Jon Reiss

Producer and Director
https://www.jonreiss.com

Named one of “10 Digital Directors to Watch” by Daily Variety, Jon Reiss has played “A-list” film festivals worldwide. As a result Reiss has built a dedicated global film audience.

Reiss’ two critically acclaimed feature films are: Better Living Through Circuitry, a startling, humorous and entertaining glimpse into the exploding rave culture featuring such acts as the Crystal Method, Roni Size, and Moby, among others. The film played at such festivals as RESfest, Rotterdam, Sao Paulo, Copenhagen, Los Angeles Independent, Seattle, Vancouver, and Sheffield International Doc Festival before being released theatrically in the United States. Following its theatrical distribution the film had numerous screenings on Showtime and Sundance Channel as well as a worldwide DVD/VHS release.

Reiss’ first film, Cleopatra’s Second Husband, is a dark psychological drama which screened at the Los Angeles Independent, Seattle, Montreal World, Hamptons, Houston, Sao Paulo and Bangkok film festivals, winning Best First Feature at Cinequest before its theatrical release in the United States and subsequent DVD release by First Run Features. The film will make its bow on IFC/Rainbow Cable in 2006.

As an award-winning music video director, Reiss has directed videos for Nine Inch Nails, The Black Crowes, Danzig, Slayer, and the Kottonmouth Kings. Reiss’ Happiness in Slavery video for Nine Inch Nails won awards at the Chicago and San Francisco film festivals and was voted Top Ten by the Village Voice Critics Poll for Best Music Video.

In 1995 the Toronto Film Festival curated a retrospective of Reiss’ music videos. His shorts screened at festivals throughout the world including Sundance, Berlin, New Directors/New Films, Edinburgh, and Chicago. Reiss received his MFA from the UCLA Film School.

Jon Reiss’ early credits also include four hour-long documentaries concerning the notorious performance group Survival Research Laboratories. These documentaries have screened in festivals, theaters and cultural centers throughout the world. All were included on a compilation DVD 10 Years of Robotic Mayhem released Summer 2004.

Reiss got his start in filmmaking at Target Video, a San Francisco based alternative video company where he covered much of the West Coast punk explosion.

Critical Acclaim for Jon Reiss Projects

BETTER LIVING THROUGH CIRCUITRY
“Intriguing and thrilling.” Eric Harrison, LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Important and provacative as well as entertaining,” Kevin Thomas, LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Hip, hypnotic…engaging. ‘Better Living Through Circuitry’ demystifies raves and sets the bar for others to explore this culture and music.” Charles Lyons, VARIETY
“Better Living Through Circuitry’ rocked the house…audience members gushed that ‘Circuitry’ was the best documentary they had ever seen.” INDIEWIRE
“Reiss simulates a rave’s euphoric atmosphere through digital effects and cuts faster than a drum ‘n’ bass soundtrack…An ecstatic valentine for those who rave and a primer for those who don’t.” Nina Chonin, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

CLEOPATRA’S SECOND HUSBAND
“A diabolically clever psychological suspense movie. An assured and daring dramatic feature debut for writer-director Reiss.” Kevin Thomas, LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Jon Reiss’ debut feature is a harrowing yet delicious and often wickedly funny study…one of the most unusual power struggles in cinema history.” FILMMAKER MAGAZINE
“Fascinating, strange, twisted and f***ed up…I’ve never seen anything like it.” Juan Morales, DETOUR MAGAZINE
“An insidiously clever movie, a variation on those creepy 1960s British classics, ‘The Servant’ and ‘The Collector.'” John Hartl, SEATTLE TIMES
“First-time director Jon Reiss evinces indisputable control over his material, which most directly recalls the Pinter-Losey classic ‘The Servant’ in its look at an insidious power shift between unsavory men in a household.” Todd McCarthy, DAILY VARIETY

SRL – “10 YEARS OF ROBOTIC MAYHEM”
“Simply unlike anything you’ve seen before.” DVD TALK
“Way ahead of their time, Mark Pauline and Jon Reiss combine on this special effects robotic extravaganza offering some incredible feats of modern technology. This release offers a history of Survival Research Laboratories, taking in their very first displays of robotic power, as well as their grandiose later shows.” HOLLYWOOD BITCHSLAP.COM
“Capturing the tension between terror and humor that characterizes SRL’s live shows is no mean feat. Reiss manages to do justice to the artistic bravado and technical genius behind all those menacing machines…all woven into a gloriously cacophonous whole.” BAM MAGAZINE
“Jon Reiss – Survival Research Laboratories best kept secret. He has been the major documentarian of SRL’s machine performances and helped capture not only the ear-splitting techno-fury orchestrated by the remote-control-carrying SRL overlords, but the actual dangers inherent to each show.” FILM THREAT

NINE INCH NAILS’ “HAPPINESS IN SLAVERY” MUSIC VIDEO
“One of the most talked-about videos ever.” BILLBOARD MAGAZINE
“The current watermark for both creativity and artistic freedom is the Nine Inch Nails clip for ‘Happiness in Slavery.'” ALTERNATIVE PRESS

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