Biografi
J.T. Tepnapa earned a bachelor's degree in acting from the University of California, Irvine. He has appeared in numerous award-winning plays, feature films, shorts, and commercials, earning The Ticketholder Award for Best Supporting Actor in "Spinning Into Butter" in 2001. That same year, he wrote, directed, and starred in his first short film, "Sunflowers," which was showcased at the Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and Tucson's Outwest 2001. The creation of "Sunflowers" also led to the founding of his production company, Blue Seraph Productions.
In early 2002, J.T. collaborated with longtime friend Charlie Gage to create "Masturbation: Putting the Fun into Self-Loving." The film became a major success, screening at numerous festivals across six countries, winning multiple awards, achieving international distribution, and being featured in sex-education classrooms and documentaries. Never one to rest on his achievements, J.T. went on to write, direct, and produce two more short films: "Drag Queen Heist" in 2004 and "Begging for Change" in 2006. Both films received Best Short honors at QCinema's Fort Worth International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
Versatile in writing both comedy and drama, J.T. has been praised by festival director Barbara Lee as "more than just the director of comedy films; he has become an artist of film, able to reflect reality whether it is absurd and laughable or serious and important." Beyond film, his screenplay "Outing Joey," co-written with David Donihue, earned top honors in Rhode Island's Barren Branches GLBT Screenplay Competition. Competition coordinator Adam Short described the screenplay as "a twist on contemporary gay and straight stereotypes, offering perspective on the tension between these groups and society's need for greater acceptance of all its diverse segments."
For the past seven years, J.T. has appeared in one of the longest-running web series, "Star Trek: Hidden Frontier," portraying the openly gay Lt. Cmdr. Corey Aster. He has been featured in Variety, Frontiers, Fab magazine, The Today Show, MSNBC, and various other media outlets. J.T. takes pride in being part of the sci-fi phenomenon, merging gay themes with science fiction.
J.T. has a new dramatic feature titled "Judas Kiss." His second feature screenplay, co-written with longtime friend, screenwriter, and journalist Carlos Pedraza, is slated to begin filming in late 2009. Though J.T. began his career as an actor, he has found great fulfillment as a filmmaker. He is honored to pursue a career in filmmaking and grateful to share this journey with his husband, Adam Browne.
