Joshua Leppert

Joshua David Leppert was born June 17, 1996 in Jackson, Michigan, the oldest of two children of fitness coach Jennifer Leppert and family physician William Leppert. His middle name, "David", was his maternal grandfather's first name. His brother, Sean, is two years younger. Growing up, Josh took an interest in the performing arts by writing and acting out skits in school talent shows with friends. In Middle School, Josh became interested with videography and animation, spending his time making stop-motion videos with Lego figures and a still camera. Becoming more and more enthralled with media arts, he joined a news/sketch show in 8th Grade called "Friday Afternoon Live", where he was given 'Anchor of the Year' honors. While enrolled at Columbia Central High School in Brooklyn, MI; Josh and a fellow classmate, Connor Sullivan, revived a stalled sketch show that was abandoned years earlier due to budget cuts. The newly revamped show "Golden Eagle Report" won several local broadcast awards for the show's content. During his Junior and Senior years at CCHS, he was chosen from a pool of applicants to intern at local television station Jackson Television LTD. or JTV. At the station, he worked on several shows such as Food Circus, SoundWave, and The Bart Hawley Show. He enrolled in Media and Information at Michigan State University in the fall of 2014. He served as an editor for 'The ShoW', a sitcom in the MSU Telecasters production unit of the School of Communication Arts and Sciences. Josh also worked for the Creative Services sector of MSU's Residential and Hospitality Services group, where he wrote, produced, and directed short films and commercial advertisements for the University alongside his High School friend Connor Sullivan. In his first year of college at Michigan State University, he wrote, produced, and directed 'Revisions' a short film about a college student coping with mental illness. The film premiered at the TCA Cabin Fever Film Festival and won Best Cinematography. In his third year, he Directed and Produced 'The Catch', a neo-noir short that won the Audience Choice Award at the Direct Short Online Film Festival.