 |
Filmmaker Jim Tompkins grew up among the gorges
and waterfalls of the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, where
he gained an early admiration of nature and landscapes. While attending
Ithaca College, he studied Film Production and Art History, acquiring
a Bachelors degree in Cinematography.
After graduation, he moved
to Southern California and spent several years working in many different
aspects of the motion picture industry in Hollywood. In his spare
time, he volunteered as a mentor in the Big Brother program. In 1986,
he started his own company, Southwind Productions, to produce sports
and event videos, and later co-founded a trade organization for professional
video producers, now called the Professional Videographers Network
(PVN).
Jim retraced the two-thousand-mile-long
Oregon Trail to produce his first travel-adventure film entitled Emigrant
Road - An Oregon Trail Adventure. His second production, Four Corners,
focused on the mountains, rivers, canyons and cultures of the American
Southwest. For his third production, Jim explored eight European
countries to film The Alps, while carrying thirty pounds
of equipment around in his backpack.
Jim has presented his travel films throughout the United States, including
performances at the National Geographic Society in Washington, the
Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh and the SunDome in Phoenix. The
Travel Adventure Cinema Society awarded him its “Rising Star” award
in 2000, and its highest honor for a speaker, the “Hall of Fame” award
in 2003. |
) 