Jason Penarelli

Jason Penarelli was born under a blue moon on May 31, 1980. At De La Salle High School in Concord, California, he made his first short movie, The Thing from the Septic Tank. After high school, he was accepted into the Film Studies program at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). During his time there, he worked on numerous short films and video productions. From Director of Photography on Mr. Wonderful (2002) to Chief Editor and Director of Production for Gaucho Scoreboard, a live-to-tape cable access sports television show, Jason explored the many facets of the art of the motion picture. Nohasfrontwo (2002), Lullaby, Storke Terror, Mind Ride, The Look, and others long forgotten constitute his baby steps into the creative process of video and film production. After interning at Brain-storm Creative, Inc. a corporate film production company, Jason received a B. A., along with a prestigious achievement award from the UCSB Film Studies Department. Moving to Los Angeles in 2003, Jason entered the motion picture industry as a production assistant (PA) on the pilot episode of Threat Matrix for ABC television. After the show was canceled mid season, he continued on as a PA for Desperate Housewives. Deciding to venture off alone, Jason left the show after the pilot episode. That summer, he found himself camera assisting on the set of Novel Romance with Traci Lords, and then again, camera assisting on the reality dating show for kids, Best Friend's Date. Six short months after leaving his PA life behind, Jason found himself as Director of Photography on the low budget feature Go For Broke II. This was quickly followed by shooting and directing the behind the scenes documentary for the feature Brothers In Arms called The Making of a Modern Western. In early 2005, Jason cut his teeth as gaffer (that's the head of the electric department to you and me) on the super 16mm feature film Virginia. Continuing to pursue his love of light and color, he found more work as Director of Photography. This time it was for the horror feature The Giddeh. It was on this shoot that he was introduced to the high definition format. Following this feature, Jason continued to hone his craft with a number of shorts including The Apartment, Other People's Shoes, and Boyfriend. A quaint short called Beyond the Fence allowed Jason to light for 35mm film for the first time. Fulfilling a life long dream, Jason jumped at a chance to play a zombie in the movie Night of the Living Dead 3-D. Along with all of this movie work, Jason also found himself shooting pilot episodes for two television shows: Ghetto Fabulous Makeover and Mechani-Chicks. From 2006 to 2008, Jason served as a US Peace Corps youth development volunteer in the impoverished, post-Soviet block country of Bulgaria. This opportunity allowed him to experience the world outside of the silicone and celluloid bubble that is Los Angeles. There Jason worked in an orphanage teaching the children English, computer skills, and music. He even formed a rock band with some of his kids. Known around the Peace Corps community as "the movie guy," he pursued his passion for the silver screen by producing a DVD series for teaching English, helping to facilitate a traveling film festival for human trafficking awareness, and screening films in small villages without movie theaters. Since returning from his Peace Corps service, Jason produced a fund raising trailer toward the goal of producing a feature length documentary exploring the psychology of volunteerism. He ventured into the world of Education, working at schools in the San Francisco Bay Area as a teacher and Assistant Director of After School. Jason's passion for film making lives on. He produces video projects with former colleagues and for clients. His film making has also taken on an Educational twist inspired by his Peace Corps experience. He teaches Video Production, Photography, and Digital Media classes at grade schools in the Bay Area. Jason is passionate about harnessing the power of the moving image to achieve educational goals.