Joao Costa Menezes
Encyclopedia
Joao Costa Menezes is a London-based Portuguese
film actor, film producer
and film director
.
After a degree in Law
by the University of Coimbra and three years working as a lawyer in Portugal, Joao decided to move to London
in 1998, to follow an acting career. He got his first acting job in 1999, in the BBC
series Sunburn
, playing Luis. After that, he appeared in series such as Gormenghast and Jonathan Creek.
In London, he took a film course at the London Film School
and a few workshops at Raindance
.
His first short film as a director, actor and producer Zero
, was shot in London in 2000. It was awarded a special prize at the Huesca
Short Film Festival, Spain
.
In 2001 he directed his first feature film
, Akasha, a no-budget film shot in video, distributed in Russia, nominated for the Méliès d'Argent 2001. It was premiered in the United States of America at the Atlanta Film Festival.
In 2004 he directed his first music video
Melancholic Ballad (for the Left Lovers), for The Fingertips, which became number 1 at Sic Radical and got the Best Music Video Award at the Arouca
Film Festival.
Joao Got his Unarmed & Rapier and Dagger certification by the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat in June 2005. He has done stunts in Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang and played a Roman Soldier in Gladiator
In 2007 he directed the short film Remember My Dream, with the English model Jakki Degg
.
In 2008 he directed Mulheres, Bah!, premiered at the Fantasporto
Film Festival and presented at the 2008 Cannes
Short Film Corner, a short film with London's West End singer and actress Madalena Alberto
.
Menezes does also voice-over, having done the voice of a fly in Serial Killer and the 2007 Portugal campaign for Apple Inc.
In addition to acting and filmmaking, Joao Costa Menezes is also a qualified tennis instructor by the United States Professional Tennis Registry.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
film actor, film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
.
After a degree in Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
by the University of Coimbra and three years working as a lawyer in Portugal, Joao decided to move to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1998, to follow an acting career. He got his first acting job in 1999, in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series Sunburn
Sunburn (TV series)
Sunburn is a British television series that followed the lives of a group of British holiday reps. It was broadcast on BBC One between 16 January 1999 and 1 May 2000, running for two series of six and eight episodes respectively. The first was set and filmed in Cyprus and the second in Algarve...
, playing Luis. After that, he appeared in series such as Gormenghast and Jonathan Creek.
In London, he took a film course at the London Film School
London Film School
The London Film School is a private film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, close to a hub of the UK film industry based in Soho. The LFS was founded in 1956 by Bob Dunbar as The London School of Film Technique...
and a few workshops at Raindance
Raindance Film Festival
Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates from various cities including: London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin and Brussels...
.
His first short film as a director, actor and producer Zero
Zero (film)
Zero is a 1928 British silent drama film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Stewart Rome, Fay Compton and Jeanne De Casalis. It was based on a novel by Colinson Owen.-Cast:* Stewart Rome - John Garth* Fay Compton - Mrs Garth...
, was shot in London in 2000. It was awarded a special prize at the Huesca
Huesca
Huesca is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the comarca of Hoya de Huesca....
Short Film Festival, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
In 2001 he directed his first feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
, Akasha, a no-budget film shot in video, distributed in Russia, nominated for the Méliès d'Argent 2001. It was premiered in the United States of America at the Atlanta Film Festival.
In 2004 he directed his first music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
Melancholic Ballad (for the Left Lovers), for The Fingertips, which became number 1 at Sic Radical and got the Best Music Video Award at the Arouca
Arouca
-Portugal:* Arouca Municipality, a municipality in the district of Aveiro* Arouca , a civil parish in the municipality of Arouca-Trinidad and Tobago:* Arouca, Trinidad and Tobago, a town in Regional Corporation of Tunapuna-Piarco...
Film Festival.
Joao Got his Unarmed & Rapier and Dagger certification by the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat in June 2005. He has done stunts in Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang and played a Roman Soldier in Gladiator
Gladiator (2000 film)
Gladiator is a 2000 historical epic film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays the loyal Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed...
In 2007 he directed the short film Remember My Dream, with the English model Jakki Degg
Jakki Degg
Jakki Degg is an English glamour model and actress. While the bulk of her work has been done in England, she has appeared in American film and television, and has posed for posters and magazine pictorials.-Early life:...
.
In 2008 he directed Mulheres, Bah!, premiered at the Fantasporto
Fantasporto
Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from...
Film Festival and presented at the 2008 Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
Short Film Corner, a short film with London's West End singer and actress Madalena Alberto
Madalena Alberto
Madalena Alberto . Madalena Alberto is an actress, singer and composer that has developed her career in the West End. She played the role of Fantine in the acclaimed 25th Anniversary production of Les Miserables with rave reviews.- Career :Her professional debut was in Aladdin at the Old Vic,...
.
Menezes does also voice-over, having done the voice of a fly in Serial Killer and the 2007 Portugal campaign for Apple Inc.
In addition to acting and filmmaking, Joao Costa Menezes is also a qualified tennis instructor by the United States Professional Tennis Registry.
Filmography (director/producer)
- 2010 - Loucura
- 2009 - FadoFadoFado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
- 2008 - Mulheres, Bah!
- 2007 - Remember my dream
- 2006 - AgurAgurAgur ben Jakeh was the compiler of a collection of proverbs found in , which is sometimes known as the Book of Agur or Sayings of Agur. The initial text of the chapter runs as follows , and bears great similarity to . This translation is not universally accepted as correct; see below.The text Agur...
- 2004 - Serial KillerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
- 2001 - AkashaAkashaAkasha is the Sanskrit word meaning "aether" in both its elemental and metaphysical senses.-Hinduism:...
- 2000 - Zero
Filmography (actor)
- 2008 - Mulheres, Bah! (voice-over)
- 2005 - Perfect DayPerfect Day (TV film)Perfect Day was a two hour television movie, initially broadcast on Five in December, 2005.Centered around a group of university friends who reunite five years later for the wedding of Tom and Amy , it tells the story of old loves rekindled, marriages falling apart and the problems of career women...
- 2005 - Incessant
- 2004 - Serial KillerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
- 2004 - Armed for Glory
- 2004 - Quality Indigo
- 2003 - Somnis entre boires
- 2001 - AkashaAkashaAkasha is the Sanskrit word meaning "aether" in both its elemental and metaphysical senses.-Hinduism:...
- 2000 - Zero
- 2000 - Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)Kiss Kiss is a 2000 English comedy film written and directed by Stewart Sugg. It features Stellan Skarsgård, Chris Penn, and Paul Bettany.- Plot :Felix is a hit-man who wants out of the business...
- 1999 - HonestHonest (TV series)Honest is a British comedy-drama series that aired on ITV in 2008. The series is a remake of the New Zealand series Outrageous Fortune, written by James Griffin and Rachel Lang, that first aired in 2005....
- 1999 - GladiatorGladiator (2000 film)Gladiator is a 2000 historical epic film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays the loyal Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed...
- 1999 - Jonathan CreekJonathan CreekJonathan Creek is a British mystery series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. Primarily a crime drama, the show is also peppered with broadly comic touches...
(TV) - 1999 - Gormenghast (TV)
- 1999 - Tube TalesTube TalesTube Tales is a collection of nine short films based on the true-life experiences of London Underground passengers as submitted to Time Out magazine. The stories were scripted and filmed independently of each other...
- 1999 - SunburnSunburn (TV series)Sunburn is a British television series that followed the lives of a group of British holiday reps. It was broadcast on BBC One between 16 January 1999 and 1 May 2000, running for two series of six and eight episodes respectively. The first was set and filmed in Cyprus and the second in Algarve...
(TV)
Filmography (crew)
- 2006 - Dirty Bomb (1st AD)
- 2006 - On The Other Side (2d AD)
- 2005 - Charlie (Production Assistant)
- 2005 - The Poker Academy (camera assistant)
- 1998 - Waves Without Sound (Script Supervisor)
- 1998 - The Maddest Man (Sound Assistant)