Early Life
Van Sant was born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States (US), the son of Betty (née Seay) and Gus Green Van Sant, Sr; Gus Van Sant's father was a clothing manufacturer and traveling salesman who rapidly worked his way into middle class prosperity. As a result of his father's job, the family moved continually during Van Sant's childhood.
Van Sant is an alumnus of Darien High School in Connecticut, US, and The Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon, US. One constant in the director's early years was his interest in visual arts (namely, painting and Super-8 filmmaking); while still in school he began making semi-autobiographical shorts costing between 30 and 50 dollars. Van Sant's artistic leanings took him to the Rhode Island School of Design in 1970, where his classmates included David Byrne and other members of Talking Heads. It was also at RISD that Van Sant received an introduction to avant-garde directors like Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, and Andy Warhol; this introduction quickly inspired him to change his major from painting to cinema.
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