Joe Wehinger

Joe Wehinger (born May 10, 1979 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has worked on small, limited release films (To Be Great, Last Breath) and major motion pictures (The American Standards, Escape).

Early life
Wehinger was born in Allentown and attended Catasauqua High School in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. Throughout high school, he worked at Blockbuster Video (a movie rental store) store and as a television director for a Pennsylvania cable television company, RCN Telecommunication. At the age of 18, he directed his first feature-length film, To Be Great, which was shot on digital video over his spring break, using the production resources of his employer, RCN Telecommunication. The film premiered at a Pennsylvania art-house theater. That August, Wehinger moved from his native Pennsylvania to California to begin studying at the film school of Chapman University in Orange County, California.

Film career
Wehinger has produced and directed television programming for Pennsylvania cable networks. In 2000, Kodak Film selected Wehinger to attend the Cannes Film Festival, where he represented the United States. In 2001, Wehinger's eight-minute long thesis film, Last Breath, won the "Visionary Award" granted by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU subsequently acquired domestic distribution rights to the short film.

Following the release of Last Breath, Wehinger released The American Standards, an independent film shot in Louisiana in November 2005 with a cast that includes Golden Globe Award winner James Brolin, along with Joanna Cassidy, France Nuyen, Emmy nominee Corin Nemec and IMAGE award winner Tia Mowry. Through his production company, Picture Show Entertainment, Wehinger is working on several other films.

In 2009, Wehinger begian work on Escape, inspired by a true life prison escape, following the Texas Seven on a 33-day hunt for the escapees.

Trademarks and Aesthetics
Wehinger's films are characterized by a constantly moving camera. The films typically deal with the significance of familial relationships, especially with regard to fathers and their children. Themes often concern the quirky nature of love, and people with extreme flaws who work to find redemption. Stylistic trademarks include the frequent use of logistically difficult steadicam-based long takes, such as the opening shot of Ann's birthday party in The American Standards (which lasts approximately three minutes without a cut), and "Punk-rock editing."

Publishing
During the Writer's Strike of 2008, Wehinger began writing for online magazines. After stints with several smaller publications, in April 2008, he was hired as the creative director of Splash Magazines Worldwide. The publication has 20 different editions covering major cities around the world. Wehinger is in charge of all on-line video content as well as several editorial positions. He covers Los Angeles performances, restaurants, digital and internet technology as well as weekly nightlife and lifestyle columns.