Biography
Jeremy Whittaker is the Chairman, CEO and Founder of Grasshopper Entertainment, Inc. based in Toronto and its subsidiaries, Grasshopper Pictures and Grasshopper Music Entertainment.
Jeremy was the Director, Producer and Co-Writer of the hit feature film Destiny. The film is a fast-paced contemporary romantic drama, set mainly in Jamaica with introductory scenes set in Toronto. Destiny masterfully and artistically portrays Jamaican culture and was the Opening Night Gala Film at the 2014 Reelworld Film Festival in Toronto. Jeremy independently released Destiny theatrically in the US, UK and Jamaica where it sat pretty at the top of the box office ahead of some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters and was the longest running film locally or internationally in Jamaican history. One of Jamaica's leading newspapers, The Gleaner, has called Jeremy an "emerging creative genius." Destiny won The Gleaner Honour Award for Entertainment 2014 "for its record-breaking performance at the box office and the strengthening of Jamaica's film industry."
Jeremy was the Executive Producer of Destiny: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. He worked with producers, coordinated with artists to record the 10 track original album, directed two music videos and successfully negotiated a deal with Tuff Gong International - a record label founded by Bob Marley - in partnership with Universal Music to distribute the reggae soundtrack worldwide.
In 2006 Jeremy graduated from the University of Toronto (U of T). He received a BA, majoring in Communications, Culture and Information Technology (CCIT) and did a joint program with Sheridan College where he learned film production and also received a certificate in Digital Communications. During his time off from studies, Jeremy got his first film credit as the Key Production Assistant (PA) on Sony Pictures' Jamaican cult classic, Shottas (2002). Throughout University, Jeremy also did internships at Universal Music Canada, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Discovery Channel (Canada) and Phase 3 Productions in Jamaica where he was mentored by the late Richard "Pardy" Forbes.
After graduating from U of T, Jeremy lived in Jamaica and worked as a TV Producer for Smile Jamaica. The talk show is Jamaica's top morning program with a dynamic interactive programming platform and is aired live weekday mornings from 6am - 8:30am on Television Jamaica (TVJ) - the country's number one free-to-air television station.
While in Jamaica, along with his friend, Jeremy also successfully launched a studio located in the heart of Kingston called Studio 45. There he produced Up Close, an interview with Vybz Kartel that took an in depth look into the life of the dancehall artist, his circumstances, and influences that motivate his artistic decisions. Under the Studio 45 banner, Jeremy directed a few music videos, including one that won the People's Choice Award for "Best Video of the Year - Dancehall" at the Excellence in Music and Entertainment (EME) Awards in 2010.
In 2010, Jeremy returned to Canada and initially joined the DGC in the Assistant Director category and worked on productions for NBCUniversal, Warner Brothers, Amazon Prime, Sony Pictures, Disney, Hulu and Netflix to name a few.
