Jake Kovnat

Filmmaker

Originally from Rochester, NY, Jake moved to Toronto in 2003 to study cinema and philosophy at the University of Toronto. In that time, Jake began creating music videos for a number of local musicians as well as working on a feature-length hip hop documentary, The Art of Selling Out (www.theartofsellingout.com). Featuring interviews with hip hop legends of past and present including - KRS ONE, Talib Kweli, the GZA, Saukrates, and Choclair - the doc (still in the works) examines what 'keeping it real' actually means in hip hop culture.

Jake's latest short film, "Monday Morning," was recently a top 10 finalist for YouTube Project: Direct, which was a short film competition in conjunction with the Sundance Film Festival. After a feature on the front page of YouTube and over 195,000 views, it was the most-watched Canadian film on YouTube. You can watch the film here: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=sfjuUq6vZWg

Jake also writes a video column for the popular Toronto blog, blogTO (www.blogto.com) and is currently in development of a number of web-related content to be launched in '09.

Look out for more work from Jake at: http://www.jakekovnat.com