Biography
J.T. Tepnapa received a bachelor's degree in acting at the University of California, Irvine. He has appeared in many award-winning plays, features, shorts, and commercials, and was awarded The Ticketholder Award for Best Supporting Actor in "Spinning Into Butter" in 2001. In 2001 he directed, wrote, and starred in his first short film, "Sunflowers", which appeared at that year's Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and Tuscon's Outwest 2001. The creation of "Sunflowers" also marked the birth of his own production company, newly-named Blue Seraph Productions. In early 2002, J.T. teamed up with longtime friend Charlie Gage to create "Masturbation: Putting the Fun into Self-Loving". "Masturbation" went on to become a smash hit, screening in countless film festivals in 6 countries, receiving numerous awards, international distribution, and has even been featured in sex-education classrooms and documentaries. Not one ever to rest on his own laurels, J.T. went on to direct, write, 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. Capable and skilled in writing both comedy and drama, J.T. has been described by festival director Barbara Lee as "more than just the director of comedy films. He has become an artist of film; able to reflect to us reality whether it is absurd and laughable or serious and important". Not just successful in film, but also his screenplay, "Outing Joey", received top honors in Rhode Island's Barren Branches GLBT Screenplay Competition. Co-written with David Donihue, competition coordinator Adam Short described their film as a "twist on contemporary gay and straight stereotypes bringing perspective to the tension between these two groups and our society's need to push for greater acceptance of all its diverse segments." For the last 7 years, he has appeared on of the longest running web series,"Star Trek: Hidden Frontier", where he plays the openly gay Lt. Cmdr. Corey Aster. Featured in Variety, Frontiers, Fab magazine, The Today Show, MSNBC, and various news outlets, J.T. is honored to be a part of the sci-fi phenomenon: bringing Gay and Science Fiction together in the same sentence. J.T. has a new dramatic feature called "Judas Kiss". J.T.'s second feature screenplay is being co-written by long time friend, screenwriter, and journalist, Carlos Pedraza, and should begin shooting in late 2009. Although J.T. Tepnapa started his career off as an actor, he has found life to be quite rewarding as a filmmaker. He is honored to not only to have a career in filmmaking, but is also happy to share his journey with his husband, Adam Browne.
