The First Tattoo

This coming Tuesday evening I start the first Tattoo. I have decided that it will go on the right side of my chest. Pete says it will take two or three sessions that will be about three hours each. These sessions will be filmed by Johnathan Bensimon and Chris Gordaneer. These guys have great reputations within the film and photography industry and I consider myself extremely lucky to have them shoot this for me. The final short will be used as a promotional piece and as the opening titles of the finished documentary.

Jonathan Bensimon

Director/DP Bio

Jonathan Bensimon came to directing through his growth and experience as a cinematographer.  He studied film and photography at Ryerson University in Toronto, and in 2003 was accepted for the Budapest Cinematography Master Class.  He studied directly with legends Laszlo Kovacs (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces) and Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of a Third Kind, The Deer Hunter), subsequently shadowing Zsigmond on a Woody Allen film.

Cinematographically Jonathan continued to mature by photographing Music Videos, TV shows, as well as shooting the critically acclaimed feature film You Might as Well Live that premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival. 

As a Commercial Director/DOP his clients his client range from McDonald’s, BMW, Honda and AXE.  His short film titled "Time to Deliver” opened the Worlds Aids Conference and was screened before an audience of 25,000 delegates and world leaders including Bill Gates and Bill Clinton.  The film received numerous honors including a 2006 Best in Show Mobius Award.

Recently his branded content piece Tokyo/Glow exploded online, the film spread through the blogsphere as it was featured on vogue’s website (www.style.com) and Justin Timberlake’s site.  Consequently the film was showcased on various advertising sites throughout the world (Creativity, Communication Arts).

The media interest in Bensimon continues grows, having been featured articles in Shoot Magazine and recently has been on the cover of the November issue of SHOTS Magazine.  

Presently, Jonathan is working on a number of 'traditional' and interactive projects under the aegis of Industry Films in Toronto.

To view Chris Gordaneer's work and bio, visit www.chrisgordaneer.com