Download PDF

Summary

For the past 13 years Jason Crossman has been creating award winning content for clients, customers, artists and networks across the globe. His creativity and leadership have enabled him to develop visually stunning films and videos for CMT, GAC, FOX, E!, and Cinemax, pilots for MTV, Food Network, and HGTV and commercials and music videos for artists: Jake Owen, Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum and Trace Adkins and for Polaris, Evamor Water, Kit Kat and many more. 

Jason’s knowledge of story telling and his ability to promote strong partnerships with clients and colleagues enabled Legacy Learning Systems to create over 100 award winning instructional videos that generates millions of dollars in revenue ever year. His development of a fully integrated midi to video capturing system helped Legacy create an interactive product unparalleled in the marketplace. 

The Learning Dock hired Jason to develop their online and DVD video training systems and through his initiative the company created, Teach Me Bass Guitar. The program went on to win numerous awards for excellence and a consistently raving five star rating from users across the internet. The program featured a never before scene Interactive Midi fret board and looping function for their DVD course. Jason’s worked increased the EBITA of the Learning Dock and brought a number of offers to buy the company. 

Robin Shea, host of PBS’s well received show, Southern Fried Fitness, brought Crossman on board to help them transition the show to another network. Because of his understanding of product priorities and his knowledge of her audience he was able to aid in the re-brand and repackaging of SFF and to generate a new pilot which was then was picked up by the Paula Dean network where it lives today. 

In addition Jason is proud to have worked to edit Clay Walker's number-one music video, Fall, for Curb Records and shot and directed Ruben Studdard's EPK for Sony covering his song, Together. Along with Studdard's EPK came promo pieces for Lady Antebellum's Album, We Own the Night, Miranda Lambert's Four the Record, Jake Owen's, Endless Summer EP, Exile's remake of Kiss You All Over, with Trace Adkins, Love and Theft’s, Amen, and Ashton Shepard’s, Where Country Grows. He is happy to have worked with Travis TV to create Jake Owens, On the Lake, Exile’s, Hit Exchange, with Trace Adkins, and an hour long special for Ashton Shepard. He also worked with director David McClister to create the documentary, Ryan Adam's Heartbreaker Tour. 

Jason is currently living in Los Angles, working as a freelance director, and is teaching at the New York Film Academy where he services their AFA, BFA and Master’s programs. His ability to lead, create, execute and win, repeating the success time and again, makes Jason an excellent candidate for any company looking to innovate, grow, and to consistently create award winning content. 

Skills

Creative Director

Creating and executing award winning ideas, recognizing trends and patterns in media and online, script writing, meeting with clients to determine needs, audience, and deliverables. Leads well and creates an atmosphere of trust in his team. Pushes to stay ahead of the curve and challenges everyone on the team to always do their best. Energizes everyone with his passion for life.

  • Exceptional artistic vision and creative skills
  • Dedicated to seeing a project through to completion
  • Has a deep passion for filmmaking
  • Is a strong and confident leader
  • Is good at motivating people
  • Is excellent at helping people turn abstract ideas into concrete projects
  • Is highly effective at communicating ideas
  • Is a good listener 
  • Works well under pressure
  • Is able to quickly devise solutions to potentially complex problems
  • Delegates and collaborates with others well
Director

Creating ideas, writing scripts, making storyboards, shot lists, and working with the DP on crafting the most incredible story we can within our budget. Works well with all people, including kids, bringing out the very best in people. Excellent visionary, calm under pressure, patient, and hardworking. Able to get the job done and done well.

  • Exceptional artistic vision and creative skills
  • Dedicated to seeing a project through to completion
  • Has a deep passion for filmmaking
  • Is a strong and confident leader
  • Make decisions easily
  • Delegates and collaborates with others well
  • Has excellent communication and interpersonal skills
  • Is able to inspire and motivate the team
  • Has an extensive understanding of the entire filmmaking process, from both technical and creative points of view
  • Is able to focus intensively for long hours. Actually hyper focused would probably be a better term
  • Pays close attention to detail
  • Is able to remain calm and think clearly under great pressure
  • Has great self-belief and is confident in what I can accomplish
  • Is extremely determined to succeed at achieving set goals
Producer

 Building teams, creating shot lists, finding locations, securing funding, working with clients, securing locations, hiring crew, budgeting, handling payments. Overseeing all stages of production from beginning to end and enacting with clients to ensure product quality and customer satisfaction.

  • Has a good business sense 
  • Has a good understanding of budgeting
  • Has good creative vision and communicates that vision well
  • Is highly self-motivated
  • Excellence in negotiation
  • Is very good at motivating people 
  • Loves and is proficient at problem-solving
  • Understands all the creative processes of filmmaking 
  • Is able prepare and control the production budget
  • Has excellent communication skills
  • Thrives under pressure 
Post-Production Supervisor

Has an incredible eye for story telling. Is able to look at all the footage captured and to build the best story out of what is given. Has an excellent understanding of emotional beats and knows how ever one or two frames can change the entire mood of a scene. Is excellent at communication a vision to editors, animators, and graphic designers. Understands what is needed to bring all post-production elements together into a final deliverable piece. Has defined a number of post-production processes to streamline productivity.

  • Has technical aptitude 
  • Has a wide understanding of the post production process 
  • Is familiar with a variety of computer editing equipment, including FinalCut, Premiere Pro, and Avid, Magic Bullet, After Effects
  • Understand dramatic storytelling to create rhythm, pace and tension
  • Remains creative under pressure
  • Has imagination and an understanding of narrative
  • Has excellent communication and interpersonal skills
  • Has a highly developed aesthetic visual awareness
  • Can lead and inspire a team
  • Is patient 
  • Has good organizational skills
Director Of Photography

Capturing the vision of the director and producer through the lens of experience. Building lighting schemes, selecting the perfect camera for the project. Has an excellent understanding of lighting and its power to set the mood and connect emotionally with the audience. Has won several cinematography awards. Superb composition and use of depth of field. Has a hard time settling for something that does not look spectacular. 

  • Has a good technical knowledge of digital processes
  • Knows all about camera equipment
  • Has an in-depth knowledge of lighting techniques and how to achieve them
  • Has considerable industry experience shooting many formats of video
  • Is flexible and can adapt ideas instantly
  • Is able to make decisions quickly
  • Knows about photography, painting and the moving image
  • Has an artistic vision
  • Is able to give and accept direction
  • Is diplomatic and tactful when working with cast and crew

Education

Sep 2001May 2004

PS - Film Directing

Watkins Film School

I studied film directing at Watkins for my post-graduate studies. While I was attending school I started my own LLC Production Company and started working on building the skills I would need. I developed a number of films in school. My senior project was a civil war film involving over 1600 extras, shot across three states, and earned our much coveted Film of the Year award.

Sep 1997May 2001

BS - Mass Media with and Minor in PR

Indiana Wesleyan University

Indiana Wesleyan University did not offer any film or TV classes outside of video production 1. I worked with the dean of academics to develop four classes, Directing Feature Films, Short Films, Film History, and Screen Writing. The classes were approved by the academic board, accredited and I was allowed to take them in my final year at school. 

Sep 1995Apr 1997

Cross Cultural Communications

Bethany College

I did not receive a degree from Bethany as I changed majors and school, but I did learn a lot about communication and spent time at a halfway house in Bermuda working with people overcoming addictions.

Recognitions

Emmy Award in January 2014 • "Stolen" Short film featured in Kodak Cinematography magazine •"The Silence" Short film won 48 Hour Film Festival's National first place for cinematography • "Fall" Clay Walker's video made #1 on CMT's top 20 countdown • "Teach Me Bass Guitar" Telly Award, and Aegis Award • "Bring That Child To Me" Lorraine Heartsook, International Music DVD Of The Year (UCMVA) U.S • "Fundamentals of Swimming DVD" Multi-Telly Award Winning •"Change the World" Best Dance Music Video LA Music Festival • "Change the World" Best video under $10,000.00 Indie Music Awards LA • "Henceforth" Poem published in Sketches of the soul 

Work experience

May 2016Present

Film Instructor

The New York Film Academy 

The New York Film Academy teaches aspiring filmmakers how to write, produce, and edit films and videos. Working on the Backlots of Universal studios and in class rooms located on Warner Brothers Studios, I teach the Masters Program for Film Directing as well as Post-Production and summer programs. 

Mar 2013Apr 2015

Creative Content Director

The Dave Ramsey Show

The Dave Ramsey Show is a new online video channel for The Dave Ramsey Radio Show, daily reaching over 8 million people across the country and around the world. As creative content director I was responsible for helping create the look and feel of the video channel, spots, promos and commercials. This work required me to write, direct and edit stories, and to serve as the floor producer for the daily live three-hour show. I addition, I hosted the channel for the first year.

  • Initiated plans for creative pieces, developing over 100 videos per year and saw those pieces through completion
  • Developed post-production processes with streamlined workflow and organization
  • Setup folder naming structures and workflow
  • Gave input into the development of The Dave Ramsey Show iPhone app
  • Wrote, produced and directed hundred of stories, ads, and informational videos
  • Lead my production team of six in the creation of over 95 productions in one year
  • Wrote scripts for commercials, stories, and other videos
  • Served as the floor producer for the live show
  • Presented creative show ideas to executive producers and advertisers for consideration

Aug 2001Present

Independent Director and Producer

DBA Jason Crossman

As a contractor I served as a producer, director, DP, writer, or editor on well over 500 projects. Whether I was serving artists, labels, production companies, and or networks I always pushed our team to create with excellence, on time, and as close to budget as possible. As an independent contractor I have been responsible for writing scripts, presenting projects to clients, creating concepts for  shoots, working with directors, producers, and post production directors to make numerous award winning productions. I also worked with budgeting and billing.

  • Produced content pieces for film, television, and internet distribution
  • Oversaw every stage of production from the initial concept to hiring crew, securing locations, creating budget all the way to the final delivery
  • Wrote numerous scripts for commercials, products, short films, promotions and features 
  • Directed music videos, pilots, short films, documentaries, instructional videos and shows for an online video channel
  • Created a vision for numerous productions and worked with teams to create and deliver on those visions
  • Served as the director of photography for a number of videos and was responsible for capturing the look, tone, feel and vision of the director
  • Edited or oversaw the edits of hundreds of videos


May 2012Mar 2013

Co-Owner Producer/Director

Loaded Deck Entertainment

As a Co-Owner of Loaded Deck Entertainment I was responsible for directing and producing a series we filmed for Southern Fried Fitness, a TV show on PBS. I met with clients, created concepts for commercials and pilots for TV shows, wrote treatments and scripts, directed and lead post-production. In addition, I was responsible for developing budgets, paying crew, and handling financial matters.

  • Developed the pilot show for the new Southern Fried Fitness, a successful show on PBS. The process included creating the script, hiring the talent and directing the show
  • Securing rights to music for video productions
  • Developing and writing scripts for clients like Evermore and Lodge Cookware 
  • Presented Creative Content plans to executives, internal and external partners and filmmakers
  • Worked as liaison between Southern Fried Fitness, Revolution Pictures and the crew
Aug 2011Jul 2012

Director of Post-Production

Comprehensive Media Incorporated

I was responsible for developing the post-production studio, including building all three edit suites and color correction lab. I organized the post production workflow and helped create the post-production filing system on the Final Cut Server. I also worked with the production team to develop content, offer input and feedback, and to edit and oversee other editors on the post-production team. In addition, I was hired to develop treatments for new projects and music videos. 

  • Established post-production workflow
  • Created 3 editing suites complete with color corrections monitors, MC control boards, and integration with Final Cut Server
  • Selected and ordered equipment for editing suites and color correction studio
  • Oversaw editors producing over 50 projects for The Gideons and CCA Correctional facilities.
  • Maintained detailed schedule of projects and deadlines
  • Kept production flowing in order to reach aggressive deadlines
  • Interfaced regularly with departments across the company during the creative planning, production, and post-production process
  • Wrote treatments and presented treatments to clients
  • Assisted in production
  • Ran Sony PMW series camera and served as camera operator on a number of shoots

Personal

I am an avid world traveler and philanthropist. I have been to over 35 countries on six continents. I have worked with organizations like World Vision, Visiting Orphans, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and America World Adoption. 

I have a teacher's heart and love helping people understand how to become better filmmakers and storytellers. I have taught film classes in Chile, Peru, and in the US.