The Art Of Motion
Fast forward 33 years, I decided to explore my passion for film by making my own movie. Even though I had never even created a short black and white film, I did not let my lack of experience thwart my ambition to make a full color feature film with sound. With little to no budget, I enrolled in a Final Cut editing class, borrowed my brother In-laws old studio lights, enlisted the enthusiastic assistance of more than a hundred family, friends and students from my karate school, contracted a local professional Director of Photography and away we went. After an exhilarating and glorious year of mayhem and panic, all the scenes were shot.
Growing up in the 70’s, my family owned the Hiway Movie Theater in Jenkintown PA, where I could go see ‘any’ movie for ‘free’, which to a kid like me was the equivalent of owning my own candy store. I would ride my bike a few miles and walk right in to see what ever movie was playing. By the time I was 15, I must’ve seen a thousand movies!
‘Goma’ previewed in the largest local Regal Cinema Theater to a sold-out crowd. While ‘Goma’ may seem silly to most and certainly not the best movie ever made, it always makes me laugh and it is definitely an original Ellis! If one of my paintings suddenly sprang to life, it would definitely look like ‘Goma’!
Goma | Full Video
It Is Better to Give than Receive
On a journey to the Shaolin Temple in China with a diverse group of 50 Black Belts, Masters and Grandmasters from across the United States, Jon and the travelers were honored with an audience with ‘Seng’, one of the last four remaining Buddhist Warrior Monks in China. In exchange for donations to the temple, Seng, a Gold Medal Calligrapher, created fantastic calligraphic art masterpieces for each person. When he was finished, for the first time in Seng’s life, someone, Jon, offered to create art for him. Taken aback, he agreed.