Meet John Callas | 50 year award winning Director, writer, and producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with John Callas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi John, what are you inspired by?
I am inspired by stories told by interesting characters and what we potentially learn from them.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am most proud of several things 1) The TriStar logo – I was the co-director and producer of the logo. I also have other icon work such as figuring out how to soot a live concert (STYX) with 6 film (no digital at that time) cameras. It had never been done before and I was able to trouble shoot how to approach it. I also am proud that I won an Emmy nomination for directing the live action portion of the #1 hit show “Bobby’s World” starring Howie Mandel – I did 80 episodes.

Now, all that sound great but it was Not easy. I struggled at the beginning of my career because I had no contacts or family in the business. The reason for my success is I never gave up. I was persistent. Two valuable lesson I learned were when I first started in the business I learned to keep quiet and watch/learn. When I became successful, the most valued lesson was to have my crews trust me – I wasn’t a push over but they knew if I made them a deal, I would honor it and paid them on time – On occasion, if I made extra profit on a shoot, I sent them all a bonus, which rarely happens. As a result, I had a family of filmmaker that would help me with any project of any sized budget.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would start in my kitchen – I love cooking and would introduce them to some of my closest friends. I would take them along Montana Ave in Santa Monica, the Promenade, and of course all visitors want to see Venice and Malibu – While in Malibu I would take them to one of my favorite Greek restaurants Taverna Tony’s.

Other sites would be a walk down Hollywood Blvd. to see the stars on the sidewalk, the Kodak building (film history) and while there go to Musso and Frank Grill(Iconic place). Locally I would also dine with them at Piccolo Restaurant in Santa Monica (and of course, Table 10) – Lastly, off to another dinner at La Puglia, an authentic cuisine from La Puglia, Italy.

And lets not forget some delicious wines along the way.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Starting at the beginning – It would be my mom for making the hardest decision about how to help me. I was out of control and by the time I reached 12 years old she had no choice and sent me to a military school where abuse became the mantra. From there, my chemistry teacher (I was an “A” student) told be I wasn’t a chemist and I needed to explore that I was an artist. Then, a soccer coach, wrestling coach and ice hockey coach (around 15 years of age) who all saw the broken child I was Sports gave me an outlet for my anger. Then I move to Colorado to complete mu under grad work and met a man named Mark Obrien – We called him OB. He taught me that I had to learn NOT to forgive others but to forgive myself. Then came my wife, Linda, who never gave up on me and showed me what unconditional love was all about – We have been happily married with two children, Stephan and Nicholas, for 32+ years.

I decided to write my memoir “When The Rain Stops” in a raw and honest accounting. It is the story from my time as a ghetto kid to becoming a successful Hollywood Director. If you like, I can either email you a PDF or send you a paperback to read. It has received heartwarming reviews and has help many in their healing recovery.

Website: www.johncallas.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnpcallas/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-callas-3648837/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnpcallas

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.callas.1

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDLu6O11LsBeGZHKHCcNUcw/featured

Other: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Callas Amazon Central: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B004U7GSZA IMDB: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0130327?ref_=hm_prof_photo Medium: https://medium.com/@johncallas GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6197654.John_Callas

Image Credits
John Callas is a 40+ year veteran writer/director/producer in the entertainment business. His experience ranges from the worldwide release of feature films to numerous motion picture trailers, national and international commercials, live-action title sequences, a documentary shot on location in Russia, as well as having been the Worldwide VP for The Walt Disney Company while working at a large post-production facility. John wrote and directed the feature film “No Solicitors” starring Eric Roberts and has adapted NY Times bestselling book, “Lightning Strikes Twice.” John is a published author, of SECRETS, WHEN THE RAIN STOPS, CHRISTMAS VOICES, THE MYTH, NO SOLICITORS, AND FIRST TIME PARENTS SURVIVAL GUIDE TO UNNECESSARY AND WILD SPENDING. John has been featured by NBC, FOX, CBS, Good Morning America, Yahoo!, The Dr. Ward Bond Show, Kathy Andersen, Stop Depression Summit, Audible.com, iHeart.com, Bostonherald.com, Chicago Daily Herald, Pittsburg Post-Gazette, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Occidental College, and more. John’s prowess can be seen on live-action teasers for Ransom, Dennis The Menace, Body Of Evidence, The Golden Child, Spaceballs, The Glass Menagerie, Cocoon II, Poltergeist III, Betrayed, My Girl, Glengarry Glen Ross, title sequences For The Two Jakes and A Few Good Men and a promotional film for an amusement ride from Showscan. John also directed an award-winning short film THE WHITE GORILLA. John worked with notable actors, including Mel Gibson, Walter Matthau, Jack Nicholson, Madonna, Eddie Murphy, Howie Mandel, and Mel Brooks. In addition to working on feature film teasers, his work can be seen in projects for HBO, The Disney Channel, Show Time, the Broadway Play Phantom of The Opera, and the 1993 redesigned TRISTAR LOGO. John’s extensive background also includes over 200 commercials for such clients as Kellogg’s, Dodge, Sunkist, Sprite, Toyota, Fuji, Volkswagen, Honda, McDonalds, Mazda, Minolta, Jedi Merchandising, Kraft, Jordache, Sea World, Givenchy, and Sonassage with celebrity George Burns and industrial projects for Corporations including Vidal Sassoon, Salomon North America, Nissan and The Kao Corporation of Japan. John’s television experience includes directing a 14-week series entitled Potentials, with guests Buckminster Fuller, Norman Cousins, Ray Bradbury, Gene Roddenberry, Timothy Leary, and others. He also directed 80 segments for Bobby’s World, which has been rated the #1 show on Fox 11 Television in its time slot; garnering John an Emmy nomination. A multi-faceted filmmaker, John’s work can be seen in music videos for Glenn Frey Of The Eagles, Bill Wyman Of The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Starship, Sammy Hagar, Rick Springfield, Doobie Brothers, Styx, and more. John has been recognized with: An EMMY nomination for Bobby’s World, THE NEW YORK CRITICS CHOICE AWARD for Lone Wolf, BEST FEATURE at Fright Night Festival & BEST DIRECTOR at Scar A Con festival for No Solicitors – Several awards for his short THE WHITE GORILLA, A CLIO and BELDING for his work on the Sunkist campaign, BEST OF THE WEST for directorial work on a one-woman show, and an MTV AWARD FOR BEST CONCEPT for Glen Frey’s Smuggler’s Blues. John holds a Master’s Degree from Occidental College and is a member of The Directors Guild of America.