Jon Brekke

Jon’s been creative since his short film, That’s Not All, aired on ABC, introduced by Dick Clark and Ed McMahon as the best in home video on TV’s Bloopers And Practical Jokes. His first documentary, Wild Winds, aired on KGMB (CBS) in 1986 and was distributed by Booklines. His first TV Special, Pipeline Masters, aired on ESPN in 1987 and was hosted by Chris Berman. He has a bachelors degree from Gonzaga University (Broadcasting) where his class was the first to film a special featuring Zags (and eventual pro) basketball legend, John Stockton, and air him on university cable television. His first dramatic film Tis The Season – A Hawaiian Christmas Story (1994), which he co-wrote, aired on KITV (ABC), and won the Children’s Jury Award at the Chicago International Children Film Festival. In 1997, he filmed his second feature length movie, the coming-of-age youth drama, A Boy, A Girl, And A Dead Cat, which eventually premiered at the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) in 1999. He wrote, directed, and produced the short film Vent in 2004, a satirical behind-the-scenes look of a community theatre that was screened at the Ohina Film Festival. In 2007, he directed the stage play Merry Christmas, Roberta (co-written with Michael Wurth and Eric Nemoto), which won Best Play at the Hawaii theatre awards. As Director of Creative Services for Time Warner Cable from 2002 to 2011, he built a state-of-the-art green screen studio and post-production facility and produced hundreds of programming hours in sports and entertainment. He was a network cameraman for the LA Lakers, shot more basketball games than anyone could count for OC16, worked numerous NCAA basketball playoff shoots (serving as a camera operator, replay operator, producer, and director), and was also the first producer of the Maui Classic basketball tournament (now the Maui Invitational Tournament, a staple on ESPN). He produced six University of Hawaii NCAA regional playoff events and numerous statewide telethons for the Red Cross including Kokua for Japan (which raised $1.6 million and was nominated for the VH1 Do Something Awards), Kokua for the Philippines, Kokua for Katrina, Kokua for the Pacific – which were live concert fundraisers for typhoon and tsunami victims which raised over millions of dollars for each cause. With Time Warner Cable in Hawaii, Jon launched five interactive TV channels including The Green Channel and OIWI TV while also turning its television station, OC16, into a 24-hour network. In 2011, Jon Brekke joined the Island Film Group (IFG) and Hawaii Media Inc., where he wrote, directed, and produced his third feature length film, as words breathe, a drama about a woman who unplugs from corporate life to discover the artist within herself. Since joining IFG, he has also founded and created two uniquely exciting businesses – Soul Sessions USA, which is a burgeoning music channel dedicated to finding the hidden gems of the music industry (the next generation of singers and song writers), and 5miles, which enables entrepreneurs to use storytelling videos to showcase their businesses over the Internet. All told, he counts over 1,000 productions to his director’s credits – including television (programs, commercials, telethons), film (both features and shorts), video (training and educational), and stage plays (including dinner shows). Willing to pursue all leads to promote YBS, Jon has traveled throughout Asia and lives in the Philippines with wife, Lea, and son, Adam. See also jonbrekke.com and IMDB.