Jeff Blyth

Jeff Blyth has made films all over the world in a number of unusual and technically challenging film and digital formats. After graduation from Michigan State University with a degree in Television, Radio, and Film, Jeff spent two years as a teacher in the Peace Corps in Liberia. He also used this time in West Africa to shoot footage for a documentary film. He received help from his supervisor, Tommy Kelly, the former child star of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and a man who became his friend of many years. While working on his own film in Liberia, Jeff was asked by the Peace Corps to make a training film called “One Day – Two Volunteers.” Returning to the States, he completed his documentary, “Birth-Rite,” which won a Ten Best of Festival and Best Editing in Toronto. Jeff began work at a TV station in Cadillac, Michigan, shooting and editing dozens of commercials and documentaries, but he never stopped making his own short films. At Omnicom Productions in Lansing, Jeff broadened his experiences as a writer, producer, director, cameraman, and editor making a wide range of industrial films for clients. After he and his wife Kathy moved to California, Jeff worked on the IMAX production of “To Fly” and became an integral part of MacGillivray-Freeman Films where he worked on several productions, including “The Shining” for Warner Brothers and “Wonders of China” for Disney, an opening day attraction at EPCOT Center. That show led to more independent work for Disney, including “The Eternal Sea” (a premiere attraction at Tokyo Disneyland), “American Journeys” (played at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland), and “Portraits of Canada” for EXPO 86 (also played at EPCOT). Jeff directed the feature film “Cheetah,” a G-rated family adventure filmed on location in Kenya for Disney Studios, executive produced by Roy E. Disney. Jeff also directed the most ambitious Circle-Vision production ever made, “From Time to Time,” a premiere opening day attraction at EuroDisneyland (later Disneyland Paris). This film, with a few revisions, also played as “The Timekeeper” at Tokyo Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. Jeff moved into television as a director for Nickelodeon, including several episodes of “The Secret World of Alex Mack” and the Montreal-based sci-fi kids’ show, “Space Cases.” He is a proud member of the Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America, and the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Lately Jeff has focused on his work as a writer with three of his scripts produced as TV Movies of the Week. He has a feature film script in preproduction in New Zealand and two novel manuscripts lying in wait for just the right publisher.