John Jopson
Encyclopedia
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:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
best known for the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
film “One Night with Blue Note
One Night with Blue Note
One Night with Blue Note is a 1985 jazz film directed by John Charles Jopson .Record executive Bruce Lundvall relaunched the defunct Blue Note Records label in 1985 under the parent label EMI Manhattan Records...
” and his music videos from the 1980s.
Biography
John Charles Jopson began his film career in automobile racing, first in 1975 as a stringerStringer (journalism)
In journalism, a stringer is a type of freelance journalist or photographer who contributes reports or photos to a news organization on an ongoing basis but is paid individually for each piece of published or broadcast work....
filming Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
races for United Press International
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
's television news division (UPITN) in London. He then worked as cinematographer on the Italian Formula One movie “Speed Fever” (Formula Uno, Febbre della Velocità) in 1978, and directed the short film “Gasoline” featuring Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR...
' and Gilles Villeneuve
Gilles Villeneuve
Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve, better known as Gilles Villeneuve , was a Canadian racing driver. An enthusiast of cars and fast driving from an early age, he started his professional career in snowmobile racing in his native province of Quebec...
. His racing footage was also used in the 1977 Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
film Bobby Deerfield
Bobby Deerfield
Bobby Deerfield is a 1977 film based on the novel Heaven Has No Favorites by Erich Maria Remarque, and stars Al Pacino as the title character...
, and in 1979 Jopson won the Golden Quill Award for his eclectic short film “Mass Transit” based on Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
's 22 minute tome Autobahn
Autobahn (song)
"Autobahn" is a song by German electronic band Kraftwerk, composed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider of the band, with Emil Schult collaborating on the lyrics. It is co-produced by Conny Plank, and was the band's first track to use sung lyrics...
.
During the 1980s, based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, John directed videos, concert films and documentaries for a diverse group of artists including, Icehouse
Icehouse (band)
Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...
, Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
, John Waite
John Waite
John Charles Waite is an English rock singer and musician. He was lead vocalist for The Babys and Bad English. As a solo artist, he scored several international hits, including 1984's "Missing You", a top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, reaching #1 in the...
, Poison
Poison (band)
Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. To date, Poison has sold over 30 million records worldwide and have sold 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100,...
, REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, and The Angels
The Angels (Australian band)
The Angels are a hard rock band that formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1970. The band later relocated from Adelaide to Sydney and enjoyed huge local success until well into the 1990s. For the purposes of international release, their records were released under the names Angel City and later The...
, and he toured extensively with Hall and Oates as both cinematographer and director. In 1985, working with cinematographer Ernest Dickerson
Ernest Dickerson
Ernest Roscoe Dickerson A.S.C. is an American film and television director and cinematographer. He directed generally urban films sometimes with supernatural stories like Juice, Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight, Bones and Never Die Alone...
, John directed the critically acclaimed jazz film “One Night with Blue Note”. His feature length
Feature length
Feature length is motion picture terminology referring to the length of a feature film. According to the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a feature length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes to be eligible for an Academy Award.The term may also...
film “Nervous Night
Nervous Night
Nervous Night is a 1986 film starring American rock band The Hooters and directed by John Charles Jopson.-Background:As a follow-up to The Hooters' 1985 Columbia Records debut album Nervous Night, a film of the same title was produced by Bell One Productions...
”, a collection of short films starring The Hooters
The Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
, won the Billboard Music Award
Billboard Music Award
The Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard magazine, the preeminent publication covering the music business. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually in December until it went dormant in 2007, but it returned in May 2011...
for “Best Longform” in 1985. Jopson was also the cinematographer on the film “Does Humor Belong in Music?
Does Humor Belong in Music? (video)
Does Humor Belong in Music? is a one-hour Frank Zappa concert video composed of live performances at The Pier in New York City along with a few interview segments. It was released on VHS by MPI Home Video in 1985 and reissued on DVD in 2003 by EMI...
” written and directed by Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
. He worked in 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...
in the late 1980s where he directed clips for numerous Aussie bands and commercials for Mercedes Benz and Mistsubishi among others.
Based in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
throughout 1990s John was part of the equity waiver theatre movement where he directed more than 20 plays including Oliver Hailey's "Father's Day" at the Los Angeles Theatre Center and The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail
The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail
The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail is a two-act play by Robert Edwin Lee and Jerome Lawrence written in 1970. The play is based on the early life of the titular character, Henry David Thoreau, leading up to his night spent in a jail in Concord, Massachusetts...
at the Hollywood Court Theatre. He wrote and directed a wide range of films and television programs including PBS' "The Champs Elysees" with Halle Barry and "Bioperfection" with Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
and travelled into active volcanoes in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
for his Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
films. He directed numerous films on paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
subject matter and was one of the principal filmmakers behind the controversial "Alien Autopsy
Alien autopsy
An alien autopsy refers to a medical examination and dissection of the dead body of an extraterrestrial being. Such a procedure would more accurately be called an "alien necropsy", since an "autopsy" is, by definition, performed on a subject who is the same species as the examiner...
". He relocated to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1999 with his wife, artist Caroline Zimmermann
Caroline Zimmermann
Caroline Zimmermann is an American oil painter known for her landscape and seascape paintings of California, Tuscany and Provence. Her subject matter includes evocative, moody landscapes, flower still life, chickens, roosters, and character portraits...
, and has continued to write and direct films from his home base in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In 2001 he wrote and directed the television pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for Scariest Places on Earth
Scariest Places On Earth
Scariest Places on Earth is an American paranormal documentary reality television series that originally aired from October 23, 2000 to October 29, 2006. The program was produced by Triage Entertainment for the Fox Family Channel, which is now ABC Family and owns the rights to the show...
, and in 2003 John wrote the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for Viktor Ivanov
Viktor Ivanov (stunt coordinator)
Viktor Ivanov is a Russian film director and veteran stunt coordinator best known for the feature film White Gold and for his design of the spectacular car chase through the streets of Moscow in The Bourne Supremacy, for which he won the "Best Vehicle" award at the 2005 Taurus World Stunt Awards....
’s Russian adventure film
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
White Gold.
Jopson studied film and theatre at Lycoming College
Lycoming College
Founded in 1812, Lycoming College is located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. One of the 50 oldest colleges in America, Lycoming enrolls 1400 undergraduate students from over 28 states and 12 foreign countries. Eighty percent of the college's students live on campus...
and furthered his theatre studies at the Stella Adler Conservatory and with Arthur Mendoza
Arthur Mendoza
Arthur Mendoza was the principal acting instructor for the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting West. He has taught in Los Angeles for more than 20 years and has worked with such talents as Khandi Alexander, Sasha Barrese, Peta Wilson, Finola Hughes, Branford Marsalis, Deidre Hall, John Jopson, and...
. He joined the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
in 1986 as Second Unit
Second unit
In film, the second unit is a team that shoots subsidiary footage for a motion picture. Its work is distinct from that of the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving principal actors...
Director of the RKO/Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
motion picture “Campus Man”.
Recently his controversial film "Sanctified", about pedophile priests in Italy, premiered at the Hamburg International Film Festival in November 2010. He is currently preparing the feature film The Absinthe Drinkers
The Absinthe Drinkers (film)
The Absinthe Drinkers is an upcoming John Charles Jopson movie set in 19th century Europe.-Synopsis:Peter Facinelli portrays Lucciola, an "opium-addicted has-been sculptor who is a member of a small clique of eccentric foreign artists who have settled in Montmartre, to create art, consume drugs...
about the Impressionists - set for principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
in 2012 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, based on his 2007 Italian language short film, "I bevitori di assenzio".
Music videos
Of more than 50 music videos John directed, some of the most notable include:- Shawn PhillipsShawn PhillipsShawn Phillips is a folk-rock musician, primarily influential in the 1960s and 1970s.Phillips has recorded twenty albums and worked with musicians including Donovan, Paul Buckmaster, J. Peter Robinson, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bernie Taupin, and many others...
- "Share the Wealth" (1983), a stinging diatribe against Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's economic policies of the early 1980s. The controversial video featured a flag burning and footage of homeless people. - Willy DeVilleWilly DeVilleWilly DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
- “Each Word” (1984) and “Italian Shoes” (1985) - The Jazz Messengers - “Moanin’” (1985)
- Grover Washington, Jr.Grover Washington, Jr.Grover Washington, Jr. was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.He wrote some of his material and...
- “Summertime” (1985) - REO SpeedwagonREO SpeedwagonREO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...
– “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (1985) - Herbie HancockHerbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
– “Canteloupe Island” (1985) - The HootersThe HootersThe Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
- “And We Danced” (1985) and 4 others. - Hall and Oates - “Some Things (are Better Left Unsaid)” (1985) co-directed with Jeb BrienJeb BrienJeb Brien is an award winning Executive Producer who has produced and directed television series and specials for some of the most talented artists of a generation, helping to forge their careers through careful imaging and innovative productions....
. - Dennis DeYoungDennis DeYoungDennis DeYoung is an American singer, songwriter, musician and producer best known for being a founding member of the rock band Styx, a tenure that lasted from 1970 to 1999.-Early life:...
– “This is the Time” (1986) - PoisonPoison (band)Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. To date, Poison has sold over 30 million records worldwide and have sold 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100,...
- "Cry Tough" (1986) and “I Won’t Forget You” (1987) - The OutfieldThe OutfieldThe Outfield are an arena rock-influenced English pop rock/power pop power trio based in London, England. The Outfield are unusual for a British band in that they enjoyed commercial success in the U.S., but never reached the album or singles charts in their homeland...
- "Your LoveYour Love (The Outfield song)"Your Love" is a song from The Outfield's debut album, Play Deep. It was written by John Frederick Spinks. The song reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 & #7 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1986.-Covers:...
" (1986) - John WaiteJohn WaiteJohn Charles Waite is an English rock singer and musician. He was lead vocalist for The Babys and Bad English. As a solo artist, he scored several international hits, including 1984's "Missing You", a top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, reaching #1 in the...
- “If Anybody had a Heart” (1986) - IcehouseIcehouse (band)Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...
- “Crazy” (1987), “Electric BlueElectric Blue (song)"Electric Blue" is a 1987 hit single by the Australian rock / synthpop band Icehouse and was co-written by Iva Davies of Icehouse and John Oates of the U.S. band Hall & Oates. The single reached number one on the Australian singles chart on 16 November 1987, number seven on the American Billboard...
” (1987) and two others. - Randy TravisRandy TravisRandy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
– “Is it Still Over” (1989) - The AngelsThe Angels (Australian band)The Angels are a hard rock band that formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1970. The band later relocated from Adelaide to Sydney and enjoyed huge local success until well into the 1990s. For the purposes of international release, their records were released under the names Angel City and later The...
– “Dogs are Talking” (1989) and 5 others.
Films and television
John's film work includes:- "Bobby DeerfieldBobby DeerfieldBobby Deerfield is a 1977 film based on the novel Heaven Has No Favorites by Erich Maria Remarque, and stars Al Pacino as the title character...
" (1977) Additional Cinematography - “Speed Fever” (1978) Cinematographer
- "Gasoline" (Short) (1978) Director, Cinematographer
- "Autobahn" (Short) (1979) Director, Cinematographer
- “One Night with Blue NoteOne Night with Blue NoteOne Night with Blue Note is a 1985 jazz film directed by John Charles Jopson .Record executive Bruce Lundvall relaunched the defunct Blue Note Records label in 1985 under the parent label EMI Manhattan Records...
” (1985) Director - “Does Humor Belong in Music?Does Humor Belong in Music? (video)Does Humor Belong in Music? is a one-hour Frank Zappa concert video composed of live performances at The Pier in New York City along with a few interview segments. It was released on VHS by MPI Home Video in 1985 and reissued on DVD in 2003 by EMI...
” Cinematographer - “Nervous NightNervous NightNervous Night is a 1986 film starring American rock band The Hooters and directed by John Charles Jopson.-Background:As a follow-up to The Hooters' 1985 Columbia Records debut album Nervous Night, a film of the same title was produced by Bell One Productions...
” (1986) Director - Icehouse: Live at the Ritz (1987) Director
- Hall and Oates: Live at the ApolloLive at the Apollo (Hall & Oates album)Live at the Apollo is an album by Daryl Hall & John Oates released in 1985, recorded live at the Apollo Theater in New York. It is subtitled "With David Ruffin & Eddie Kendrick", of The Temptations-fame. The album is a mixture of their classics and some then-current songs by Hall & Oates...
(1987) Co-Directed with John OatesJohn OatesJohn William Oates is an American rock, R&B and soul guitarist, musician, songwriter and producer best known as half of the rock and soul duo Hall & Oates ....
and Jeb BrienJeb BrienJeb Brien is an award winning Executive Producer who has produced and directed television series and specials for some of the most talented artists of a generation, helping to forge their careers through careful imaging and innovative productions.... - “Beyond Salvation” (1990) Director
- “A Musical Journey with Elton John” (1994) Director
- "Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly HillsTattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly HillsTattooed Teenage Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills is an original live-action series which was released by DIC Entertainment and aired on the USA Network during the 1994-1995 season. The show was a low budget attempt to emulate the success of Saban's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.-Synopsis:The show...
” (1994) Director - “Bioperfection: Building a New Human Race (with Stephen Hawking)” (1998) Writer, Director
- “Beyond Chance” (1999) Director
- "Scariest Places on EarthScariest Places On EarthScariest Places on Earth is an American paranormal documentary reality television series that originally aired from October 23, 2000 to October 29, 2006. The program was produced by Triage Entertainment for the Fox Family Channel, which is now ABC Family and owns the rights to the show...
" Episodes: “The Hayden Bridge Exorcism” “The Lair of the Wickedest Man on Earth” “Curse of the Roman Gladiators” (2001) Writer, Director - “The Rise and Fall of the Spartans” (2002) Director
- White Gold (2003) Writer
- “A Year in a Tuscan Vineyard” (2003) Writer, Director, Cinematographer
- “Punishment” (2004) Director
- “Castaways” (2004) Director
- “The Great Adventure” (2005) Director
- “The Venetian Boatshop” (2005) Writer/Director
- “I bevitori di assenzio” (Short) (2007) Director
- “History of the JokeHistory of the JokeHistory of the Joke is a two-hour television special documentary film that premiered on February 18, 2008 on History.This special was hosted by Lewis Black and starred Mitch Fatel, Ed Galvez, George Carlin, Shelley Berman, Jimmy Carr, Jeff Dunham, Steve Byrne, Gallagher, Patton Oswalt, Aisha Tyler,...
” (2008) Producer (UK) - "Sanctified" 2010 Writer/Director
- "The Bear Whisperer" 2010 Senior Producer
External links
- John Charles Jopson - IMDb listing
- John Jopson - Music Video Database listing
- The Absinthe Drinkers - Film website