John Beck Hofmann is a director, cinematographer (DP), composer and actor.
John Beck Hofmann is sometimes credited as "John Beck" http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1385465/

Background

John Beck Hofmann was born in Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

 in 1969, and moved to Pasadena, California in 1987, where he attended Azusa Pacific University

Azusa Pacific University

Azusa Pacific University is a private, inter-denominational, evangelical Christian university located near Los Angeles in suburban Azusa, California. It was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900 in Whittier, California. It began offering degrees in 1939...

, graduating in 1992. He currently lives in Hollywood, California.

Current work

He currently serves as a director of photography for NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...

 in Pasadena

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. His work has appeared in the IMAX

IMAX

IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...

 feature film Roving Mars

Roving Mars

Roving Mars is an IMAX documentary film about the development, launch, and operation of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The film uses few actual photographs from Mars, opting to use computer generated animation based on the photographs and data from the rovers and other Mars...

, James Cameron's "Aliens of the Deep

Aliens of the Deep

Aliens of the Deep is a 2005 documentary film, directed in part by James Cameron alongside fellow cameraman Steven Quale, who would later go on to direct Final Destination 5 six years later, and filmed in the IMAX 3D format. It was produced by Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures...

", and NOVA

NOVA (TV series)

Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...

s "Mars: Dead or Alive?" & "Welcome to Mars". His more recent cinematography work can be seen in the National Geographic program "Five Years on Mars", which won an Emmy in 2009 for outstanding science and technology programming. His 1999 documentary on the Mars Pathfinder

Mars Pathfinder

Mars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...

 Mission, "The Pathfinders", won a Gold Plaque award at the Chicago International Film Festival

Chicago International Film Festival

The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....

 by Intercom.

Hofmann is currently producing and directing several documentaries for NASA/JPL. His current video series project called "The Martians", is a web series following people from around the world who work on activities related to our journey to the red planet. "The Martians" can be seen at: The Martians.

Hofmann's latest dramatic television work can be seen in the international conspiracy thriller Tyranny

Tyranny (TV series)

Tyranny is an American drama and political thriller web series that premiered on March 11, 2010 on KoldCast TV. Written and directed by John Beck Hofmann, the series is centered on a man who, after volunteering for a neurological experiment at UC Berkeley in 1999, finds himself having visions of a...

, which plays on Koldcast, and Tyranny.tv. Tyranny was accepted as part of the official selection of the Geneva International Film Festival, November 2010. Tyranny also received four 2010 Indie Intertube Award nominations for: sound design, soundtrack, best looking show and best thriller.

Music

Hofmann has played in several bands: SnoGlobe (1994–1996), Terminal-3 (1999–2001) and Silasfunk (2006). He has also created music used in multiple television shows, such as FX's "Nip/Tuck

Nip/Tuck

Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...

", MTV's "The Real World

The Real World

The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the...

", Travel Channel's "Eye of the Beholder" and multiple NASA documentaries. He currently composes the original score for the ongoing conspiracy thriller Tyranny the Series under the name "Silasfunk".

Early career

In addition to his cinematic contributions for multiple television programs on PBS, Discovery Channel, Science Channel and National Geographic, he has served as stage manager for Geraldo Rivera

Geraldo Rivera

Geraldo Rivera is an American attorney, journalist, author, reporter, and former talk show host...

 from 1999 - 2003 for both CNBC

CNBC

CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...

 and Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 networks as well as for other CNBC/FOX hosts such as Chris Matthews

Chris Matthews

Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...

 and Greta Van Susteren

Greta Van Susteren

Greta Van Susteren is an American commentator and television personality on the Fox News Channel, where she hosts On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren...

.

External links