Jeff Lester

Last updated
Jeff Lester
Born (1955-05-04) May 4, 1955 (age 69)
Orange County, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, Executive Producer, Writer, and Director
Years active1981–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1992)​

Jeff Lester (born May 4, 1955) is an American actor known for his television appearances. In 1996, Lester transitioned from acting to producing, writing and directing where he has created award-winning commercials and short films.

Contents

Career

Actor

Television

Lester played the lead role in Once a Hero , as superhero Captain Justice and his alter-ego archeologist, Brad Steele. The show was widely promoted and critically acclaimed, but was a ratings failure, and was cancelled after only three episodes were broadcast (seven episodes were developed). [1]

Among his other performances, Lester played Raymond in a Seinfeld episode called "The Note". In the episode, Lester played a masseur who gave George Costanza a massage which makes George extremely uncomfortable and later becomes frantic that he may now be gay.

Lester was also in Baywatch episodes, Growing Pains and Lou Grant .

Film

He appeared as an FBI Agent in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , as well as The Little Drummer Girl and In the Cold of the Night .

Directing

Since the start of the 1990s Lester has worked as an executive producer, writer and director for several commercials, stage productions and films. In 1996, Lester began his directing career with the program “Sundance Dailies” where he worked with Robert Redford’s Sundance Channel. He then went on to create, write, produce and direct “The Shorts Show,” a series about filmmakers of short films, hosted by Academy Award winner, Laura Dern. In 1997, Lester and his wife, Susan Anton, opened production company Big Picture Studios. [2] Film work includes the short western The Last Real Cowboys (2000), the thriller Broken (2006), the short drama Mr. President (2007) and the short film Speed of Life (2008).

The Last Real Cowboys (2000), starring Academy Award and Golden Globes winner Billy Bob Thornton and actor Mickey Jones was Big Picture Studios’ debut film. Lester directed, produced and co-authored the story line with screenwriter Rudy Gaines. It premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. It also went on to air at South by Southwest and the Aspen Shortsfest. [3] The film has won multiple awards at festivals including the New York's Shorts International Film Festival ("Best Comedy"), Telluride Mountain Film Festival ("Best Short Film") [4] and CineVegas Film Festival ("Best Short Film Cinematography”). [5]

Mr. President (2007) depicts a fictitious presidential debate between a Black senator and President George W. Bush. The film premiered at the Los Angeles-based ELEVATE Film Festival (ELEVATE) where it won three awards including the audience award for best narrative film and the jury award for most elevating narrative. Lester also shared the honor of “Best Narrative Director” with Jason Roberts, director of the short 10 Seconds to. [2] At the time of the premiere, ELEVATE was the largest single screen film festival event in the world and filmmakers were challenged to, “create works that inspire people and societies to break out of the limited thinking and prejudices that persistently divide mankind.” The festival was judged by Michel Shane, A. Kitman Ho and Martha De Laurentiis. [6]

Speed of Life (2008) premiered at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival. The documentary was shown with four other short films as part of the “A Chance at Slamdance 2008” contest. The five films were chosen out of more than 115 submissions. [2]

Awards

Lester has received several awards, including Telly Awards, Addy Awards and Summit Awards.

His film The Last Real Cowboys (2000) won multiple awards including “Best Comedy” at the New York's Shorts International Film Festival, “Best Short Film” at the Telluride Mountain Film Festival [7] and "Best Short Film Cinematography” at the CineVegas Film Festival. [5] His film Mr. President (2007) also won multiple awards including the audience award for a narrative, the jury award for most elevating narrative and “Best Narrative Director” at the ELEVATE Film Festival. [2]

In 2014, Lester received an Emmy Award Nomination for Vegas PBS program Frank Wildhorn & Friends (Arts/Entertainment – Program category) along with Myron Martin, Kevin Robinson, Adam McCarthy, Cade Cridland and Jessey Riley. [8]

Partial filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film festival</span> Event with films being shown

A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and depending upon the festival's focus, can include International and Domestic releases. Some film festivals focus on a specific filmmaker, genre of film, or subject matter. Several film festivals focus solely on presenting short films of a defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events. Some film historians, including Jerry Beck, do not consider film festivals as official releases of the film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slamdance Film Festival</span> Annual film festival held in Utah, USA

The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival takes place in Park City, Utah, in late January and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization, which also hosts a screenplay competition, workshops, screenings throughout the year and events with an emphasis on independent films with budgets under US$1 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Mitchell (director)</span> American film director

Mike Mitchell is an American film director, writer, producer, actor and animator. He has directed the films Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), Surviving Christmas (2004), Sky High (2005), Shrek Forever After (2010), Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), Trolls (2016), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) and Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024).

Dusty Mancinelli is a Canadian independent filmmaker from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mancinelli is primarily a director of short films. Several of his films have been shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and other notable film festivals worldwide, winning numerous awards. Since 2017, he has collaborated with Madeleine Sims-Fewer. Their debut feature film Violation was shown at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.

Titsiana Booberini is a 1997 Australian short film directed by Robert Luketic, written by and starring Tania Lacy, also starring Sophie Lee, and Roz Hammond.

The Six Dollar Fifty Man is a short film directed by Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland and written by Sutherland. The film premiered in the Short Film competition of Festival de Cannes in 2009 where it received Special Distinction. The Six Dollar Fifty Man tells the story of Andy, a gutsy 8-year-old boy who is forced to break out of his make-believe superhero world to deal with playground bullies. The title is a play on The Six Million Dollar Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Slamdance Film Festival</span> American film festival in Utah

The 2011 Slamdance Film Festival was a film festival held in Park City, Utah from January 20 to January 27, 2011. It was the 17th iteration of the Slamdance Film Festival, an alternative to the more mainstream Sundance Film Festival.

The Aspen Shortsfest is an annual Oscar® qualifying short film festival held in Aspen, Colorado. The internationally-recognized festival began in 1979.

Mauro Mueller is an independent Swiss-Mexican narrative filmmaker. He won in the Student Academy Awards in 2013 and is member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. He is best known for directing the short films Ge.hen'nah in 2010, A World for Raúl in 2012, Fingerspiel in 2013, Dear Chickens starring Philip Baker Hall and Kerris Dorsey in 2018 and producing the feature film Copenhagen, the omnibus feature film A Quintet, and the Mexican feature In Times of Rain. He was the 2nd unit director on Awake and co-directed the 4th season of the Swiss mystery thriller Wilder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Carmichael (filmmaker)</span> American film director, writer, and animator

Emily Carmichael is an American film director, screenwriter, and animator. Her short films have screened in competition at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, Slamdance, and other US and International film festivals. Carmichael co-wrote the screenplay for the 2018 science fiction sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising and the 2022 film Jurassic World: Dominion.

<i>A World for Raúl</i> 2012 Mexican film

A World for Raúl is a short drama film. The film's run time is 15 minutes. It was written and directed by Mauro Mueller, and produced by Laura Pino and Ivan Madeo. It won a Student Academy Awards in 2013. The film was shot using a Sony F3 by cinematographer César Gutiérrez Miranda. The short film included on the DVD Boys on Film 14: Worlds Collide.

<i>Dissonance</i> (film) 2015 German film

Dissonance is a 2015 German short film by German digital and visual artist, graphic designer and filmmaker Till Nowak. It is a hybrid film that combines live action with animation.

<i>The End of Time</i> (2017 film) 2017 American film

The End of Time is a 2017 experimental short film by Milcho Manchevski, a U.S.-Cuban co-production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marjorie Conrad</span> French-American model and filmmaker

Marjorie Conrad is a French-American filmmaker and model. She is known for being the eleventh eliminated America's Next Top Model , and for her narrative feature films Chemical Cut (2016) and Desire Path (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jérémy Comte</span> Canadian film director

Jérémy Comte is a Canadian film director from Quebec. He is best known for his 2018 short film Fauve which has won a Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for 91st Academy Awards.

Matthew Puccini is an American filmmaker. He is known for his short films that deal with LGBT-related subject matters. These include The Mess He Made (2017), Marquise (2018), Dirty (2020) and Lavender (2019). His films have played at several festivals including Sundance, SXSW, Aspen Shortsfest, Palm Springs ShortsFest, and Outfest Los Angeles. His work has also been featured on Topic and The Huffington Post.

Madeleine Sims-Fewer is a British-Canadian independent filmmaker and actress.

Britta H. Sjogren is an independent filmmaker and academic.

<i>Warsha</i> 2022 Lebanese film

Warsha is a 2022 French-Lebanese short film directed by Dania Bdeir. The fifteen-minute short stars multidisciplinary performer Khansa, who plays a migrant worker and crane operator in Beirut. After its premiere at Sundance Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Short Film, the film has been presented in numerous international film festivals, including the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and the Seminci Valladolid Film Festival, where it won the Rainbow for Best Film. The short advanced to the shortlist for the 95th Academy Awards under the category of Best Live Action Short Film, but did not qualify to the final five. The short also competed in the 48th César Awards.

<i>Freedom Swimmer</i> 2021 Australian film

Freedom Swimmer is a 2021 Australian animated short film directed by Olivia Martin McGuire. The short is a fifteen minute documentary telling the story of a man and his daughter who swam from China to Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution. Following its premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival, the short has been featured in several film festivals including Slamdance Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortsFest and the Calgary International Film Festival, where it was awarded for Best Documentary Short.

References

  1. ↑ Harmetz, Aljean (1987-10-04). "Syndicated 'Star Trek' Puts Dent in Networks". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Las Vegas filmmaker wins honors for 'Mr. President'". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  3. ↑ Colorado, Aspen Times Staff ReportAspen, CO. "Aspen Shortsfest unveils program". www.aspentimes.com. Retrieved 2020-07-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "Variety". Variety. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  5. 1 2 Zorn, Z.Z. (2000). "CineVegas 2000". Las Vegas-Hollywood.
  6. ↑ "ELEVATE Film Festival 2008". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  7. ↑ "Variety". Variety. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  8. ↑ "2014 Nomination List". NATAS PSW - National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Pacific Southwest Chapter. 2014-04-29. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.