October, 2016 T.G.I.M. celebrity judge, filmmaker John Scoular

John Scoular is an award winning filmmaker, director, producer and cinematographer. Together with his wife, Madeline, John owns and operates Scoular Image, Inc., an HD multi-media video production and still photography company dedicated to creating and developing innovative, character-driven content for its clients. With a unique vision and commitment to the story, Scoular Image produces commercials, documentaries and other films. And in partnership with Marine Team International, Scoular Image also provides underwater, open boat and aerial video production under the banner of Pure Image Productions. “Most commercial directors dream of doing a feature film,” John quips. “We did a feature film first and now we do commercials. That’s how we roll.”

It all started when attended the University of Texas El Paso, where he studied communications and drama. Inspired by Joe Namath and Steve McQueen, he was on full scholarship as UTEP’s quarterback. But the NFL was not in his future, so after college, John moved to New York, where he studied at H.B. Studios before relocating to Los Angeles to continue theater studies at The Beverly Hills Playhouse. “Playing in front of 50,000 at the Sun Bowl or 50 at the Santa Monica Playhouse was pretty much the same,” John relates.

Acting in small theaters across L.A., Scoular began writing and directing both stage plays and short films, paying the rent by working for some fantastic commercial and music video directors. “Getting paid to learn the film industry was priceless,” says John of the experience. Not satisfied with his lighting and camera skills, John enrolled at The Los Angeles Film School, where he majored in Directing, Cinematography & Screenwriting.

Upon graduating with honors, John directed his first feature film from his original screenplay, Lunatics, Lovers & Poets. Produced by his wife, Madeline, and Jeremy Robinson of Brickyard Films, the indie film won six awards at film festivals across the country, including Best Screenplay, Best Feature, and Best Director. And without any studio backing, it was released in 15 states through Carmike Cinemas, the fourth largest chain in the country. The film is available on DVD and VOD from Amazon.

After landing in Naples and adding a third child to their family (they now have four), John and Madeline began work on a documentary titled Paradise Reef: The World is Watching. The film centers around Peter Flood, a Naples attorney whose passion for the environment and outdoor activities unique to Southwest Florida spurred him to take on a project to create a new artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico. Once completed, there will be 18,000 tons of concrete dumped at 36 separate sites. “It’s a human interest story,” says Scoular. “When you break it down, it’s one man’s passion to convince a community to come together.” But Flood insists the documentary is about more than his journey to see the goal realized. “It’s not all about me,” he said. “It’s about the group that came together to do it. It was a lot of fun, it was exciting and we have a great documentary that came out of it.”

The documentary contains visually stunning images of the Gulf and the reef, as well as the Southwest Florida landscape at large. Scoular told Kristine Bell of the Naples Daily News that in addition to documenting the story behind the reef, he hopes the project will enlighten viewers about the importance of preserving the natural world here in Naples. “You can’t stop progress, but maybe you can make a statement that says, hey hold on. Let’s do things right,” he said. “Is this documentary going to change the world? No. Is it a step in the right direction? If people come here and don’t throw cigarettes on the beach, maybe it makes a difference.”

A documentary that is changing the world – the art world, to be specific – is the one that stole the show at the Fort Myers Film Festival this past April. Marcus Jansen: Examine & Report is a documentary that introduces viewers to the world of contemporary art through the vantage of paintings produced by local artist and Fort Myers’ favorite son Marcus Jansen. Scoular Image began shooting Marcus Jansen: Examine & Report in August of 2015 and debuted the documentary at the opening night gala at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. The film took Best Local Film honors.

In the documentary, Scoular interviews renowned art dealers, critics, scholars and collectors as they dissect Jansen’s work and motivation for painting while examining the direction of his unique socio- political urban influenced paintings that have been gaining more and more critical attention and acclaim over the recent years. The film was shot in four separate locations, New York, London, Miami and Fort Myers, where the artist lives and maintains his studio and international headquarters in a 14,000-square-foot studio loft space known as UNIT A Contemporary Art Space.

Art personalities in the film include Steve Lazarides from Lazarides Rathbone, who gained fame as street artist “BANKSY’s” first agent, as well as Lawrence Voytek, Robert Rauschenberg’s director of art production for over thirty years who has advised some of the top art institutions in the world, including the Guggenheim Museum, PACE and Gagosian Gallery in New York. Special footage includes a first-ever glimpse of the artist actually at work and an intimate look and interview with Jansen himself. Jansen is showing his work as part of a major museum traveling solo exhibition over the next two years, and the film is being shown at each stop along the way including his solo exhibition which opened earlier this month in Rome. Up next is Beijing followed by New York, with more locations yet to be announced. (Jansen is an award-wining painter and is collected in museums such as the New Britain Museum of American Art, The Moscow Museum of Modern rt (MMOMA), the Housatonic Museum of Art, the Kemper Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.)

“Those are two pretty impressive resume builders over the last six months,” Scoular admits. “On one hand, I’m glad the kids are fed. On the other, it doesn’t escape me that we were able to leave L.A. where everyone’s chasing success, we’re raising our children a block from the beach and I’ve found a way to live a creative life. It’s been exhausting, but it feels good.”

John joins Stephanie Davis and Jason Parrish as celebrity judges at Thank God for Indie Mondays inside the grand atrium of the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center on Monday, October 3. John, Stephanie and Jason will join host and Fort Myers Film Festival Director Eric Raddatz and Producing Director Melissa Tschari DeHaven. Al Holland will be the musical guest.

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