In Brief

I'm a filmmaker living in New York, creating independent films and writing screenplays. I've attended New York University for film and produced numerous music videos and short films. Filmmaking is my passion and lifelong dream. Please take a look at some of my work.

Resumé

A PDF copy of my resumé is available here. Please contact me with any inquiries.

The Beginning

When I was a child, I became fascinated with animation, and spent hours making flipbooks. At age 14, I got a camcorder and started experimenting with stop-motion animation. Shortly after, I started making music videos. I would pick a song that I liked, and shoot as many takes as possible relating to the musical sequence. My tone was a bit on the dark side. I shot with a sense of the surreal. Though only a young teen, I managed to shoot a graphic and emotionally resonant video to the intense song "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, which connects sexual passion with God. This, I felt, was my first significant accomplishment in filmmaking. My high school declined to play the video on their morning broadcast due to its graphic content.

My cuts were fast, my images were grainy, and my actors were amateurish. But I persisted in doing the best job I could, in spite of my minimal resources. The only way that I could edit these videos was by using the linear editing systems offered by the cable access channels I was a member of. When I moved to upstate New York from Massachusetts, I became the only adolescent member of the local cable access channel. My devoted hobby was becoming a way of life.

Education

In the fall of 2000, I decided it was time to learn film for real. I attended New York University, and learned a great deal about film history. Although this was very informative, I felt as though I was being delayed. I wanted to make films, and I didn’t have the patience or the money to enter Tisch Graduate School.

In the fall of 2001, I attended the one-year course offered at the New York Film Academy. There I made several student films, ultimately creating my first low-budget independent production, Stormy Weather.

Stormy Weather

Stormy Weather is a tale of loss that I believe all New Yorkers, all Americans in fact, can relate to. Conceived of in the weeks following the September 11 tragedies, this film for me put a face on the loss felt by individual people, the upending of everyday lives which occurred for so many that day. I experienced the loss of one close to me days before production started, and I believe this influenced the final outcome.

Click here to read more about Stormy Weather and to view the film.

Goals

Ultimately, my goal is to direct major motion pictures. To that end, I would like as many people as possible to view my current and future projects.

Some of my work is available online. Please take a look, and also download a copy of my resumé.

- Justin Lee Peterson