CHRIS JONES was born in the Northwest of England, in Wigan, an old coalmining town now more famous for its Rugby. Film making was not an obvious career choice, but Chris’ passion for cinema and drive to make his dreams come true, ended with him making a string of highly successful super 8mm zombie horror movies with which he turned a profit by showing at high schools in the lunch breaks. Their success landed him in film school.
It was while at film school that he made alliances with other filmmakers, including Genevieve Jolliffe, with whom he subsequently made three feature films. Before the film course was complete, frustrated by a lack of forward momentum and creative freedom, Chris left the film school and started Living Spirit Pictures. Within six months he was on set and shooting his first, ultra commercial, action thriller starring Harrison Ford’s kid brother Terrance, The Runner. This baptism by fire soon led to a second feature film, White Angel, a serial killer thriller (US title Interview With A serial Killer) starring Peter Firth. White Angel later ran as the centrepiece film at the London Film Festival and picked up five international awards at a number of festivals. It was during this time that Chris ended up in prison for a short spell, and decided to write The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook. When this weighty tome hit the bookshelves, it was an immediate success with Indie filmmakers. The book has since spawned two updates, an all new Hollywood edition and a third book, The Guerilla Film Makers Movie Blueprint - in all that’s over 2,000 pages and nearly two million words of ‘how to’ film making advice!
The success of the films and books lead to Urban Ghost Story, a gritty social realist paranormal tale, released in North America two years ago.
Between writing and making films, Chris works as an editor for the BBC, as well as running courses for new filmmakers and writing books. He lives in Ealing, West London and his business is based at the historic Ealing Film Studios. (www.livingspirit.com)