- John Jopson
John Charles Jopson (born
October 17 ,1954 ) is afilm director ,screenwriter , andcinematographer best known for thejazz film “One Night with Blue Note ” and hismusic videos from the 1980s.Biography
John Jopson began his film career in
automobile racing , first in 1975 as astringer filmingFormula One races forUnited Press International 's television news division (UPITN) in London. He then worked as cinematographer on the Italian Formula One movie “Speed Fever” (Formula Uno, Febbre della Velocità) in 1978, and directed thedocumentary film “Gasoline Alley” aboutMario Andretti 's attempt to win anotherIndianapolis 500 race in 1982. His racing footage was also used in the 1977Al Pacino filmBobby Deerfield , and in 1979 Jopson won the Golden Quill Award for his eclecticshort film “Mass Transit” based onKraftwerk 's 22 minute tome Autobahn.During the 1980s, based in
New York City , John directed videos, concert films and documentaries for a diverse group of artists including, Icehouse,Willy DeVille ,John Waite , Poison,REO Speedwagon ,Elton John , and The Angels, and he toured extensively withHall and Oates as both cinematographer and director. In 1985, working with cinematographerErnest Dickerson , John directed the critically acclaimed jazz film “One Night with Blue Note”. Hisfeature length film “Nervous Night ”, a collection ofshort films starringThe Hooters , won theBillboard Music Award for “Best Longform” in 1985. Jopson was also the cinematographer on the film “Does Humor Belong in Music?” written and directed byFrank Zappa . He moved toSydney ,Australia in 1987 where he directed clips for numerous Aussie bands andcommercials forMercedes Benz and Mistsubishi among others.Based in
Los Angeles throughout the 1990s John wrote and directed a wide range of films and television programs includingPBS ' "The Champs Elysees" withHalle Barry and "Bioperfection" withStephen Hawking . He moved toEurope in 1999 and has continued to write and direct films from his home base inItaly . In 2001 Jopson wrote and directed thetelevision pilot for Scariest Places on Earth, and in 2003 he wrote thescreenplay for Viktor Ivanov’s Russianadventure film White Gold .Jopson studied film and theatre at
Lycoming College and furthered his theatre studies at theStella Adler Conservatory and withArthur Mendoza . He joined theDirectors Guild of America in 1986 asSecond Unit Director of theRKO /Paramount motion picture “Campus Man”.John is married to the noted artist [http://www.crowzone.com Caroline Zimmermann] . They live in
Tuscany , nearFlorence and maintain homes inLaguna Beach, California andMammoth Mountain . He is currently preparing a feature film about theImpressionists set forprincipal photography in 2008 inParis ,Torino andFlorence .elected Filmography
Music Videos
Of more than 50 music videos John directed, some of the most notable include:
*
Shawn Phillips - "Share the Wealth" (1983), a stinging diatribe againstRonald Reagan 's economic policies of the early 1980s. The controversial video featured aflag burning and footage ofhomeless people.
*Willy DeVille - “Each Word” (1984) and “Italian Shoes” (1985)
*The Jazz Messengers - “Moanin’” (1985)
*Grover Washington, Jr. - “Summertime” (1985)
*REO Speedwagon – “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (1985)
*Herbie Hancock – “Canteloupe Island” (1985)
*The Hooters - “And We Danced” (1985) and 4 others.
*Hall and Oates - “Some Things (are Better Left Unsaid)” (1985) co-directed withJeb Brien .
*Dennis DeYoung – “This is the Time” (1986)
* Poison - "Cry Tough" (1986) and “I Won’t Forget You” (1987)
*The Outfield - "Your Love" (1986)
*John Waite - “If Anybody had a Heart” (1986)
* Icehouse - “Crazy” (1987), “Electric Blue ” (1987) and two others.
*Randy Travis – “Is it Still Over” (1989)
* The Angels – “Dogs are Talking” (1989) and 5 others.Films and Television
John's film work includes:
* "Bobby Deerfield " (1977) Additional Cinematography
* “Speed Fever” (1978) Cinematographer
* "Mass Transit (Autobahn)" (1979) Director, Cinematographer
* “One Night with Blue Note ” (1985) Director
* “Does Humor Belong in Music?” Cinematographer
* “Nervous Night ” (1986) Director
* "Icehouse: Live at the Ritz" (1987) Director [imdb title|id=0893528] [cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/release/857944 |title=Icehouse - "Live at the Ritz" |publisher=Discogs |accessdate=2008-06-30 ]
* "" (1987) Co-Directed withJohn Oates andJeb Brien
* “Beyond Salvation” (1990) Director
* “A Musical Journey with Elton John” (1994) Director
* "Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills ” (1994) Director
* “Bioperfection: Building a New Human Race (with Stephen Hawking)” (1998) Writer, Director
* “Beyond Chance” (1999) Director
* "Scariest Places on Earth" Episodes: “The Hayden Bridge Exorcism” “The Lair of the Wickedest Man on Earth” “Curse of the Roman Gladiators” (2001) Writer, Director
* “The Rise and Fall of the Spartans” (2002) Director
*White Gold (2003) Writer
* “A Year in a Tuscan Vineyard” (2003) Writer, Director, Cinematographer
* “Punishment” (2004) Director
* “Castaways” (2004) Director
* “The Great Adventure” (2005) DirectorReferences
External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429779/ John Charles Jopson] -
Internet Movie Database listing
* [http://www.mvdbase.com/tech.php?last=Jopson&first=John John Jopson] - Music Video Database listing
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