PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
The PILOT/PHOTOGRAPHER
Jon Schellenger is passionate about filmmaking and he’s
passionate about aviation and he can’t imagine ever doing
one and not the other.
Fortunately, he’s found a way to make it work. For
seven days he’s a pilot with NetJets, and for the next seven
he’s a director of photography, working on commercials, ads
and motion graphics with Jungle TV and films with his own
company, Cinematic Motion Pictures.
He enjoys flying private jets all over North America, but
he’s wanted to be in the movie business for as long as he
can remember.
It was directors like Stephen Spielberg and blockbusters
like Back to the Future and Raiders of the Lost Ark that really
impressed and inspired him when he was younger.
“I’ve seen each one of those probably 200, 300 times,”
Schellenger said. “They make me want to go out and
shoot something.”
He remembers being a geeky kid daydreaming about special
effects during class in high school, but he found popularity
and even convinced his future wife to pay him mind when he
started making short films and showing them in homeroom.
He moved to Florida in 2002 to pursue filmmaking and
eventually made a home in Port St. Lucie. Now he shoots
cinematic commercials, glamour, and stock footage and edits
the work he and the Jungle TV team produce when he’s not
on a movie set for Cinematic Motion Pictures.
That’s his favorite gig: director of photography, positioning
cameras and lining up the perfect shot for character-driven
works of silver screen art.
“I have always wanted to make movies, ever since I was
my son’s age,” Schellenger said.
He got his chance with USS Seaviper, which was released
on DVD in 2012. He was director of photography for the film
about an American submarine during WWII. It received acclaim
from the Treasure Coast International Film Festival and
from Vegas Cinefest. “It was a very, very, very fun project to
work on,” Schellenger said.
He worked on the crew in Port St. Lucie and on a 1940s’
submarine in Mobile, Ala., and was thrilled to be able to use
explosives and flood compartments in the sub.
32 PortStLucieMagazine.com
PHOTOS BY Alisha McDarris
When Jon Schellenger isn’t flying private jets, he can be found at his editing bay in the screening room at his Port St. Lucie office.
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BY Alisha McDarris
/PortStLucieMagazine.com