About Joe Dea – The Director

The pilot episode of MotorSport Ranch was directed by Emmy Award winning director, Joe Dea. His work has been showcased everywhere from the New York Museum of Modern Art to prime time broadcast networks. For the past several years, Dea has been working primarily in the reality television genre directing talent and real people in both multi-camera and single camera, field and studio productions.

His career began fresh out of the Hartford Art School with video shows at New York’s Whitney Museum, The Kitchen, Global Village, and The Optic Nerve.

From the New York video art scene, Dea moved to San Francisco to become a founding member and creative force behind VideoWest, a groundbreaking comedy/music video/alternative news production company that pretty much defined music television in the early ’80s – at one time producing all of MTV’s music news, independent rock and roll videos, as well as cultural series for KQED, the San Francisco PBS affiliate. During that period, Dea honed his directing skills in the emerging music video field. Today, much of this early pioneering work is noted in Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 100 Videos and Rolling Stone’s Music Video Hall of Fame. His video, Two Triple Cheese for Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen, resides in the permanent collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art.

Dea moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles to work in national television. Since then, he has directed hundreds of hours in genres such as documentary, reality, stunts, comedy sketches, live music, drama, recreations and animation. His prime-time network specials for NBC and Fox include: Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects, and The World’s Greatest Stunts. He has directed many segments for broadcast network, syndicated, and cable network reality series. As Senior Director of the TLC hit A Wedding Story, Dea directed the pilot and 48 cinema verite half-hour episodes, shot all over the United States.

Recent Projects:

The History Makers – The History Channel / Creative Differences – re-creation director & on-camera talent

Fraud Squad – FSTV Productions: series profiling frauds, scams and real-life stories from actual fraud cases. Airs prime time CourtTV Canada.

SportsCenter’s Kenny Mayne Takes On Wuss Golf – field director – viral videos for Top-Flite Golf Balls.

Knight School with Bobby Knight. Dea directed four one hour episodes of this six camera HD reality series airing on ESPN. Sixteen Texas Tech students compete for a single walk-on spot on the Red Raider men’s basketball team, coached by the infamous Bobby Knight.

Passport Love: Kiev: Shoot in Kiev, Ukraine – Dea co-directed the HD pilot for this docuality series that delves into the psyche of the American men who travel across the world to meet Ukrainian women with the hope of finding a soul mate.

REALITY

Knight School with Bobby Knight – ESPN – Director
Disney Lunchtime – Disney Channel – Segment Director
Fool for Love (pilot for Fake-A-Date) – GSN / Montana Prod / Carsey Warner – Pilot Director
Rock & Roll Hotel (pilot) – VH1/Film Garden – Pilot Director
The 5th Wheel – Universal – Field Director
Mostly True Stories – TLC / Burrud Productions – Field Director / Field Producer
Weekend Flash/Man on the Street – Playboy TV – Field Director / Field Producer
Worst Case Scenario – Sony Tri Star / TBS – Field Director
Audio File – Tech TV – Host Wrap Director
Planet TV – Plant Hollywood Ent. – Chuck Cirino Productions – Director
Movies for Guys Who Like Movies – TBS /Norsemen Prod. – Host Wrap Director
Brain Attack (with Stefanie Powers) – A Doctor in Your House.Com – Director
Drive On (pilot) – Warner Bros. – Director
AXN TV – Columbia Tri Star – Studio Host Wrap Director
Extreme World Records – UPN / The Gurin Company – Host Wrap Director
The World’s Funniest Kids – Fox / Brad Lachman Prod. – Field Director
Extreme Weekend – ABC / InterSport – Field Director
Sightings – Fox / Berkley Group – Field Director
Final Vision – NBC / Greystone – Field Director
New Visions of the Future – NBC / Greystone – Field Director
Secrets Revealed – NBC / Dave Bell & Associates – Field Director
Masters of Illusion – NBC / GRB Ent. – Director
Movie Magic – Discovery / GRB – Field Director
World’s Greatest Stunts – Fox / GRB Ent. – Field & Host Wrap Director (4 specials)
MTV Music News – MTV- Field Director / Field Producer
Playboy 360 – Playboy – Field Director
Playboy Behind The Scenes – Playboy – Director / Producer
A Tribute to Ian Fleming – Robert Halmi Jr. / GRB Ent. – Director
Roller Games – Quintex – Field Director
OnDirecTV – DirecTV – Producer & Writer

DOCUMENTARY

Fraud Squad – CourtTV Canada / FSTV Productions
Wild Things – UPN / WT Productions – Field Director
What a World – Discovery / Film Garden Ent. – Field Director
A Wedding Story – TLC / Film Garden – Senior Director – Pilot & 48 episodes
Real Romance – Romance Classics / AMC / Film Garden – Field Director
The Majic Bus – Film Garden – Director (feature-length independent documentary)

DRAMATIC

The History Makers – The History Channel / Creative Differences – Re-Creation Director & On-Camera Talent
Dracula the Series – Robert Halmi Jr. / GRB – Pilot Director
Americas Most Wanted – Fox – Dramatization Director
Missing Reward – Four Point Ent. – Dramatization Director
Scandals – ABC / Steven J. Cannell – Dramatization Director
Secrets and Mysteries – ABC / Greystone – Dramatization Director
Max Headroom – ABC – Designed storyboards, effects & miniatures

COMEDY

SportsCenter’s Kenny Mayne Takes On Wuss Golf – field director – viral videos for Top-Flite Golf Balls.
How to Cook a Turkey with Ellen DeGeneres – Beserkly Records & Ent. – Director
Three Men and a Bogey – Media Home Ent. – Director
Jocks – Comedy Central / Popular Arts – Field Director
Comedy Break – Viacom – Directed comedy sketches
VIDEOWEST Productions – Senior Director – Comedy (4 years)
· Take Off / Night Flight – USA Network
· ABC Rocks – ABC
· Backstage Pass – ABC
· Best of Video West – KQED/PBS syndicated nationally

FEATURE FILMS
Perfect Shadow – Fast Bojum Prod. – 2nd Unit Director
Terror Squad – Materhorn Prod. – Art Director & 2nd Unit Directing

VARIETY
Disney World’s 25th Anniversary Kick Off – Disney / Brad Lachman Prod. – Field Director
USA Hot Spots – USA – Associate Director (multi-camera concert show)

MUSIC VIDEOS
Music Video Director – over 30 music videos (see awards)

COMMERCIALS
Burt Reynolds One Man Show – Burt Reynolds Ent.- Director
Polygram Distribution Group – Gary Group – Director
Little Fred’s Revenge – Federated /Shadoe Stevens Ent.- Director

CORPORATE – AMGEN, American Film Institute, Mattel, Apple, USC Medical Center

AWARDS
Toulouse International Cinema & Stunt Festival – 2nd Place Comedy – I Love Ta Lose
Emmy Award: Creative Technical Crafts – Secrets and Mysteries – Animated Titles – Director & Designer
Emmy Award: Directing – Single Camera – Reunited (Greg Kihn Band)
Rolling Stone Magazine’s Music Video Hall of Fame:
Commander Cody: Two Triple Cheese
Rolling Stone Magazine’s All-Time Top 100 Videos:
Greg Kihn: Jeopardy & Happy Man
Jon Butcher Axis: Life Takes a Life
Krokus: Screaming in the Night
Billboard Award nomination: Directing – Single Camera – Life Takes A Life (Jon Butcher Axis)
Emmy Award: Directing – Single Camera – Happy Man (Greg Kihn Band)
Emmy Award nomination: Directing – Single Camera – Down on the Border (Sir Douglas Quintet)
Athens Film Festival: 1st. Place Best Comedy Short: Two Triple Cheese
Emmy Award: Directing – Single Camera – Two Triple Cheese
JVC’s Tokyo Video Festival: Best Comedy Short – Two Triple Cheese

Two Triple Cheese is in the permanent collection of the NY Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)