Epiphany Pictures
Bio of Scott JT Frank
www.epiphanypictures.com
Scott Frank began his career as a cameraman at Northeastern University’s, educational broadcasting facility in Boston and as a studio/field cameraman with broadcasters in the New York (WGTG) and Los Angeles TV (KWHY) markets. He earned a BFA degree in Film/Video from California Institute of the Arts (The Disney School), which included four quarters of undergraduate work in the work/study program at Antioch College, Ohio Campus.
Upon Graduating, Scott’s thesis project, The Golden Sher, a touching documentary illuminating the difficulties of aging as its affects the nuclear family, appeared on PBS. Later in 1981, he was awarded a position at California State University where he produced, wrote and directed an educational film on JPL’s San Fernando Observatory, subsequently gifted to CSU’s Northridge campus.
In 1982, Scott founded the New York City production company, Frank Film, Inc. Frank Film produced documentaries, training and industrial films throughout the 80’s. The company’s clients included: Chemical Bank, Citicorp, Pfizer, American Express, IBM, Motorola, AT&T, Hughes, US West, Pac Bell, Cysco Systems and Pan Am. In addition to his work there, Scott became a regular hire at the world-renowned magazine program, 60 minutes. His freelance camera and field production abilities were also utilized by CBS’s West 57th Street, ABC’s 20/20 and other international front line television news agencies.
In 1984, Scott directed and produced the controversial, groundbreaking documentary, Women Of Iron. This edgy look at the trend setting sport of Women’s body building, won kudos from film reviewers and sports enthusiasts. In addition to shooting the 1984 Women’s Olympiad in Philadelphia and the World International Championships in Canada for Women Of Iron, Scott was hired to direct two live arena sports broadcasts, including 1984 Men’s National Championships.
By 1986-87 the AIDS epidemic had cast a pall of fear across the United States. In answer to the public outcry, Scott generated the funding and produced, AIDS: The Facts Of Life. Well ahead of its time, this instructive documentary included narrative segments conceived and created to educate an ill uniformed heterosexual public. The film was produced in New York City and on location in Key West, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Scott brought Susan Sarandon, James Taylor and Iman to the picture, directing and producing this winner of the prestigious John Muir Medical Film Festival, the American Video Conference Awards and the ABC Clio’s highest rating.
Scott personally received an Outstanding Achievements in Writing Emmy Nomination from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1988 for his contribution to the CBS Children’s Program, When I Grow Up.
Between 1985 and 1989 Scott attended business management courses with consulting guru, Burton Geyer and the elite-consulting firm, Workability. During these years, he honed the organizational, sales and management skills vital to the facilitation and delivery of multi-million dollar entertainment projects. Scott facilitated the authorship of two private placement agreements, conferring with the entertainment departments of two New York law firms in preparation for the independent funding of documentaries and feature film productions.
His travel and production experience with 60 minutes, led Scott to opportunities overseas. These included writing and/or mounting productions in Asia, Europe, Africa, South America and Canada. Research for his first screenplay, The African, was conducted in Kenya and Tanzania, while that of his second, Eminent Domain, was done at the Mexican Border.
Scott returned to Los Angeles in 1989, where he began working in development with IDL, a Martin Ritt financed picture-company. He was employed as a development executive on the Jason Patric starrer, After Dark My Sweet, directed by James Foley, and as executive in charge of production on the obscure but compelling Denial, starring Patric and Robin Wright Penn. He subsequently produced 35mm pilots with Writer/Producer Herschel Weingrod (Trading Places, Twins, Falling Down), Salome Breziner (An Occasional Hell) then future partner, Director/Producer, Dan Halperin.
In 1990, Scott Frank and Dan Halperin formed Verb Entertainment. Occupying the penthouse suites of Elvis’s old RCA building, the company developed literary materials for the big and small screens. With Scott producing and Dan directing, Verb solicited the gratis support of Paramount Studios, Technicolor, Columbia Pictures, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox and Panavision whereupon Rosemary, the pilot episode for the Emmy and 2x Cable Ace Award winning series, Pictures Windows was created. Rosemary was the 1992 winner of the Cine Golden Eagle and The Special Grand Jury Prize (Best of the Festival) at the Houston Film Festival. The film also took a Silver Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival. In 1993, on the strength of this success, Halperin and Frank formed Epiphany Pictures and entered into partnership with Cathy Konrad (Scream I, II, III, Kate and Leopold) and Director, Norman Jewison’s (Hurricane, Moonstruck, In the Heat of the Night, A Soldier's Story, Thomas Crown Affair, Cincinnati Kid) Yorktown Productions. Yorktown/Epiphany sought and secured a production deal with Showtime Networks through ICM. The series was given a 1994 start date.
In the interim, Scott co-wrote, directed/produced “Getting Started With ATM,” the quintessential video primer for Information Technology managers across the U. S.. Though not an entertainment based program, this title helped establish a standard in Internet interoperability while showcasing Scott’s versatility as a writer/director.
In 1994, at the Yorktown/Epiphany offices on The Culver Lot, creator and producer Scott JT Frank with his partner in Epiphany, Dan Halperin, developed the stories, packaged the actors and directors and produced six segments of the critically honored Showtime Networks series, Pictures Windows. In each segment a famous painting was brought to life cinematically, by a slate of directors that included: Norman Jewison, John Boorman, Bob Rafelson, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante and Jonathan Kaplan, with actors George Segal, Alan Arkin, John Hurt, Brooke Adams, Michael Lerner, Robert Loggia, Steve Zahn, Ron Perlman and Kathleen Quinlan. Freddie Raphael (Eyes Wide Shut, Far From The Maddening Crowd), Dan Yost (Drugstore Cowboy), Harry Petrakis (A Dream Of Kings), and John Boorman were writers. John Boorman’s film premiered Un Certain Regard, at the Cannes Film Festival.
After the success of Picture Windows, Epiphany continued development of feature and television fare adding the titles American Pharaoh, Sweet Home Chicago, Behind The Lines and Caveman Robot to the company slate. Production continued with the original PBS documentary television series: Phenomenon: The Lost Archives, hosted by Dean Stockwell. As Creator and Supervising Producer, Scott Frank oversaw each of 14 edgy hours of documentary television. Some titles are: Heavy Watergate: The War Against Cold Fusion, Lost Lighting: The Missing Secrets of Nikola Tesla and Monopoly Men: The Creation Of The Federal Reserve.
In 2001, Epiphany raised the funding for the feature film, Road Dogs. This Urban Easy Rider, starring Glenn Plummer and Chris Spencer, hosts a stellar soundtrack that includes the artists Snoop, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Korn, Mystic, Debelah Morgan, Nate Dogg, and Battlecat. The film has received festival accolades from the Santa Cruz and Boston International Film Festivals, while being praised by Daily Variety. It is scheduled for release with a major distribution company in the spring of 2004.
As one of the film’s producers, Scott co-wrote, produced and carried the film through post, overseeing the production of all musical elements, while post-supervising the 5.1 sound mix, opening title sequence and the 16 to 35mm blowup of the picture.
Scott is currently writing and directing a series of documentaries on the five great religions of the world. The first, an exploration of Buddhism, follows the Golden Crown Dharma King, Dechin Jueran, through the obscure monasteries and temples of China and Tibet. Though still in its formative stages, “The Gospel According To…” examines the teachings of five great religious leaders from disparate faiths and how their beliefs converge and/or collide.
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