Jonathan Messer

Jonathan Messer (born 17 March 1976 in Melbourne) is an Australian director of theatre, television and film.

Jonathan Messer
Born
Jonathan William Arthur Messer

(1976-03-17) 17 March 1976
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Years active1990 – present

Early years

Jonathan Messer grew up in Beaumaris, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Baptised a Catholic, at the age of five he began studying at Stella Maris Catholic Primary School. Messer began his theatrical career at St Martins Youth Arts Centre in Melbourne, where he appeared in various productions both acting and singing from the age of 12 to 15. He also appeared in various television commercials as a child. His secondary studies were at St Bede's College (Mentone), where he undertook his high school work-experience on the Australian drama series Neighbours.

Career

Messer works as an Australian director/producer of film, television and theatre and holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.[1] During his doctorate he was awarded the Edith Cowan University's Vice Chancellors award for Community Engagement,[2] and produced and directed a 60-minute observational documentary film called It’s Not Just Me[3] as the creative component of his practice-led research, taking four years to make.[4] The film explores female to male gender transition, providing a complex narrative that investigates the rich life of four transgender men and those around them.[5][6] It's Not Just Me won best LGBT documentary feature at the Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival in 2017.[7][8] The film aired on SBS Viceland in Australia and SBS VOD[9] and was rated 4.5 stars by The Curb[10] and 5 Stars by Lezly Herbert from Out in Perth. The film screened at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Film Festival, Brisbane Queer Film Festival, Revelation Perth International Film Festival and was also screened as part of the History Trust of South Australia, History Festival.[11][12]

Messer's professional theatre productions include Tejas Verdes[13] by Fermin Cabal in 2006 with Red Stitch Actors Theatre[14] following the successful run of Vincent in Brixton [15] by Nicholas Wright. In 2005 Messer went to New York City where he was invited to The Sloan Film Summit[16] at the Tribeca Film Institute, where he screened his short film Joshua Tree starring Taylor Dayne. Messer also worked as the Assistant Director to Jim Sharman in the production of Three Furies at the Sydney Opera House. He has also directed and produced music videos for the bands Tiltmeter, Nokturnal and 67 Special.

Messer trained in Los Angeles for three years, and developed his film making skills and experience studying film direction at the American Film Institute. He then worked as production assistant for the Kennedy-Marshall Company producing feature films such as Seabiscuit and The Bourne Supremacy. Before graduation from the MFA program in directing at the American Film Institute (AFI) in 2002, Messer underwent an internship at Killer Films in New York, working in pre-production on the Todd Haynes film Far from Heaven and the release of John Cameron Mitchell's film Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Messer also received a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (Australia) and an Ian Potter Foundation Grant to pursue his MFA (directing) at the American Film Institute. He is also a graduate director from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, in Sydney, and has also worked and in London at the BBC as an Assistant Director and Floor Assistant in both Drama and Light Entertainment on the shows Absolutely Fabulous, Top of the Pops, Blue Peter, The Hello Girls and Later… with Jools Holland. He also trained in single and multi-camera drama at the BBC.

Personal life

Messer is also a photographer, a painter and a writer. Previously he was a health outreach worker for 6 years in a harm reduction project, working with street-based sex-workers in St Kilda, Victoria. He was born under the Zodiac sign of Pisces, the fish and is also a Justice of the Peace in the State of Western Australia, where he executes search warrants for police and witnesses affidavits for the public on a volunteer basis.[17] He is also a mental health, disability, and inclusion advocate and is blind in his left eye.[18] Messer is on the Diversity Leadership Group for Screenwest, Western Australia's primary film funding organisation.[19]

References
  1. ECU: PhD and Masters Research Online Institutional Repository https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2230/
  2. ECU | Latest News-Vice Chancellors Top Students Award Winners https://www.ecu.edu.au/news/latest-news/2016/08/congratulations-to-ecus-top-students]
  3. Vimeo | Documentary Trailer for It's Not Just Me https://vimeo.com/user19105302]
  4. ABC Australia, 6 July 2017 | It's Not Just Me: Lives of transgender men explored in new West Australian film, written by Briana Shepherd https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-06/wa-gender-transitioning-documentary-its-not-just-me/8681342]
  5. Brisbane Queer Film Festival Program 2017 https://www.bqff.com.au/itsnotjustme]
  6. Out in Perth 'Local Trans men feature in new documentary' written by Leigh Andrew Hill https://www.outinperth.com/not-just-local-trans-men-feature-new-documentary/]
  7. Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival Awards (Atlanta Docufest), 2017 http://www.docufest.com/awards2.html]
  8. SBS Perth Film has picked up prize at Atlanta Docufest https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/sexuality/fast-lane/article/2017/09/21/perth-film-about-transgender-men-has-picked-prize-atlanta-docufest]
  9. SBS Television and Video on Demand Programming https://www.sbs.com.au/programs/video/1153653315991/Its-Not-Just-Me]
  10. The Curb Online Film Criticism - Reviewer: Andrew F. Peirce https://www.thecurb.com.au/its-not-just-me-review/]
  11. History Festival Catalogue https://history.sa.gov.au/events/history-festival-2019-its-not-just-me-film-screening/
  12. Inside WAAPA Article It's Not Just Me p.11. https://www.waapa.ecu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/769880/InsideWAAPA_Issue_51.pdf
  13. "Chile's 'disappeared' given a haunting voice by Thuy On". The Australian. 5 June 2006. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009.
  14. Red Stitch Actors Theatre - Theatre News Archived 2009-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
  15. The Age 10 October 2005 Masterpiece comes of age by Jim Murphy
  16. Sloan Science and Film
  17. Western Australian Court Services - Search: Messer https://courts.justice.wa.gov.au/_apps/jps/default.aspx]
  18. Screenwest Industry Diversity and Leadership Press Release https://www.screenwest.com.au/news-events/2019/07/wa-screen-industry-diversity-leadership-group-welcomes-three-new-members/]
  19. Screenwest, Western Australia's Screen Funding and Development Organisation https://www.screenwest.com.au/about/
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