A New York native, Jake has professional experience in most aspects of the film industry. He began his career as a soundman and stagehand in Kansas City and has shot commercials for Harley Davidson Motorcycles, the U.S. Army, the Kansas City Chiefs, Jiffy Lube, and many, many bad infomercials. His experience in the physical side of production led him to team up with two former Miramax Films executives at Gotham Entertainment Group, where he completed his tenure as the Director of Production, in charge of a slate of feature and documentary films.

His writing accolades include being named the Grand Prize Winner in American Zoetrope’s inaugural Screenplay Contest, where his Irish epic, The Fergus Cycle, beat out 2,185 other entries, the top ten of which were read and judged by Francis Ford Coppola.

He is one of few Americans to receive funding from Bord Scannan na hEireann/The Irish Film Board, whose financing is going toward the development and production of The Fergus Cycle.

Jake has written, directed, shot and edited several short films and co-written a script for Showtime with actor/writer Steven Kampmann (Newhart, Stealing Home, Analyze That). He is a veteran of three Cannes Film Festivals (as a representative for Gotham and, later, for Cashill Films), has lectured to NYU graduate classes on story structure and independent film and is a graduate of Middlebury College.

He has been in development with three New York-based producers, Jane Startz (Ella Enchanted), Norman Twain (Lean on Me), and Ken Schapiro (Alchemy).

He recently completed a feature film, which he wrote and directed, a thriller entitled, ORAL FIXATION.