About
A little too early in his youth, 13, Jonathan worked as a cameraman on dozens of television shows, commercials and feature films. Some feature film credits include Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” and “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Mountain View” for John Sayles, “A Better Tomorrow” for John Woo, “Dazed and Confused” for Richard Linklater, “Roommates” for Peter Yates, and “Reversal of Fortune” for Barbet Schroeder.
Having his fill in the camera department, Jonathan went on to produce independent film, television, and theater. He produced the award winning film “Baby Steps” starring Kathy Bates, written and directed by Geoffrey Nauffts. Recently Jonathan produced several feature films for BCDF Pictures. “Higher Ground,” directed by Vera Farmiga, starring Vera, John Hawkes, Josh Leonard, Norbert Leo Butz. “Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding,” directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Elizabeth Olsen, “The Last Keepers” directed by Maggie Greenwald, starring Aiden Quinn, Virginia Madsen, and Olympia Dukakis, and “Rhymes with Banana” directed by Joe Muszynski and Peter Hutchings. Starring Zosia Mamet, Jee Young Han, and Paul Iacono. Jonathan also produced “I Dream Too Much”, starring Eden Brolin, and License Plates, starring Robert Gorrie. In development are Jan Egleson’s “Military Working Dog,” and Geoffrey Naufft’s “Next Fall.”
Television projects include “Almost There”, a scripted series for DirecTV starring Steven Pasquale, “Ivy Dreams,” a feature documentary for AZN, “Must Do Disney” for Disney World Theme Parks, “Away We Go” by Jonathan Larson, and the “Tomorrow is Tonight Show” starring Ben Stiller for Comedy Central. Jonathan has also produced commercials for Time Warner, NY1, Honda, HGTV, The Walt Disney Company, Bionorica Pharmaceutical, Chase Bank, Nintendo, American Express, Prudential Life, Verizon, and the Ford Motor Company. Jonathan prefers producing so that he’s closer to spread sheets and the accounting office.
In theater, Jonathan produced the Tony nominated Broadway production of Mario Cantone’s “Laugh Whore,” which he also produced as television special for The Showtime Networks. He also produced the award winning play “Avow” with Bill C. Davis, and the 10th anniversary production of “RENT” on Broadway with the original cast. And there was “In Search of Cleo” written by and starring Gina Gershon performed at The Box, where drinks were free at the bar!
After losing his dear friend Jenifer Estess to ALS, Jonathan joined the stunningly successful Project ALS where he is most proud of his duties as event producer.
But wait, there’s more: Jonathan is the co-founder and president of the Nantucket Film Festival, dedicated to honoring screenwriters and their craft. The Festival launched in 1996 and has honored writers including Ring Lardner Jr., Walter Bernstein, Charlie Kaufman, Jay Presson Allan, James Schamus, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Jim Taylor, Alexander Payne, Paul Schrader, Steve Martin, Judd Apatow, Harold Ramis, Barry Levinson, and Michael Arndt. The film festival is Jonathan’s only source of fun.
Lastly, Jonathan is certified as an advanced trimix scuba diver and has dived all over the world to depths as much as 250’. When he can, he spends as much time underwater as possible. Though this has nothing to do with producing, Jonathan has learned to breathe efficiently under water, which in turn tends to help during long shoot days.