John Pieplow

First performing in Brooklyn waterfront bars at 14, John Pieplow, producer, writer, director, musician, songwriter, frequently played on weekends in Chuck Berry's band and The Platters as a high school student. Later he attended NYU and the New School, where he received a Masters in Film, and occasionally lectured in the Graduate Film Program. John's Masters Thesis Film, "Watcher By The Dead," featuring new actor, Annabella Sciorra, was screened at the Toronto Film Festival. John also directed hundreds of scenes with actors at HB Studio after a chance encounter with Uta Hagen. Fresh out of college, and looking older than his years, but still without much work experience, John was hired as a Film Designer for the Broadway Production of "Lolita,"--a front-of-the-house credit which had never appeared before. The production starred Donald Sutherland and was written by Edward Albee, with whom John had a warm relationship. While directing off and off-off Broadway plays, John again did Film Design for the 8 times Tony-nominated Broadway Musical, "Baby," for which John received glowing reviews, including from Frank Rich. For Playwrights Horizons and Andre Bishop, John again received great reviews as Film Designer for "Terra Nova," Oscar-winner Ted Tally's first produced play. While enjoying much theater success, John crossed over and produced, wrote and directed hundreds of award-winning TV and radio commercials for such diverse clients as American Express, American Airlines, Revlon, Proctor and Gamble, AT&T, GE, Westinghouse and dozens of travel and leisure companies, like Lowes and Hilton Hotels. He directed the Peter Allen Rockefeller Center Fiftieth Anniversary Show and worked with Gregory Hines and Lionel Hampton on the Coty Awards and the Black Designer of the Year awards show at FIT, where John also worked with Audrey Hepburn on the 30th Anniversary of Givenchy. John also directed and produced the hugely successful launch of Michael Jackson/Pepsi Campaign, at the time the largest corporate collaboration with a musical artist in history. Moving to Los Angeles, John directed and collaborated with author Paul Gillette on the play, "Red River Rats." Paul wrote the novel, "Play Misty For Me, which was Clint Eastwood's directorial debut. "Red River Rats" premiere was directed by John with an all-star ensemble cast. It was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Quite by accident, and before video streaming, John wrote and directed "Jurassic Women," a comedy-spoof sci-fi/martial arts film. Again, by happenstance, the film which was shot in 6 days for $36,000, became a favorite at the American Film Market. The Los Angeles Times featured the film in a headline story, "On A 'Jurassic Women' Trade Strategy." The film pre-sold in the millions and became a late night main stay on USA Network for many years. John directed the theatrically released (through Sony Pictures) Shooting Gallery feature, "Strangeland," starring Kevin Gage, Elizabeth Pena, Amy Smart, Linda Cardellini and Robert England. It soon became a cult film. A member of the WGA and DGA, John has written and re-written dozens of movie scripts and TV shows. In another fortunate twist of fate, after returning from a writing-directing assignment in Ireland, John was invited to perform his unique blend of jazz, blues and rock music around Los Angeles, as a singer, guitar player and songwriter. As had happened before, what began as a small venture, quickly grew. Famed lit manager and harmonica player, Joel Gotler (Sting), began performing with John's band. They were soon engaged by Live Nation and began performing frequently in larger and larger venues, including the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. The groups John opened for include, Earth Wind and Fire, Foreigner, Huey Lewis and the News, Ambrosia, Chicago, Davy Jones, Gloria Muldaur, and Adam Lambert. John also co-wrote the soundtrack album, "Biker Run," with Chris Squire (Yes), starring Michael Ironside and Sean Young. John also became director of the film, as well. He wrote and performed the entire soundtrack for Lorne Michael's produced ABC prime-time satire, "Sons and Daughters," starring Brie Larson. John received numerous recording contracts, released two albums and won many music awards, including, "Best Solo Artist," "Album of the Year," and "Best Alternative Band." His music can be found on Prime, Apple, Amazon and Spotify, where John also has a radio station called, "John Pieplow Radio," which broadcasts 24 hours a day.