John Jopson
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John Charles Jopson (born October 17, 1954) is a film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer best known for the jazz film “One Night with Blue Note” and his music videos from the 1980s.
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[edit] Biography
John Jopson began his film career in automobile racing, first in 1975 as a stringer filming Formula One races for United Press International'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 documentary film “Gasoline Alley” about Mario Andretti's attempt to win another Indianapolis 500 race in 1982. He won the Golden Quill Award in 1979 for his eclectic short film “Mass Transit” based on Kraftwerk's 22 minute tome Autobahn.
During the 1980s, based in New York City, John directed videos, concert films and documentaries for a diverse group of artists including, Icehouse, Willy DeVille, John Waite, Poison, REO Speedwagon, Elton John, and The Angels, and he toured extensively with Hall and Oates as both cinematographer and director. In 1985, working with cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, John directed the critically acclaimed jazz film “One Night with Blue Note”. His feature length film “Nervous Night”, a collection of short films starring The Hooters, won the Billboard Music Award for “Best Longform” in 1985. Jopson was also the cinematographer on the film “Does Humor Belong in Music?” written and directed by Frank Zappa. He moved to Sydney, Australia in 1987 where he directed clips for numerous Aussie bands and commercials for Mercedes Benz and Mistsubishi among others.
Based in Los Angeles throughout the 1990s John wrote and directed a wide range of films and television programs including PBS' "The Champs Elysees" with Halle Barry and "Bioperfection" with Stephen Hawking. He moved to Europe in 1999 and has continued to write and direct films from his home base in Italy. In 2003 he wrote the screenplay for Victor Ivanov’s Russian adventure film “White Gold”, and that same year he directed “A Year in a Tuscan Vineyard”.
Jopson studied film and theatre at Lycoming College and furthered his theatre studies at the Stella Adler Conservatory and with Arthur Mendoza. He joined the Directors Guild of America in 1986 as Second Unit Director of the RKO/Paramount motion picture “Campus Man”.
John is married to the noted artist Caroline Zimmermann. They live in Tuscany, near Florence and maintain homes in Laguna Beach, California and Mammoth Mountain. He is currently preparing a feature film about the Impressionists set for principal photography in 2007 in Paris, Torino and Florence.
[edit] Selected Filmography
[edit] Music Videos
Of more than 50 music videos John directed, some of the most notable include:
- Shawn Phillips - "Share the Wealth" (1983), a stinging diatribe against Ronald Reagan's economic policies of the early 1980s. The controversial video featured a flag burning and footage of homeless people.
- Willy DeVille - “Each Word” (1984) and “Italian Shoes” (1985)
- The Jazz Messengers - “Moanin’” (1985)
- Grover Washington, Jr. - “Summertime” (1985)
- REO Speedwagon – “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (1985)
- Herbie Hancock – “Canteloupe Island” (1985)
- The Hooters - “And We Danced” (1985) and 4 others.
- Hall and Oates - “Some Things (are Better Left Unsaid)” (1985) co-directed with Jeb Brien.
- Dennis DeYoung – “This is the Time” (1986)
- Poison - "Cry Tough" (1986) and “I Won’t Forget You” (1987)
- The Outfield - "Your Love" (1986)
- John Waite - “If Anybody had a Heart” (1986)
- Icehouse - “Crazy” (1987), “Electric Blue” (1987) and two others.
- Randy Travis – “Is it Still Over” (1989)
- The Angels – “Dogs are Talking” (1989) and 5 others.
[edit] Films and Television
John's film work includes:
- “Speed Fever” (1978) Cinematographer
- "Mass Transit (Autobahn)" (1979) Director, Cinematographer
- “One Night with Blue Note” (1985) Director
- “Does Humor Belong in Music?” Cinematographer
- “Nervous Night” (1986) Director
- Hall and Oates: Live at the Apollo (1987) Co-Directed with John Oates and Jeb Brien
- “Beyond Salvation” (1990) Director
- “A Musical Journey with Elton John” (1994) Director
- "Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills” (1994) Director
- “Bioperfection: Building a New Human Race (with Stephen Hawking)” (1998) Writer, Director
- “Beyond Chance” (1999) Director
- "Scariest Places on Earth" 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
[edit] External links
- John Charles Jopson - Internet Movie Database listing
- John Jopson - Music Video Database listing
