Producer/Director: "Bollywwod and Vine"
Miami Herald, Friday October 22 2004
BY VIVIANA BATISTA
vbatista@herald.com
Who are you?
Edward Jordon - award-winning filmmaker.
What do you do?
I write, direct and produce fiction features as well as documentaries.
Why do you do it?
It's just one of those things I knew I had to do ever since I was a kid. I
had an overactive imagination back then and still do now. I consider myself
incredibly lucky. I live and work in a dream world. How cool is that?
Where are you from?
I'm originally from New York. Now I live in Central Florida.
Where are you going?
Straight to the Oscars and the Emmys! Hopefully, not as a chauffeur.
How did you start?
As a kid, I used to play with little toy soldiers. I made up stories for
them, wrote their dialogue, spoke for them and designed and built sets for
them. I pretended that I had a TV show to deliver every single week - kind
of like the old "Combat" series. I created mini-extravaganzas and
practically had a nervous breakdown in the process, 'cause producing an
episodic TV show was pretty stressful work for an eight-year-old. It was
hard to keep the show fresh!
Actually, I began my paid career as a stage actor in New York. I didn't much
care for the roles I was being offered, so I started writing my own stuff -
monologues and such. That lead to playwriting, screenwriting, stage
directing and, ultimately, movie directing. I make it sound so easy, but
trust me - it was and continues to be a struggle to make a living as an
artist.
Who/what inspires you?
A good Merlot or Cabernet.
Who are your influences?
My favorite movie is a little-known gem from 1968 called
"Pretty Poison." It starred Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld. It's the
perfect black comedy. The Coen Brothers also continually inspire me. They
are masters of black comedy!
Anything else you want people to know?
"Bollywood and Vine", a new feature film I wrote and
co-directed, will have its world premiere at the Fort Lauderdale
International Film Festival on November 11 at 9:30 p.m. at Cinema Paradiso
in Fort Lauderdale. It's a screwball comedy and, if I do say so, myself,
it's an absolute hoot! Check out the trailer at
http://www.film-source.com/media/BollywoodandVineTrailer.wmv.
I'll be at the screening and would love to see you all there!
Beyond that, I'd love for people to know the following: My
award-winning feature documentary, It’ll Have Blinking Eyes & A Moving
Mouth, has been hailed as “dazzling” by ABC Nightline’s Ted Koppel and
“loopy and entertaining” by Newsday’s Jack Mathews. In 1996, the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited me to screen “...Blinking Eyes...”
in its prestigious Contemporary Documentary Series alongside Oscar winners
and nominees. Other notable venues for “…Blinking Eyes…” have been the
National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Mint Museum, the American
Film Institute and the Hamptons International Film Festival. The film also
received a national theatrical release by Panorama Entertainment in 1996.
Additional feature docs include “Dogwalking On Jackson Crescent” about the
survivor of a brutal attack in New York’s Central Park.
As a screenwriter, I have developed film projects at Sally Field’s Fogwood
Films and Renee Missel Productions, including the American remake of the
2003 Oscar-nominated Dutch film, “Zus & Zo.” Over the years I have received
numerous awards as screenwriter and director from the Houston International
Film Festival. Oscar and Emmy nominee Diana Scarwid (of TV’s “Wonderfalls”)
is also a champion of my writing, calling one of my latest scripts (“Annie &
The Pinboys”), “Superbly mad with outrageous characters
and plot twists!” In 2000 my screenplay, “Robbi’s Angel,” was awarded second
place in the New Century Writers Award (sponsored by Francis Ford Coppola)
and was promptly optioned by Marcy Gross and Ann Weston, named 1997’s TV
Producers of the Year by the A.F.I.
'Bollywood and Vine" - World-Representation:
The Film Source
POB 630085
MIAMI FL 33160 USA
Tel: 305 932 8665
Fax: 305 933 2381
Email: info@film-source.com
www.film-source.com
June 2004