Jeff Bollow
Encyclopedia
Jeff Bollow is an actor
, writer
, director
, producer
, author
, public speaker, and film festival
organizer. He is the author of Writing FAST: How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed, the producer/director of the ATOM Award
-winning Making Fantastic Short Films, and the founder of Australia's Screenplay Development Centre.
, Ann Jillian
, Columbo, Pink Lightning and Gabriel's Fire
, as well as television commercials for Kellogg's Pop-Tarts
, Doritos
, Visa Card, and several others.
During this time, he also did a wide assortment of production work, starting with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
's first music video Brother for Sale
, before working for companies such as Universal Pictures
, Roger Corman
's Concorde/New Horizons, and several music video
companies. He eventually began making his own short films, including the IFC
New Filmmaker Award-winning 1995 short "The Duel".
, where he continued acting, with minor appearances in Shortland Street
, Lost Valley, Young Hercules
(as an ADR
actor), and several others. While in New Zealand, he wrote 6,000 Miles from Hollywood, an independent feature film co-produced with Billy Milionis in Sydney
, Australia
on a shoestring budget, a project which was abandoned in post-production after seven years.
Unable to find commercially-viable screenplays in Australia to develop, Bollow launched the Screenplay Development Centre in 2000, which presented screenwriting workshops and seminars throughout Australia, New Zealand and internationally.
In 2004, Bollow designed a systematic approach to the writing process he dubbed "the FAST System", an acronym for Focus, Apply, Strengthen, Tweak. He authored a book called Writing FAST: How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed
, which was briefly an Amazon.com
bestseller in May 2005.
In 2009, Bollow launched a comprehensive, 10-month online screenplay development system called FAST Screenplay, an expansion of his earlier FAST System.
Bollow went on to direct several episodes of Pacific Beat St, a television series for TV3
in New Zealand, and the full-length play Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
, the inaugural production of the PGT Theatre in Sydney.
in Ohakune
, New Zealand, and served as festival director and host for its first two years.
consumer video editing software.
He was invited to the jury of the Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival
in 2007, and returned to deliver his Making Movies Outside Hollywood seminar in 2008. He appeared onstage to present the award for Best North American Film.
He is currently in Los Angeles writing a new book entitled Phenomenal: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and a related website called The Phenomenal Experience.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, public speaker, and film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
organizer. He is the author of Writing FAST: How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed, the producer/director of the ATOM Award
ATOM Award
The ATOM Awards are a group of awards offered to Australian and New Zealand "professionals, educators and students", honouring achievements in the making of film, television, multimedia, and from 2007 multi-modal productions....
-winning Making Fantastic Short Films, and the founder of Australia's Screenplay Development Centre.
Early career
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Bollow began acting as a teenager, appearing in dozens of film, television, stage, and commercial productions, including Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's DeadDon't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead is a 1991 comedy film directed by Stephen Herek starring Christina Applegate.Applegate stars as a teenager whose mother leaves for a two-month summer vacation in Australia, putting all five siblings in the care of a strict tyrannical elderly babysitter...
, Ann Jillian
Ann Jillian
Ann Jillian is an American actress, who started acting at age 10. Her career reached its zenith in the 1980s, with her best-known role being that of waitress Cassie Cranston on the sitcom It's a Living.-Early life and career:...
, Columbo, Pink Lightning and Gabriel's Fire
Gabriel's Fire
Gabriel's Fire is an American television series that ran on ABC in the USA in 1990–1991. A revamped version of the series, entitled Pros and Cons, aired briefly the following season.-Overview:...
, as well as television commercials for Kellogg's Pop-Tarts
Pop-Tarts
Pop-Tarts is a brand of rectangular, pre-baked toaster pastries made by the Kellogg Company. Pop-Tarts have a sugary filling sealed inside two layers of rectangular, thin pastry crust. Some varieties are frosted. Although sold pre-cooked, they are designed to be warmed inside a toaster or...
, Doritos
Doritos
Doritos is a brand of seasoned tortilla chips created by Arch West and produced since 1964 by the American food company Frito-Lay ....
, Visa Card, and several others.
During this time, he also did a wide assortment of production work, starting with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen are American actresses and entrepreneurs.Both have appeared in television and films since infancy. Since then, they have continued their celebrity through numerous television programs, films, interviews, as well as commercial endorsements...
's first music video Brother for Sale
Brother for Sale
"Brother for Sale" is a song written for and sung by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. This song was made in the early 1990s. It was used in the video "Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen: Our First Video"...
, before working for companies such as Universal Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
's Concorde/New Horizons, and several music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
companies. He eventually began making his own short films, including the IFC
Independent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
New Filmmaker Award-winning 1995 short "The Duel".
Writer and Speaker
In 1996, Bollow moved to New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, where he continued acting, with minor appearances in Shortland Street
Shortland Street
Shortland Street is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera, first broadcast on Television New Zealand's TV2 on 25 May 1992. It is the country's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously for over 4500 episodes and 19 years, and is one of the most watched television programs in...
, Lost Valley, Young Hercules
Young Hercules
Young Hercules is a spin-off from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. It was aired on Fox Kids from September 12, 1998, to May 12, 1999. It lasted one season with 50 episodes and starred Ryan Gosling in the title role.-Plot:...
(as an ADR
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
actor), and several others. While in New Zealand, he wrote 6,000 Miles from Hollywood, an independent feature film co-produced with Billy Milionis in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on a shoestring budget, a project which was abandoned in post-production after seven years.
Unable to find commercially-viable screenplays in Australia to develop, Bollow launched the Screenplay Development Centre in 2000, which presented screenwriting workshops and seminars throughout Australia, New Zealand and internationally.
In 2004, Bollow designed a systematic approach to the writing process he dubbed "the FAST System", an acronym for Focus, Apply, Strengthen, Tweak. He authored a book called Writing FAST: How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed
Writing FAST
Writing FAST: How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed is a non-fiction book by Jeff Bollow, first published in Australia in 2004, which briefly became a best-seller on the Amazon.com charts in 2005....
, which was briefly an Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
bestseller in May 2005.
In 2009, Bollow launched a comprehensive, 10-month online screenplay development system called FAST Screenplay, an expansion of his earlier FAST System.
Director
Eager to reignite his directing career, Bollow produced and directed Making Fantastic Short Films, a widely-praised educational DVD for primary and secondary schools, and winner of the prestigious 2007 ATOM Award for Best Instructional/Training Resource. MFSF was also nominated for Best Primary Education Resource and Best Secondary Education Resource.Bollow went on to direct several episodes of Pacific Beat St, a television series for TV3
TV3 (New Zealand)
TV3 is a New Zealand commercial television network, owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Launched on 26 November 1989, the first private television network in New Zealand...
in New Zealand, and the full-length play Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress is a play written in 1993 by Alan Ball.-Plot:The play is a comedy set at the home of the bride in Knoxville, Tennessee during the newly married couple's overdone wedding reception. The five bridesmaids have found refuge in the room of Meredith, the sister of the...
, the inaugural production of the PGT Theatre in Sydney.
Film Festival Organizer
With business partner Bret Gibson, Bollow was co-founder of the Big Mountain Short Film FestivalBig Mountain Short Film Festival
The Big Mountain Short Film Festival is a short film festival based in Ohakune, New Zealand designed to encourage and celebrate creative short film making and storytelling. Entry is free and open to filmmakers internationally, who are encouraged to use maximum creativity on minimum budget...
in Ohakune
Ohakune
Ohakune is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the Tongariro National Park, close to the southwestern slopes of the active volcano Mount Ruapehu. Part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region, the town is 70 kilometres northeast of Wanganui, and 25 kilometres west...
, New Zealand, and served as festival director and host for its first two years.
Other Works
Bollow was a co-author of Apple Training Series: iLife 08, a book for Apple and Peachpit Press, for which he wrote the chapters on the iMovie 08IMovie
iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released by Apple in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple...
consumer video editing software.
He was invited to the jury of the Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival
Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival
held a three-day one-off film festival from February 16-18, 2003 entitled Kuala Lumpur World Film Festival 2003 with the theme “Peace, Harmony, Non-Violence and Non-Discrimination”. It was organized in conjunction with the Non-Aligned Movement Conference which was hosted by Malaysia during the...
in 2007, and returned to deliver his Making Movies Outside Hollywood seminar in 2008. He appeared onstage to present the award for Best North American Film.
He is currently in Los Angeles writing a new book entitled Phenomenal: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and a related website called The Phenomenal Experience.