Bio

Jason Hutt is a New York-based documentary filmmaker whose films explore unique individuals and cultures that most people don’t know about, don’t understand or take for granted.

He grew up in Maryland where he excelled as a soccer player and was recruited to play at Harvard.  While studying economics, Hutt became increasingly interested in film and studied documentary filmmaking with Richard Rogers. He channeled his passion for sports into his first short film, SAUSAGE HERE, to capture the colorful and charismatic Fenway Park street vendors on opening day.

After graduating with honors and participating in the Telluride Film Festival Student Symposium, Hutt worked in Hollywood as an assistant to Academy Award-nominated director/producer Mike Tollin on sports related feature films such as SUMMER CATCH, HARDBALL and READY TO RUMBLE.

After a stint in the camera department on the Martin Lawrence film BLACK KNIGHT, Mr. Hutt returned to documentary to make BREEZEWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA, a verite’ portrait of a bustling truck stop town at the crossroads of two US interstate highways. BREEZEWOOD premiered as the opening night film at the Georgetown Independent Film Festival where it won Best Cinema Verite’ and was later broadcast by PBS affiliates.

Hutt’s second film, ORTHODOX STANCE, is a portrait of a different kind of cultural crossroads: Dmitriy Salita, a Russian immigrant, professional boxer and religious Jew, and the diverse characters supporting his devotion to both orthodox Judaism and the pursuit of a professional boxing title.  The film premiered at the 2007 SILVERDOCS Festival, was broadcast by BBC Storyville in the UK, YES in Israel, MSG Network in New York and is being distributed on DVD by Indiepix.  It received finishing funds from the Foundation for Jewish Culture, played theatrically in New York & Los Angeles, was a “Critic’s Pick” of the NEW YORK TIMES & NEW YORK MAGAZINE and won 2008 Best Documentary honors from the London Jewish Cultural Awards.

Mr. Hutt also works as a freelance producer, director, cameraman and editor and has been a teaching artist in NYC schools for The Leadership Program and Urban Arts Partnership. He recently worked as a Co-producer on Michael Kantor’s PBS documentary “Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy,” a follow up to Kantor’s 2005 Emmy Award-winning series ‘”Broadway: The American Musical.”

In addition, he has produced videos for the Museum of Modern Art, Vera Institute of Justice, Columbia University and other non-profits and is currently in post-production on a documentary about “Sukkah City,” the architecture competition and exhibition that radically re-imagined the traditional sukkah.