Click
here to access staff writer
Sam Weller's feature piece in
on Jerry
Vasilatos and the
making of "Solstice"
(aka "The Night Before Christmas")
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Welcome
to the website of Writer, Producer, Director and Editor Jerry Vasilatos
Please explore our site to sample the full range of creative services
available!
IN OTHER NEWS...
WINS "BEST SHORT FEATURE" AND "BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY"
IN THE 2009 CHICAGO STAR AWARDS !
"The Dark Knight Project" was also featured in the 3/12/09 Tribune Red Eye Cover Story "INDIE CITY"
Click Here!
Jerry speaks at the Chicago New Media Summit about "The Dark Knight Project"
View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
Visit: www.darkknightproject.com for other exclusive behind the scenes photos and information!
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Click
below for instant access to dedicated project areas.
Filmography
& Other News
(Updated
March, 2010)
Jerry's
most recently completed projects include producing, directing and editing the internet viral video Data Held Hostage for Braintree Payment Solutions, Burlington Northern for the local Chicago group Braam, and editing promotional spots for the Hellenic American Academy. 2009 highlights include producing, directing and editing Inside America for the Chicago Region 48 Hour Film Project and editing industrial spots for Today's Machining World. 2008 projects include editing The Tiffany Dome: A Celebration of Light, The Dark Knight Project, and Clonely, both of which he also wrote, produced, directed and edited. The Dark Knight Project won 2 Star Awards as well as rated 4 Stars by Film Threat. Clonely was produced for the Chicago Region 48 Hour Film Project, where it was awarded as one of the Best of Chicago entrants. Eariler in 2008 and late 2007, Jerry edited season
1 episodes 1, 5 and 9 and season 2 episode 5 of the History
Channel series Gangland.
2007 projects included editing DVD featurettes for the films Primeval, The
History Boys and Turistas produced by Trailer
Park and the feature film Frankie
D, starring Todd Bridges and produced by DV
Filmworks. In 2006, Jerry edited 10 segments of the series Breaking In produced by Kevin Leadingham for the REELZ
Channel, directed the 48 Hour Film project Protected! for Bliss
Productions, and served as co-producer and editor for twenty
three 1 hour and 1/2 hour episodes of the weekly syndicated series Made
in Hollywood. Jerry also color corrected
the PBS documentary Maid
in America and edited the Macauley Culkin
episode of Hollywood
Hold 'Em poker for E! as well as Frame
on the Wall - The Making of "The Door in the Floor" and Backstage
with "Connie and Carla" for Universal Home
Video. Now
You Know, the romantic comedy written and directed by Clerks II star Jeff Anderson and edited by Jerry, was
released in December of 2006 by Weinstein Home Video.
In 2004 he produced the 25th
Anniversary Battlestar Galactica Retrospective and Galacticon
DVD, and also directed the short scene adaptation Blue
World for the HBO Project Greenlight competition. His projects in 2000 included
the comedy spoof The
Blair Witch Rejects, and the documentary A
Refugee and Me, co-produced with director Kevin Leadingham. The
Blair Witch Rejects is a screwball comedy satirizing the
barrage of independent filmmakers that attempted to ride the coat-tails
of the original indie hit The
Blair Witch Project. A
Refugee and Me documents the life of Burmese refugee Twai
Thongdee and his quest to obtain an illegal Thai identification
card which will allow him to get well paying job in Thailand in
order to aid his refugee family living along the border. Refugee won the "Best of Show" award in the Tambay Film Festival,
and was an official selection of the Cinequest: San Jose International
Film Festival, the New York International Independent Film and
Video Festival, the Hawaii International Film Festival, and the
Denver International Film Festival.
Jerry is also presently involved as producer/director
of the dramatic thriller Butcher's
Dozen, in development as a feature film. Prior
to his move from Chicago and founding of his production office in
Los Angeles, Jerry wrote, produced and directed the independent
holiday drama Solstice which was broadcast nationally as Lifetime Television's Original
World Premiere Movie during Christmas of 1994. Solstice was awarded the Silver Award by the Charleston International Film
Festival, the Bronze Award by the Houston International Film Festival,
and was broadcast again by Lifetime Television on Christmas Eve
of 1995. It is now available in it's 10 year anniversary edition
on DVD with it's new title The
Night Before Christmas. Jerry's
theatrical directing credits include The
Great Houdini, written by Stacy Tanner, and Witnesses,
an action adventure co-written with Victor H. Schiller. The
Great Houdini premiered at the prestigious Stella
Adler Theater in Hollywood during the spring of 1999, and Witnesses was selected by the Chicago Screenwriters Network for their Winter/Spring
'96 Staged Screenplay Reading Series. It was performed under Jerry's
direction to a full house (130 capacity) at the American Blues
Theater in Chicago on March 24th, 1996. Jerry's writing credits
include Solstice, Palace
Treasure, The
Seahawks, and Shelter
Me , a suspense thriller co-written with Sara
Coover Caldwell. He is a graduate of Columbia
College in Chicago, where he earned his Bachelor's Degree
in film and also served as President of their West Coast Alumni
Chapter from 1999 through 2001.
Jerry
can be reached via e-mail at nitestar_productions@yahoo.com.
Personal
Statement
Filmmaking is an amazing thing. You can teach people, move them,
and inspire them. You can make them laugh or make them cry. You
can make them grab the arm of the person next to them in suspense
as they watch the onscreen exploits of your characters, or reflect
on what they've viewed hours after they've seen your film. To
me, the best films have a heart, and they draw you into wanting
to join the characters while learning something important, or
being inspired; while laughing or crying, or grabbing that person's
arm next to you in suspense. Directing gives you the tools to
do all of that. There's something very rewarding and satisfying
about the process, and I believe it has a lot to do with the excitement
that comes with knowing you are creating something that will be
shared by audiences and that will hopefully be taken with them
long after they've finished watching your film.
I hope you enjoy visiting my website and please drop me an e-mail
if you'd like to chat!
Sincerely,
Jerry
A. Vasilatos
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