Everyday Jon Hill

We made the screening!

Come to the Downtown Independent this Saturday night to check out my show, Finishing Last, screen with nine other shows. I’m really happy how the show turned out and, from what I hear, this should be a great screening (so stoked for Googy).

Not convinced? Check out this teaser for the show and then watch on Saturday night to see how much progress we made since our first day shooting. Doors at 8:00, show at 9:00. Check out Channel101.com for more details.

Thanks to Jen and Shane for making this show awesome. They also star in the show!

Rainbow Killer - Ashleigh Haney

This is the first official music video I’ve ever directed. I’m really happy about this.

First and foremost I have to thank Ashleigh for giving me this opportunity. Ashleigh recently left her job as Rihanna’s backup singer to start a solo career and put me in charge of directing her first music video. She’s taking a huge risk by leaving this job and you can’t help but admire her for it. We had to schedule our editing sessions around her American Music Awards rehearsals. She’s performed in front of over a 100,000 people overseas and now she’s relying on guy with a 96’ Buick to make her first video. 

Next I have to thank Mike Manasewitsch for not only shooting and editing the video, but for being one of the best people I’ve ever worked with. Not only is he super talented (have you seen what he shot yet?) he’s also extremely easy to work with. He keeps the energy on set at a maximum and doesn’t know the meaning of bad attitude. He’s one of the few people I trust as a filmmaker. Hire him. He’s a beast.

Also have to thank Bill Morse for being in the video. He really nailed it with his performance and was willing to do whatever we asked of him. We’ve been working together for almost ten years now. Hire him too.

Ryan Howard and Aaron Moles did a lot of the grunt work that people tend to overlook when they see a finished product. Well I’m not. Without these two guys helping out, the video wouldn’t have been made and I can’t wait to hire these guys again. Oh, and you know I had to get a Moles cameo in there somewhere.   

Also thanks to all the background actors, musicians, and everyone else that helped contribute to this video.  And none of this would have happened if Matt McManus didn’t show Ashleigh a video I did for Movie Night. This is one of those cases of someone seeing a project you did for the love of filmmaking and then hired you for it. TheHipsterDiet was sorta prophetic in his comment when he reblogged it.  

It was definitely a group effort and I’ve very proud that I got to direct this. I hope you like it as much as I do. If you are so inclined, this song is on sale at itunes. 

Here’s the video for the 2010 Christmas Photo Booth. Over 1500 photos because we don’t love ourselves enough. Thanks to Ryan Howard for shooting most of these and buying the tree.

The Warlords

This is a recut (minus the hardcore porn) of a last place Channel 101 show I shot. The rumors are true: we once watched this about ten times as a master class is Aaron Moles acting. Aaron was hilarious in this.

“I just don’t get to meet a lot of people. That’s what you do right? You say hi?”

Sometimes you help a friend of a friend out by shooting a music video for them. Sometimes that music video is all green screen. And sometimes you discover the video two years later and celebrate at its general awesomeness. And by awesomeness I mean the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever seen. 

I can’t help but think that I shot a fake Jenna Maroney video from 30 Rock.

Here’s the trailer for Man I Am, the surfing film I just shot. Edited by the director Justin.

Lothrop What What ep. 6. “The Christmas Episode”

This is the Christmas episode of my college show Lothrop What What. I finally re-uploaded it after youtube took it down. Hope you enjoy it this Christmas day.

Some Fun Facts:

After this episode aired, the Resident Directors saw the stack of toilet paper in the background and thought we must of stole it. So instead of given it out to everyone automatically, they made the RA’s keep it locked up in their rooms. The new rule was if you wanted toilet paper, you had to knock on the RA’s door and ask for it. My friend Heather scolded us for causing her to ask for a roll of TP in front of her RA and his drunk friends. She said it was embarrassing. We found it hysterical.

This episode is also legendary for causing a hot girl to fail a class. I ran into a girl at Hemmingways my senior year. After chatting with her for a bit, she confessed that she knew who I was and that she had a bone to pick with me. She said that she was a fan of the show and that it caused her to fail her Intro to Philosophy class. Apparently the class only had two grades: a midterm and a final. She failed her midterm and just needed a D+ to pass the class (I said hot, not smart). She had planned to study the night before. Well, that was also the night we aired this episode. Because the show played on a loop, she ended up watching it over and over again all night long. She didn’t study and failed her final, causing her to retake the class next year. She said her dad was furious that he had to pay for it. I had cost her parents thousands of dollars.

I later made out with that girl. Life is good if you’re on TV.

Christmas in Oakland

My buddy Ian and I once threw a Christmas party of epic proportions during college. I think we each spent the equivalent of three months of rent on food, beer, and decorations for it. 

Hands down the best Christmas party ever. We caught a drunk girl stealing cookies. Our Santa flew in from Kansas City for it. I got laid. What more could you ask for? 

SIDEBAR: Everyone’s favorite part of the video is when the hot blonde tells us we’re awesome.

Top Rope Episode 6 - The Final Event

It’s the Summer Scorcher and I get choked slammed. What more could you want?

Here’s a video I did for the Channy’s pre-show. It’s ABC Family meets Everything.

Trailer using footage I shot for the new Garfunkel and Oates album: All Over Your Face.

mikekarnell:

Here’s the video I made for the 2010 Channy Awards. Big thanks to Abed Gheith, *Ryan Howard, Ryan Ridley, Jon HIll and the electric WIlly Roberts for helping me put this together on such short notice. Also, thanks to Dave Seger, Morgan Locke and Dan Murrell for putting together an amazing show this past weekend. I love being a part of the Channel 101 community and look forward to another great year.

*I can’t say enough about how amazing Ryan Howard is. He let people tickle his belly, lick his ear and generally blur the line between a performance and sexual assault. The guys is a total pro.

The first time I sat with Mike Karnell to talk about comedy, he pitched me this idea about a guy eating cereal that gets raped a la Shawshank. I knew we shared the same sense of humor and I’m glad I was able to help get his vision to the small screen.

Listen kids, prison rape can be funny. It takes a little more hard work, but it can be done.