The Official Creative Vado Pocket Video Camera Blog

Check out the incredible Expert Panel of judges!

We’re back to introduce you to an another two industry greats who will be part of our Expert Panel of Judges for the Vado Film Contest. In case you missed the last two posts, we got a look at four fantastic fellas who are also on our expert panel. This film contest is open to participating schools (and there are quite a few already participating). Students receive Vado HD cameras in order to make a short film. Once the shorts are submitted, anyone who is registered to vote- can! Afterr the contest is over, the Vado HD pocket cams are donated to the school for future use. There will be a few different winners of the contests, and the prizes are unreal: cash prizes, tons of awesome Creative gear, even an internship with a famous Hollywood Filmmaker.

We were first introduced to Philip Noyce (Heat Wave, Clear and Present Danger, The Bone Collector) and Ken Arlidge (Full Metal Jacket, Army of Darkness, The Crow) followed up by debonair web legend, Darren Disaronno and jack-of-all-trades, Matthew Ward (Polar Express, Superman Returns, Beowulf).

You might be thinking, but…that’s already so many incredible people already, how can there possibly me more? As impossible as it may seem, there’s more.

John Paul Beeghly, Expert Panel Judge

John-Paul Beeghly is a multi-faceted film maven. He has worked in many capacities, including director of photography, on over 80 projects ranging from IMAX films to major studio features, commercial campaigns and documentaries. He has worked for names such as Tony Scott, Darius Wolski, Mike Hoover, Greg MacGillivray, Max Kleven, and David Fincher and on such projects as the Oscar nominated Amazon IMAX and Living Sea IMAX, and other high profile projects like Waterworld, Lethal Weapon 4, Hard Rain, Seven, The Game, and The Fan.

John-Paul is probably most recognized for the surf film, Step Into Liquid, for which he performed the triple role of Producer, 2nd Unit Director and Cinematographer. Step Into Liquid is one of the top ten most successful sports documentaries of all time and, to date, has grossed over $30 million.

Currently, John-Paul is CEO/President of Inertia Interactive Media, Inc., an interactive development and media production firm. You can connect with John-Paul today by heading over to the Inertia IM Facebook page.

Jon "JK" Klaczkiewicz, Expert Panel Judge

Award-winning producer Jon “JK” Klaczkiewicz maintains a reputation for producing high-end films that go beyond the typical action sports movie formula. As supervising producer at Teton Gravity Research his efforts earned the coveted Ski Movie of the Year Award for the 2003 release of “High Life”.

In 2004 his independent feature-length documentary about legendary big mountain freeskier Kent Kreitler, “Reverence– the Kent Kreitler Story“, broke into a new realm of action sports documentaries. “Reverence” earned a nomination for Ski Movie of the Year in Aspen and Best Biography at X-Dance during the Sundance Film Festival.

Following the production of six high definition ski story-based television programs for Rush HD, JK completed the first true high definition big mountain ski movie, “Waiting Game”. The film earned widespread acclaim and earned another Ski Movie of the Year nomination during the X-Games.

JK is a passionate skier and athlete with a Master’s Degree from the University of Colorado. He just finished production on a new documentary film on the most infamous underground ski fraternity in North America, the Jackson Hole Air Force that was dubbed “an inspirational story of passion and the ski bum culture” by Powder magazine. Get to know more about this incredible film and our illustrious expert panel judge, JK, on Facebook.

We still have a few more Expert Panel judges to introduce you to. If you just cant stand the wait, head over to VadoFilmContest.com to find out who else is behind this exciting event. Remember, you don’t have to be a film student to be involved in the contest. You can still view and vote!