Joe Gillis(II)
- Writer
- Producer
- Editor
Bringing imaginative images to the sound of the popular Groovie
Ghoulies music videos "'Til Death Do Us Party" or "Running with
Bigfoot" comes easily to Joe Gillis, who as a filmmaker has been
fascinated with images that can inspire, motivate and entertain since
he first took up the camera at the age of 9 in his home town of Citrus
Heights, California. Since he was able to express himself he knew that
moving images held a special place for him. By the time he was 10, he
was sure it was to be his career. Joseph Wayne Gillis was born October
11, 1973. His parents did not realize that in naming him after his
grandfather and uncle, his name already "belonged" to one of the great
movie characters of all time, played by actor William Holden in Billy
Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard". Like Holden's role in the film, the real
life Joe Gillis started at an early age to dream up films and plays
that he would write out to full scripts, ready for the cameras, that in
this case, would roll. As a young actor in commercials, he was able to
observe how the production side of creative image making was done. In
1980, during the production of "Windwalker", the story of Native
American life with Trevor Howard, Joe was able to see first hand all
the elements that went into feature film production. Written by his
cousin, Blaine Yorgason, he found himself surrounded by the props of
the production and watching the dailies. He was learning the art
firsthand. His own first film production was an homage to silent screen
comedy shorts. 1995's "9 Items or Less" was shot entirely in glorious
black and white, and has been a success in numerous film festivals from
Canada's Hollywood North Underground Movie Festival to San Francisco's
FAF (Film Arts Foundation) Film Festival. In 2002's "Voices from the
High School", Joe took on the challenge of bringing to the screen New
York playwright Peter Dee's tale exposing the reality of high school
life, in an unvarnished authentic manner. Voices was a hit at the
annual MeDiA Co-Op Film Festival, and continues to make remarkable
sales on DVD and video to libraries and learning institutions. At home
with several new film concepts and scripts, Joe prepares music videos
and other forms of visual media. Accompanied by his two kids, he has an
un-ending enthusiasm for finding ways to make the screen reach and grab
the audience in new, innovative ways.