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About
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I'm a Filmmaker turned Digital Content Guru, turned Creative Director based in Brooklyn.

I've lived a few lives. 

Reinvention is the mother of, well, more reinvention.

 

That nontraditional background makes me good at what I do: Take complicated concepts and make them simple and memorable. 

WORK

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MLB Let The Kids Play
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Adidas x ESPN 
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Michelob Ultra: Ugly Athleisure
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Michelob Ultra: Father's Day
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MLB Originals
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MLB Brand Spots
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Feature Films
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Major Fest
WORK
More About Me

Would love to hear from ya: 

jonathandpaley@gmail.com

Some Icebreakers:

  • I've been struck by lightning.

  • I'm prepared to argue that every movie should be exactly 90 minutes. 

  • ​I think naiveté can be a superpower.

  • I try to know a little bit about a lot of things. 

  • I can always tell you which way is North, South, East, or West. If I’ve been somewhere once I can probably find my way back. 

  • I think I’m better than I am at ping pong, but I'm probably better than you think I am.

  • I’m an elite parallel parker. Try me. 

  • Please don’t ask me to write with a pen and paper. No one wants that.

  • I can’t tell if the internet used to be better, or my memory just romanticizes it. 

  • I like to hike, stargaze, ski, canoe, camp, snowshoe, and fish in that order. 

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

A Bit More About Me

We all know the stereotype: Copywriters have a midlife crisis and leave the industry to write their screenplay and become a filmmaker. I just did things in reverse. 

Contact

2009-2013
Indie Filmmaker

2013-2017
Digital Content Creator 

2017-2022
Creative Director/Freelance

I started my career idealistic enough to make feature-length documentary films. I moved to the Dominican Republic and bootstrapped nine months of a production that followed young kids hoping to make it to the big leagues. After three years of work, Ballplayer: Pelotero showed up in theaters, on HBO, and Netflix to rave reviews. The next year, I released two more feature docs, played a bunch of festivals, and won some awards. 

Notable Credits: 

Ballplayer: Pelotero (2012) - Director, Producer

12 O'Clock Boys (2013) - Associate Producer

Schooled: The Price of College Sports (2013) - Director

Blank Meets Blank (2013) - Creator, Executive Producer

The brands came knocking, looking for nonfiction filmmakers to take on a new kind of advertising challenge: digital branded content. Best practices didn’t exist, the budgets were huge (compared to indie filmmaking), and the deadlines were tight. I started working with agencies, publishers, and major brands to figure out what worked in this new format. I wrote, consulted, pitched, and directed. I decided to let someone else hold the camera, and take the reins on big-picture story. I made hundreds (thousands?) of pieces of video content that racked up millions of views. The idealistic indie filmmaker would have scoffed, but I enjoyed the challenge. Besides, it was kind of nice that projects lasted months, not years. Every brand brief was a satisfying little puzzle to solve. 

Clients: Delta, W+K, UnderArmour, Adidas, ESPN, Time, Inc., Conde Nast, Ford, Vox, WeTransfer, Diageo, L'Oreal, Infiniti. 

I crossed over into the agency world as a creative director (copy). The puzzles got harder, but my nontraditional background and skill set gave me an edge. Commercials, tag lines, social campaigns, stunts, experiential, and out of home—I did a little bit of everything. I led a postseason campaign for Major League Baseball that fundamentally changed the sport. Before long, MLB brought me in-house to handle its brand campaigns and launch an ambitious slate of original content. Somehow, my career came full-circle and I again made films about baseball.  

 

Laundry Service - LG Mobile, Michelob Ultra, Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball - Original content and brand campaigns

Freelance - Current

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