Jonathan Hock - Producer/Director Biography
Born in New York in 1964, Jonathan Hock is an eight-time Emmy Award winning producer, director, writer and editor. Over the course of his 25 years in television and film, Hock's hundreds of credits have ranged from primetime network programming to independent fiction and nonfiction film. Most recently, Hock wrote and directed the feature-length documentary "The Lost Son of Havana," filmed on location in Cuba. The film's executive producers were the Farrelly Brothers, and "Lost Son" premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, where television rights were acquired by ESPN for an August 2009 broadcast and DVD/digital release in September.
Hock created and directed ESPN's award-winning "Streetball," which completed its seventh season in 2008, making it the longest running sports reality series. Hock worked for 10 years at NFL Films, where Steve Sabol taught him the valuable lesson that a filmmaker should not be afraid to love his subject. Hock can still feel the goosebumps from the roar of the crowd on his back while filming NFL games, and he produced and directed "This is the NFL" and "Inside the NFL" for NFL Films and HBO.
Among his previous feature-length documentary films, "Through the Fire" earned multiple Best Documentary Awards at major film festivals during 2005 and received national theatrical distribution in 2006, selling over 100,000 DVD's. "The Streak," co-produced with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos's Milojo Productions, was nominated for an Emmy as best sports documentary in 2008. Other credits include "Michael Jordan To The Max," an internationally distributed IMAX film that he wrote and edited ("MJ to the Max" grossed nearly $ 20,000,000 worldwide), and the IMAX films "Adrenaline Rush" and "Vikings."
Hock is currently in production on "Off the Rez," a feature-length documentary about a Native American family in Oregon (being produced for TLC), and "The Best That Never Was," a TV documentary about the people of Philadelphia, Mississippi – the site of the murder of three civil rights workers in 1964 – through the eyes of white and black football teammates in the first integrated class in the state. Hock is also developing a series called "The Africanization of Sal Masekela," an exploration of revivalist South African culture slated to air during the World Cup of 2010.
Hock founded and runs The Reel People Film Project, a program of film workshops for at-risk youth in New York City. It was during one of these workshops, in 1995, that Hock met a 15-year-old student named Alastair Christopher from the Farragut housing projects in Brooklyn. Christopher, now 28 years old, was Hock's DP on "Through the Fire," "The Streak" and "The Lost Son of Havana."
Hock lives in New York with his wife Lynn and their sons Eddie (10) and Joseph (5), who have made all of his important dreams come true. If he were allowed one more, it would be to meet Rod Serling and Roberto Rosselini for dinner in Havana, and just listen to them talk about storytelling.
Hock created and directed ESPN's award-winning "Streetball," which completed its seventh season in 2008, making it the longest running sports reality series. Hock worked for 10 years at NFL Films, where Steve Sabol taught him the valuable lesson that a filmmaker should not be afraid to love his subject. Hock can still feel the goosebumps from the roar of the crowd on his back while filming NFL games, and he produced and directed "This is the NFL" and "Inside the NFL" for NFL Films and HBO.
Among his previous feature-length documentary films, "Through the Fire" earned multiple Best Documentary Awards at major film festivals during 2005 and received national theatrical distribution in 2006, selling over 100,000 DVD's. "The Streak," co-produced with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos's Milojo Productions, was nominated for an Emmy as best sports documentary in 2008. Other credits include "Michael Jordan To The Max," an internationally distributed IMAX film that he wrote and edited ("MJ to the Max" grossed nearly $ 20,000,000 worldwide), and the IMAX films "Adrenaline Rush" and "Vikings."
Hock is currently in production on "Off the Rez," a feature-length documentary about a Native American family in Oregon (being produced for TLC), and "The Best That Never Was," a TV documentary about the people of Philadelphia, Mississippi – the site of the murder of three civil rights workers in 1964 – through the eyes of white and black football teammates in the first integrated class in the state. Hock is also developing a series called "The Africanization of Sal Masekela," an exploration of revivalist South African culture slated to air during the World Cup of 2010.
Hock founded and runs The Reel People Film Project, a program of film workshops for at-risk youth in New York City. It was during one of these workshops, in 1995, that Hock met a 15-year-old student named Alastair Christopher from the Farragut housing projects in Brooklyn. Christopher, now 28 years old, was Hock's DP on "Through the Fire," "The Streak" and "The Lost Son of Havana."
Hock lives in New York with his wife Lynn and their sons Eddie (10) and Joseph (5), who have made all of his important dreams come true. If he were allowed one more, it would be to meet Rod Serling and Roberto Rosselini for dinner in Havana, and just listen to them talk about storytelling.
Philip Aromando - Co-Producer
Phil is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He has handled every frame of footage on every project Hock Films has produced since 1998.