Mini Bio (1)

Jonas Elrod is a southern writer and director who grew up in Georgia with a deep appreciation for story as a means for change. He fell in love with stories told on porches late at night of fallen heroes, misfit love and spiritual redemption. His appreciation for personal truth and deeper meaning has been a compass for his fiction and non-fiction work.
Elrod began his career in film working with the award-winning production company Rockhard Films (Nike, Jay-Z, ESPN). After several years working production in the commercial and music video industry, he then went into directing. He has directed content and commercial work for clients such as Converse, Smirnoff and projects for Spike Lee.
His first documentary feature Wake Up, premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival. Wake Up follows Elrod's spiritual journey seeking answers to an unexplainable life event. Overnight, he began having a wide range of spontaneous metaphysical experiences: seeing spirits, hearing voices and having visions. After undergoing a series of medical tests (MRI, psychological evaluation, etc) and receiving a clean bill of health, he set out on a mission to understand what was happening to him. Elrod met with religious leaders, fringe scientists and modern day mystics to try to come to terms with what he refers to as a gift/curse.
Wake Up quickly found an audience in theaters across the country and went on to become the premier episode for the Emmy-award winning Super Soul Sunday on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). The film was also partnered with an interview by Oprah Winfrey.
Jonas's latest project has been directing and hosting a series for the Oprah Winfrey Network. In Deep Shift with Jonas Elrod is an unflinching look at what it takes to walk a spiritual path. The series tracks Jonas as he travels across the country seeking stories of lives who have been forever changed by a significant breakdown but then finding redemption and purpose through a spiritual breakthrough. The series was intended to help inspire those who are suffering, grieving and overwhelmed find a way through.
'It's been the greatest film experience to date,' said Elrod. 'I personally learned so much from these stories and I hope that people can see there's always a way out.' The series received great reviews, often trending on Twitter and featured among others Ted Talk alum Maysoon Zayid, NFL football great Vince Young and singer, songwriter Alanis Morissette.
Elrod, known for his documentary and commercial work is taking steps into narrative films with his debut to begin filming in the fall of 2016.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Marc Russell