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.
