GUEST

 

                           JAMES LESTER

 

 

 

      

                                    Filmmaker

 

          

 

                            

 

                        Director / Co-Creator

 

             

 

       "GELBER AND MANNING IN PICTURES"

 

 

                    WWW.JAMESLESTERFILMS.COM

 

                        http://gelberandmanning.tv

 

                  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2890902/

 

                        JAMESLESTERFILMS@GMAIL.COM

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The program can be viewed in its entirety by clicking the you tube link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovu6kyJZTSg - JAMES LESTER

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More about: JAMES LESTER

James Lester was born and raised in the Bronx, the son of a jazz pianist and a painter. He spent his childhood and high school years making films, playing music, and performing as an actor and later studied classical piano and composition at Sarah Lawrence College with pianist, Edmund Niemann and composer, Chester Biscardi, among others.  He also studied jazz piano with his father, Billy Lester, and would go on to play in jazz combos as well as teach piano and jazz theory at music schools in New York City.  Wanting to express all his talents in one medium Lester re-booted his life and returned to his roots—filmmaking--by starting his formal studies at The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

While studying he also worked production jobs on film sets assisted in post-production houses, and as he rose through the ranks, began making his own films.  Until Next Year, Lester’s short film about a hidden Massachusetts beach town, was showcased on The Independent Film Channel's IFC Shorts.  He made the first and only documentary on legendary jazz pianist, Sal Mosca.  This led to directing films, music videos, and EPKs for many other musicians such as jazz pianist Jacky Terasson (Blue Note Records), and classical pianist Jonathan Biss (EMI Classics).   Lester also directed a solo concert of acclaimed singer-songwriter, Regina Spektor (Warner Bros), as well as directed the first music video for The Last Town Chorus, whose cover of David Bowie's Modern Love was featured on ABC’s Grey's Anatomy.  Other indie talents he has directed include Martha Wainwright, Sasha Dobson, and The National.

Lester has edited TV programs for both FOX and NBC, TV spots with Sydney Pollack and Lawrence Bender, as well as a bold short film on the acclaimed British author, Ian McEwan (Atonement, Saturday, On Chesil Beach). He is also cutting a feature documentary, The Greatest Ears in Town, on Arif Mardin, the late award-winning producer/arranger who cultivated legendary artists such as  Aretha Franklin and the Bee Gees, as well as current stars like Norah Jones.

In November 2007, he directed and co-produced a documentary on journalist David Halberstam and his final book, The Coldest Winter, which details the Korean War and its significance to U.S. foreign policy.  This had a limited theatrical tour across the U.S. as well as a DVD release.

He is currently developing a feature documentary, a narrative feature, and two narrative shorts.

WWW.JAMESLESTERFILMS.COM

 

JAMESLESTERFILMS@GMAIL.COM