Jock Hedblade

After graduating with Bachelor of Arts in Film and Television Production with a Theatre Emphasis from Western Illinois University in his hometown of Macomb, Hedblade moved to Chicago and began acting. He soon found himself cast in everything from improvisational comedy revues to Shakespeare. He landed bit parts in feature films Backdraft"and Wildcats and a featured role on the popular network television series Unsolved Mysteries. He attended Chicago's Second City , where he was inspired to create, co-write, perform, produce and direct the long running TV or Not TV. The live multi-media comedy revue garnered critical acclaim from the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune. From there Hedblade went on to create, produce, write and direct "The Toon Attic" a tongue-in-cheek nostalgic children's television pilot geared for the baby boomer generation. Hedblade's career then took an abrupt detour. A close friend introduced him to the world of premium cigars and for the next few years, during the "cigar boon" Jock worked along side his friend. His quick wit and colorful personality soon lead to somewhat of a cult status in the industry and he became the inspiration for La Flor Dominicana's wildly popular El Jocko cigar. In 1994 he combined his background in broadcasting and his life-long love of music and record collecting to create Super Thriller Radio for Chicago's WCRB-FM. As co-host along side his brother Jay "Jocko" took the listening audience on "a runaway rocket ride into the musical fourth dimension." The popularity of STR led the brothers to a co- Music & Program Directing gig at WEBX-FM "The Web" . There the Hedblade brothers helped create the station from ground up and spearheaded one of the world's first ever, live streaming Internet radio stations. After a starring role as Tommy LaRocca in 1999's independent film Waiting For The Man Hedblade was asked to FOX television's Fox Thing in the Morning as Coordinating Producer . There he applied his skills to creating, producing and writing daily and weekly entertainment and news packages. He used his music industry connections to create and produce a weekly showcase that featured bands such as The Flaming Lips, The Fountains Of Wayne, The Blackeyed Peas, The Dandy Warhols, Jessica Simpson, Joe Satriani, The Polyphonic Spree, Graham Nash, They Might Be Giants, Rufus Wainwright, OkGo, Cowboy Junkies, Old 97's, Alicia Keyes and a pre-Oscar winning Jennifer Hudson to name a few. The also produced a weekly segment with Richard Roeper who went onto host the national television Ebert & Roeper and The Movie's. It was also at FOX that his producing skills earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in an Entertainment Program from National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the special Smashing Pumpkins: Full Circle. With Pumpkin leader Billy Corgan's full cooperation and participation the program was a loving retrospective of the super star band's rise and eventual fall. Corgan later stated it was "the best documentary on the Pumpkins" he'd ever seen. A year later Hedblade was again honored with an Emmy for producing and directing the PBS special How Chicago Rocked The 60's. Written and hosted by Chicago TV veteran Bob Sirott the documentary featured interviews and performances from The Buckinghams, The Ides of March, The New Colony Six, The Cryan' Shames, The Mauds, The Flock, American Breed and Chicago. Then controversial talk radio host Mancow Muller called and ask Jock to produce, write and book for his nationally syndicated daily show Mancow's Morning Madhouse. Hedblade spent a year with the show bringing Dave Navarro, Common, The New Pornographers, Jim Belushi, Dinosaur Jr., Gary Sinise, The Beach Boy's Mike Love, Ed McMahon, Thomas Dolby, Bill Kurtis, ZZ Tops' Billy Gibbons, Michael York, and Elliot Gould an others into the studio. Hedblade is currently producing three documentaries. The first is another project Billy Corgan has asked him to over see chronicling the Smashing Pumpkins' solo Chicago Songs project and live concert. The second, "Floored" involves the life's of Chicago's future traders, the merger of the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the future of electronic trading. Additionally Jock is in pre-production on a documentary chronically the life Word Jazz legend and cult icon Ken Nordine. The film will feature interviews with Laurie Anderson, Tom Waits, Henry Rollins, and members of The Grateful Dead.