Judas Kiss – The Creator

Name: J.T. Tepnapa Birthday: April 1
School: UC Irvine Favorite book: Last Herald Mage Favorite movie: Cinema Paradiso Favorite quote: You’re only as good as your last film.

About J.T.

My photo albums

Blue Seraph Films

My favorite songs

• How High
• Wicked Little Town
• Whatever Happened

My favorite links

•www.blueseraphfilms.com
•www.hiddenfrontier.com
•www.tr3nt.com

J.T. Tepnapa
J.T. Tepnapa had always aspired to be the greatest actor that ever lived. Born in Long Beach, California, he moved to Illinois at 13. He credits his high school choir teacher, Susanne Freese, for having the nerve to cast a short brown kid in her school musicals. She provided J.T. his first spark of inspiration. After high school, he returned to California for his bachelor's degree in acting at the University of California, Irvine. J.T. has appeared in many award-winning plays, features, shorts and commercials; he won Entertainment Today’s Ticketholder Award for Best Supporting Actor for Spinning Into Butter in 2001. After numerous commercial gigs and music videos, it became abundantly clear that the "greatest actor who ever lived" bit probably wasn't going to happen. So, he did what all actors want to do — he became a director. In 2001 he directed, wrote, and starred in his first short film, Sunflowers, which appeared at that year's Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and Tuscon's Outwest 2001. The creation of Sunflowers also marked the birth of his own production company, newly named Blue Seraph Productions. In early 2002, J.T. teamed up with longtime friend Charlie Gage to produce Masturbation: Putting the Fun into Self-Loving. Reunited with many of same crew from Sunflowers, a few talented newcomers, and the unwavering aid of executive producer Bill Warren, this team quickly turned out one of the funniest short films in years. Masturbation went on to become a smash hit, screening in countless film festivals in seven countries, receiving numerous awards, international distribution, and has even been featured in sex-education classes and documentaries. Not one to rest on his laurels, J.T. went on to direct, write, and produce two more short films, Drag Queen Heist in 2004 and Begging for Change in 2006. Both films received Best Short Honors at QCinema's Fort Worth International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

J.T.’s screenplay, Outing Joey, received top honors in Rhode Island's Barren Branches GLBT Screenplay Competition. Co-written with David Donihue, competition coordinator Adam Short described the script as a “twist on contemporary gay and straight stereotypes bringing perspective to the tension between these two groups and our society's need to push for greater acceptance of all its diverse segments.” J.T. always manages to keep busy. For seven years, he has appeared on of the Internet’s longest running film series, Rob Caves' Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, where he plays the openly gay Lt. Cmdr. Corey Aster. Featured in Variety, Frontiers, Fab magazine, The Today Show, MSNBC, and various news outlets, J.T. is honored to be a part of the sci-fi phenomenon: bringing Gay and Science Fiction together in the same sentence. J.T. has completed his fifth short film, And the Award Goes to..., to honor his most-awarded film, Masturbation. With that short, he'll be going back to basics with his tongue-in-cheek format. Also just beyond the horizon, he has a new dramatic feature called Judas Kiss. J.T.'s second feature screenplay is being co-written by long time friend, screenwriter, and journalist, Carlos Pedraza. Although J.T. Tepnapa started his career off as an actor, he has found life to be quite rewarding as a filmmaker. He is honored to not only to have a career in filmmaking, but is also happy to share his journey with Adam Browne, actor, and all-around kibitzer. "I must always give back to my community what it has given to me", J.T. says. Although fame and fortune may not be on the horizon, JT will never waver from being a dedicated and proud GLBT filmmaker.