User:John Wesley Downey
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John Wesley Downey is a Texas broadcaster, author and filmmaker. He began working in radio at the age of 16 at KILE radio in Galveston (no longer operating) and quickly moved up to KILT-AM and FM in Houston, first as a disc jockey, then as a newscaster and finally as the station's Public Affairs Director and talk show host. During his years as a host he interviewed thousands of guests from all walks of life including authors, newsmakers, politicians, athletes, actors, filmmakers and experts in various fields. John talked with such prominent guests as Ted Koppel, Siskel and Ebert, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Geraldo Rivera, Dan Rather, and director Ron Howard.
From 1992-1995 Downey contributed interview segments for PORTFOLIO, a nationally syndicated public affairs program of the Associated Press Radio Network.
In 1996 Downey left radio to create his own talent agency, Good Karma Management. After seven years of representing actors, models, voice-over artists, writers and cinematographers in getting work in the film, televison and advertising fields, he converted his agency to a production company to produce film and television projects. Downey has optioned the rights to Rod Tanner's epic 2004 novel Surge, about a category five Hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast, a book written prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans in September of the following year. Too long to be produced as a feature film, Downey's aim is to create a mini-series based on Surge. Downey has also written a novel called Redhanded A Spiritual Journey, about a violent young thug who is spiritually redeemed by a powerful supernatural mystery that is reminiscent of "The MacBeth Effect", in which the washing of bloody hands represents the anxiety of guilt and the cleansing of sin. Redhanded originally began as a short film script in 1993, was lengthened to a screenplay in 2003 and in 2004 and early 2005 Downey rewrote the story as a full-length novel. It was published in 2005 by Authorhouse and is available through over 25,000 retail outlets including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Downey also wrote, produced and directed a short film based on the Redhanded story, which is showcased on ifilm.com where it has been viewed thousands of times and received positive reviews. Though only five minutes long, this short film was technically complex and a production challenge, and John was aided in this endeavor by long-time cinematographer Jim Barham and the owner of one of Houston's premier post-production companies, Scott Jones, founder of XL Films. Music for the short was composed by Max Aguilar. Kyle Daine and Tammy Adamo performed in the lead roles.
In July 2006 Downey was interviewed by host Rollye James on her radio program which is syndicated on 16 radio stations and heard nationally on XM Satellite Radio. Downey and James discussed the topics of karma and spirituality, and the importance of accepting personal responsibility for one's actions, all of which are prime components of the Redhanded novel.
Downey's future plans are to direct a full-length feature film of Redhanded. He also continues to teach workshop and private lessons for actors and voice-over talent.
