BLOWN AWAY Wins 'Best Documentary Short' at Dreamland International Film Festival

Very excited to announce a documentary I co-filmed for Australian director Mark Craig was just awarded "Best Documentary Short" by Dreamland International Film Festival for "BLOWN AWAY"!
Congratulations Mark as well as the whole crew who worked on the film.

http://dreamlandfilmfest.org

"Blown Away" Chosen as Official Selection of Dreamland International Film Festival

Awesome NEWS today! A documentary that I recently co-filmed for Australian director Mark Craig has just become an official selection for the Dreamland International Film Festival in Connecticut! The film, "Blown Away", delves into the complex relationship of two individuals who's worlds collided out of a horrible and violent tragedy, forever changing the course of their lives. This is my first documentary as a DP to be accepted into the festival circuit.  Very proud of Mark and everyone who worked on this film!

"Misunderstood." has Gone GLOBAL and Made The Leap to Mainstream Media Internationally

My first mini-doc, "Misunderstood.", has been getting a lot of coverage both in the U.S. and overseas since it first hit the web last March and has now made the leap from skateboard related websites and blogs to mainstream media!!  The film, which was posted on Vimeo only 5 months ago has slowly made it's way onto the laptops of viewers on 5 continents as well as the Carribean, New Zealand and more!  North America, Europe, Austria, Japan, South America, and Australia are showing a lot of viewers in thanks to the websites and bloggers in those areas.  Thank you all SO MUCH for the support!  A new film short in in post production right now as well as the feature length film still in the writing stages of preproduction.  GOOD THINGS COMING!!
Here are some links to some of the film's supporters:

NY
http://www.nyskateboarding.com/2012/04/jr-cronheims-short-version-of-misunderstood-2012/

Japan
http://senes23.blogspot.com/2012/04/misunderstood.html?spref=fb

Austria
http://fm4.orf.at/stories/1700488/

UK
http://www.lostartshop.co.uk/blog/misunderstood-2012

Netherlands
http://www.bewicked.eu/tag/jr-cronheim/

Pro skateboarder and NYC legend Rodney Torres puts his two cents in on "Misunderstood."
Flushing, Queens

A Word About My New Experimental Documentary - Synopsis

"Many of us have created lives that give very little support for experimentation. We believe that answers already exist out there, independent of us. What if we invested more time and attention to our own experimentation? We could focus our efforts on discovering solutions that work uniquely for us."

Truer words have never been spoken, as the say.

I am excited to say that after several incarnations, castings, un-castings, re-castings, rewrites, anxiety attacks, meetings, discussions, consultations, and other fun stuff, I have finally come to settle on the direction of my next short documentary film.  I believe that things tend to unfold the way they are meant to and pieces always have a way of falling into place. In going through this process of pre-production I came to realize that the film I was trying to make happen wasn't really the film that I wanted to make in my heart and was beginning to turn into the film that other people wanted to see me make.  I had one day last week where I shut everything out of my head and went to where what most people would call a meditative state.  I downloaded a bunch of new music, filled up my iPod, grabbed a coffee and went on one my long walks around the East Village with the headphones on....and just like that, everything made perfect sense.  The film I wanted to make was there all along, and in the style I have wanted to explore before even beginning classes at NYFA.  The music inspired images that were just flying through my head and although my eyes saw the street and the sidewalk in front of me, overlayed in my mind was the look, feel, and sound of my film.  As soon as I got home I wrote this synopsis within only a few minutes, one draft.  With 3 weeks of principle photography lost now, the amount of work ahead to make this film happen in such a short time is daunting to say the least...But it will happen and I can't describe how enthusiastic I am about whats coming next.  

Since the dawn of the human race, people have sought both a physical and transcendental connection to their natural environment. Some pursued this through meditation and spirituality while others through physical activity, all looking to achieve a perfect balance within themselves and their surroundings.

In our modern times there is one group of individuals who have found this connection not through nature but through the man-made world we have created for ourselves in which to dwell. They are skateboarders. In particular, New York City skateboarders, who have pioneered the art of “street skateboarding” by mastering their surroundings by means of what was once a just a simple mode of transportation.

Skateboarders have a special connection to their environment.
They see it differently. The utilize it differently. They see the urban landscape's true potential and in a both physical and transcendent way becoming a part of that landscape; connected to it, part of the City's pulse.

This visually striking, experimental, short film explores the connection between New York City skateboarders and “the City that Never Sleeps” in both physical and metaphysical capacities as these skateboarders adapt themselves to the ever moving and infinitely changing terrain, almost unconsciously connecting to the city in the most divine of ways.

Through verite of these holy dances, interviews with the skateboarders themselves, and the creative eye of the film maker, this ethereal world of harsh and hardened beauty comes to life in the visual and aural connection between man and the domain that has been laid down over the natural world, giving insight into a culture and a perspective unique only to these unconventional artists.


-JR Cronheim
Writer/Director

Celebrity Photographer Brian Appio Joins the Production of My New Film

I'm excited to finally be able to officially announce celebrity photographer and long time friend Brian Appio will be working "behind the scenes" of the new film! Brian will doing all of our production and media stills from principle photography through post production and the premiere in August at New York Film Academy! Welcome to the project!! Check out a sample of Brian's work at:


                                                               www.brianappio.com

First Day of Thesis Shooting @ Slappy Sundays on Astor Place

Shooting has begun on my next skateboard film!
I went out yesterday sans film crew with nothing but a Panasonic HMC 150 and the back pack on my back with the mindset of just getting some cutaway shots that I'd maybe use later in post.  What I wound up getting blew my expectations far out of the water!
Just as the universe would have it, it was the BEST Slappy Sunday event yet.  Aside from the 50+ skaters to show up, we were blessed with the zany antics of street performer MATTHEW SILVER who is a cross between a David Lynch character and something out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail...well, let's just call him a Modern day soothsayer for our times!
http://www.maninwhitedress.com/
What that translated into was just another aspect that is the fun of being a street skater.  Being immersed in the world around you while simultaneously sharing in the world of your own.  So much good skating went down, camaraderie, community, and family.  Tons of fun and hysterical laughter was the genesis for  plenty of cinematic gems that only documentary can provide!
Here are a few footage stills of what went down yesterday as well as a short Go Pro segment shot and edited by Alex Corporan.  This was just Day 1.

CHECK OUT ALEX CORPORANS GO PRO EDIT ON FACEBOOK HERE:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150657622056650

Interview and New Skate Mini-Doc Up on NY Skateboarding Today!

Last week, I did an interview with Rick Sulz of NY Skateboarding about my most recent short documentary film and today it's posted up along with the film, as well as my first student film, "Holy Dance" shot back in late Sept. '11.  Go check out the site!  (Link below)

http://www.nyskateboarding.com/2012/04/jr-cronheims-short-version-of-misunderstood-2012/

CURB CRUSHERS: Slapping it in NY

CURB CRUSHERS: Slapping it in NY

My New Home Studio is Almost There!

There's no place like home!  

And for me there is no better place to be inspired to play, write, edit, create, spin, record, or any combination of those!  You can get the most out of any space, especially in Manhattan, where extra space is a luxury only available to some.  

Making the best out of my Lower East Side living quarters - It's becoming magical and inspiring me to explore some depths of creativity I haven't touched in some time.

How are you using your living space?

(It's hard to get a studio together on a student budget, but I'm a crafty one.  Almost there.)

New Skateboarding Documentary In Production for 2012!

Shooting wraps this week on my new short documentary film! Looking forward to putting it all together in post production. Big Thank Yous to Steve Rodriguez, Rodney Torres, Dave Ortiz, and Taji Ameen for being a part of this film and also to my awesome crew Susanne Dollnig and Matteo Brunetta! This 10 minute social issue film will serve as a teaser for the full length extended version which will be in production until August 2012. Teaser coming soon!  Here are a few production stills from actual footage shot this past month for the short 10 minute version as well as some "behind the scenes".  Enjoy!

w/ Rodney Torres and Matteo Brunetta

Pro skateboarder Eli Reed w/ Anthony Rodriguez

Sponsored Am and Vice Magazine correspondent Taji Ameen

Taji Ameen

New York Pro skateboard legend Rodney Torres

Skaters at Harold Hunter Day V under the Manhattan Bridge

Susanne Dollnig and myself. Photo by Steve Rodriguez

Steve Rodriguez emcees Harold Hunter Day V

Dave's Wear House/DQM founder and skate personality Dave Ortiz

5Boro Skateboards owner and skateboard activist Steve Rodriguez

Rodney Torres w/ former pro and skateboarding fixture Alex Corporan

Taji Ameen wrecking the spot in 6 degree weather - Lower East Side NYC