Jeffrey Arsenault

Jeffrey Arsenault began making films in New York's Lower East Side in the 1980s. His films were shown at bars, cafes, clubs, galleries and underground screening rooms. An early short, "Tompkins Square Park Of Death", screened at the New York Film Festival Downtown and toured Europe. His first feature, Night Owl (1993) (starring John Leguizamo), premiered at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Cinema in Los Angeles as part of the American Film Institute's Los Angeles International Film Festival in 1993, followed by screenings at festivals throughout Europe. "Night Owl" is a black-and-white East Village vampire movie that pre-dates Nadja (1995) and The Addiction (1995) by two years. Arsenault temporarily relocated to London to edit the feature film "Heaven's A Drag" (1996) (aka "To Die For"), directed by Peter Mackenzie Litten, which was released by First Run Features. Returning to New York, he directed his second feature, Domestic Strangers (1996). Frustrated by the frequent delays encountered while making the film, he moved forward with his third feature, "Rome '98" (1998). Inspired by the East Village "no wave" film movement began circa 1978, "Rome '98" uses the same basic tools as available 20 years prior (Super 8 sound film) but is shot with a different aesthetic. He also directed the original workshop production of John Leguizamo's "Mambo Mouth", and coached John on his second one man show, John Leguizamo: Spic-O-Rama (1993). Finally biting the bullet and trying DV, Jeffrey produced two features, Crimson Nights (2000) and Date with a Vampire (2000). He embraced the medium full-force by directing Passing Time (2006) in the DV format.