American Stories

We are 40% done with this project ! Click on the link to learn more.


Music Video for Snowglobe-Changes (2005)
Shot entirely in one hour, this little gem touches my heart. Shot with the Panasonic DVX-100, it highlights all that is Snowglobe in just two minutes and seventeen seconds.

Boxes Plus 30 second spot (2004)
Along with local producers Judi Fern and Andy Downing, Rob Lucas co-directed and co-edited a 30-second spot for the Boxes Plus, an Akron business dedicated to providing shipping materials, stationary and a smile to customers.

The Akron Independent Film Festival Trailer (2003)
With the Akron Independent Film Festival entering its second year Ja-cas! went out in search of the perfect images to encapsulate our favorite rubber city. This 30-second spot ran at the University of Akron Student Union Theater and on local cable stations.

Waiting For Truffaut (1999-2000)

Montezuma's Revenge (1997-1998)

The Big Night (2001)

The Uninvited Guest (2000)
This short documentary about haunted houses was taped over several months in 2000. Now, I don't mean the type of haunted houses you pay to walk around in on Halloween. I am talking about the "real thing." Have you ever thought that your house was haunted? Even as a kid? That is sort of what I am aiming at. There are real people out there who claim that they can see the souls of the dead. There are others who can speak to them telepathically. Some build equipment to hunt these ghosts. The best part about these people is that they live next door to you, they shop in the same stores as you and they even go to the same church as you.

Ohio is chock full of psychics, clairvoyants, transdimentional communicators and more. There are so many of these people in their own subculture that they are the perfect subjects for a documentary.

Do you have any ghost stories? Have or know a friend who owns a haunted house? Please let me know.

For more information about the people and places in this project click the links below.
Carrie Kohnya
Chris Woodyard
The Franklin Castle
Nick Reiter
Lily Dale, NY
Mary Anne

The Brian Winterrowd Movie (1998-1999)
My good brother Brian Winterrowd had several short film ideas that really didn't interrelate. This project was done on the spur of the moment. We grabbed a video camera, gave the actors a general idea of what to do and let them have at it. The entire project is hand held and only uses available lighting. Some of the shots were done on the first take and some of them were redone up to 20 times, just to get what we wanted. Most of the sketches have little to no story, but they all involve doughnuts. If you are one of the lucky few who do see it, expect to see people running around naked in public parks, tree hugging, candy sprinkle roads, Jello puppets, jolly green giants and cooter bug infested afros. The soundtrack includes music (used by permission) by bands such as The Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Marbles and Rocket Ship.

Eric's Dream Girl (1998)
Eric's Dream Girl is a three minute silent short that I shot for Media Production Techniques at The University of Akron. It is the boiled down version of what later became Waiting For Truffaut. Eric is a lonely soul who sits around reading on sidewalks. A lovely young lady passes by and realizes that this is his chance to meet someone new. When he follows her around a corner, she mysteriously disappears. Later that night she appears in a dream and kisses him. Eric wakes up to realize that it was only part of his elaborate imagination and hangs his head, knowing that such a perfect girl can only exist in his mind.



  The Wadfather
The infamous script, The Wadfather is now just a past dream. Maybe one day I will dig this project up and rewrite it.