said he would be a film critic when he grew up. As time went on, because it seemed like a goal too far to reach, Luke explored more rational career options. After changing his major several times at Utah Valley University, he decided to study all the film he could (at a school without a film program) and go for it. It was there that he began reviewing movies for the student newspaper, The College Times (now known as the UVU Review), and eventually had the great pleasure of geeking out movie-style with Jason Pyles. Upon graduating in 2008, Luke began looking for a way to review films professionally. While covering the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Luke met fellow aspiring university film critic Aaron Peck. Shortly thereafter, the two created their own site called The Reel Place (www.thereelplace.com) and began looking for other credible outlets to work for while building the site. (Because of the quickly climbing success of The Reel Place, Luke and his trusty team are putting more into the site than ever, including contests and giveaways for free Blu-rays and passes to advance screenings to some of the hottest movies — so check it out!) Luke teamed up with the Talking Pictures television show hosts Rich Bonaduce and Tony Toscano and created the Talking Pictures Podcast, which has ceased production of new episodes. Also, he later landed a weekly spot reviewing movies on The Stubbs Show, a radio program on 101.5 The Eagle, Salt Lake City, KEGA. Most recently Luke was commissioned to write reviews for theatrical coverage on High-Def Digest.com. (Luke's photo is displayed courtesy of Mark Johnston.) Luke appears on the Considering the Sequels Podcast as the special guest in Episode 3 and Episode 12.
