About Jerry A. Rodriguez
Jerry was born in Brooklyn, New York, reared in Villa Carolina, Puerto Rico, and then returned to
Brooklyn. The youngest of seven smart, talented and very sarcastic siblings, Jerry was constantly
surrounded by art, music and literature. At a very early age, Jerry discovered that he had a talent
for drawing and he dreamed of becoming a comic book illustrator. Eventually, he fell in love with
film and theater, and decided to give up the pencils, inks and drawing paper to pursue a whole
different career.
So the journey began…
A long time, respected fixture in New York theater, Jerry is writer and director whose plays have
been staged Off-Broadway at a variety of esteemed theatrical venues including the Actor’s Studio,
The Village Gate, the Cherry Lane Theater, Labyrinth Theater, the TOMI Theater, The CSV/Milagro
Theater, HOME for Contemporary Theater, Center Stage, LaTea Theater, The West Bank Café
and The Nuyorican Poet’s Café, among many others. He also directed works by playwrights John
Patrick Shanley, David Mamet and Tomislav Novakovic.
At the age of nineteen, Jerry directed and produced the music video Problems Of The World
(Today) for Warner/Elektra Records, which became a landmark in Hip Hop music history. The
Fearless Four, the first rap group to be signed to a major record label, performed the hit song.
Problems Of the World (Today) premiered nationally on ABC’s Friday Night Videos.
Jerry’s groundbreaking, critically acclaimed short film, El Deseo/The Desire, which starred Benny
Nieves, Lauren Velez (I Like It Like That, Oz) and Franky G. (Saw 2, CBS’ new crime series
Smith) was produced under the sponsorship of Columbia Pictures and premiered at the
prestigious Film Society of Lincoln Center. It was screened at various festivals, including the 10th
Annual Boston Film Festival, The Independent Feature Project’s Independents Night!, The San
Juan Cinemafest in Puerto Rico, the Electric Cinema in London, HBO’s African American’s In
Short Film Festival in L.A. and The Black Filmmaker’s Foundation Monthly Screening Series.
The Village Voice called it “a Sydney Lumet-like gangster saga that revels in the beauty of the
Puerto Rican visage.” Interview magazine said, “Jerry is a talent to watch.” And the Boston Globe
said, “El Deseo is a lush, erotic mini-melodrama.”
Jerry has conducted film making workshops at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, The New York
Historical Society, The Independent Feature Project and various not-for profit youth agencies.
Jerry has written several screenplays and short fiction. He wrote the original screenplay Blinded
By Sin for Grammy Award-winning music and film producer Ric Wake (Chicago) and is currently
working on his second Nicholas Esperanza thriller.
Last year he made On 2: A Mambo Renaissance, a documentary short about Mambo dancing in
New York City, which he plans to develop as feature length project.
Out of all of Jerry’s accomplishments, the one he is most proud of is that he’s a six-year cancer
survivor, and is still going strong.
For more information about Jerry A. Rodriguez, please visit his website at www.jerryarodriguez.
com.
Jerry was born in Brooklyn, New York, reared in Villa Carolina, Puerto Rico, and then returned to
Brooklyn. The youngest of seven smart, talented and very sarcastic siblings, Jerry was constantly
surrounded by art, music and literature. At a very early age, Jerry discovered that he had a talent
for drawing and he dreamed of becoming a comic book illustrator. Eventually, he fell in love with
film and theater, and decided to give up the pencils, inks and drawing paper to pursue a whole
different career.
So the journey began…
A long time, respected fixture in New York theater, Jerry is writer and director whose plays have
been staged Off-Broadway at a variety of esteemed theatrical venues including the Actor’s Studio,
The Village Gate, the Cherry Lane Theater, Labyrinth Theater, the TOMI Theater, The CSV/Milagro
Theater, HOME for Contemporary Theater, Center Stage, LaTea Theater, The West Bank Café
and The Nuyorican Poet’s Café, among many others. He also directed works by playwrights John
Patrick Shanley, David Mamet and Tomislav Novakovic.
At the age of nineteen, Jerry directed and produced the music video Problems Of The World
(Today) for Warner/Elektra Records, which became a landmark in Hip Hop music history. The
Fearless Four, the first rap group to be signed to a major record label, performed the hit song.
Problems Of the World (Today) premiered nationally on ABC’s Friday Night Videos.
Jerry’s groundbreaking, critically acclaimed short film, El Deseo/The Desire, which starred Benny
Nieves, Lauren Velez (I Like It Like That, Oz) and Franky G. (Saw 2, CBS’ new crime series
Smith) was produced under the sponsorship of Columbia Pictures and premiered at the
prestigious Film Society of Lincoln Center. It was screened at various festivals, including the 10th
Annual Boston Film Festival, The Independent Feature Project’s Independents Night!, The San
Juan Cinemafest in Puerto Rico, the Electric Cinema in London, HBO’s African American’s In
Short Film Festival in L.A. and The Black Filmmaker’s Foundation Monthly Screening Series.
The Village Voice called it “a Sydney Lumet-like gangster saga that revels in the beauty of the
Puerto Rican visage.” Interview magazine said, “Jerry is a talent to watch.” And the Boston Globe
said, “El Deseo is a lush, erotic mini-melodrama.”
Jerry has conducted film making workshops at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, The New York
Historical Society, The Independent Feature Project and various not-for profit youth agencies.
Jerry has written several screenplays and short fiction. He wrote the original screenplay Blinded
By Sin for Grammy Award-winning music and film producer Ric Wake (Chicago) and is currently
working on his second Nicholas Esperanza thriller.
Last year he made On 2: A Mambo Renaissance, a documentary short about Mambo dancing in
New York City, which he plans to develop as feature length project.
Out of all of Jerry’s accomplishments, the one he is most proud of is that he’s a six-year cancer
survivor, and is still going strong.
For more information about Jerry A. Rodriguez, please visit his website at www.jerryarodriguez.
com.
Jerry A. Rodriguez -- June 14, 2008
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |