Billy Yeager

William "Billy" Yeager born September 6, 1957, in Hollywood, Florida, is a singer-songwriter, musician, actor and filmmaker who has written, produced and directed several low-budget independent feature films. Billy Yeager composes all the music for his films, performing all the instruments himself, and he also performs as many of the lead characters. Billy Yeager picked up his father's guitar at age 6 and taught himself to play; he began writing music at the age of 11. In 1991, he was discovered by Grammy Award Winner Bruce Hornsby, and he has recorded music with many world renowned musicians such as the Inner Circle Band, Ira Sullivan, and Jaco Pastorius. Yeager's life was filmed since he was 8 years old by his aunt Bunny Yeager, and some of the footage was edited into a fictional film called "Jimmy's Story." The first version of "Jimmy's Story" was completed in 1996; however, Yeager kept filming for another 5 years and edited 6 different versions. The master tapes of the first 4 original versions were lost and today they are considered collectible. In the movie "Jimmy's Story," Jimmy Story (the character played by Yeager) dyes his skin black and creates music that is considered by the experts to be the Lost Bolero tapes of Jimi Hendrix, convincing the press internationally that he is the illegitimate son of Jimi Hendrix. Infused with a sense of purpose as an artist, Yeager decided he wanted to challenge the audience's perception of fame and success, and society's obsession with celebrities, while also exposing the media and the press that promote sensational news and trivial matters to the public. Heralded as a major achievement, "Jimmy's Story" won an unprecedented 4 awards at the Dahlonega International Film Festival in 2003 for Best first film, Best director, Best documentary and Best folk film, and Best Documentary at the Palm Beach International Film Festival. In 2002, Yeager produced and directed the film "The Florida Highwaymen," a documentary about the famous Florida folk artists whose paintings became highly sought-after by art collectors in 2000. Yeager's next film was called "A Perfect Song." The film tells the story about a man named Lloyd, who wants to dedicate his life to finding a way to discover a perfect song that can heal the world. Relinquishing his worldly desires, he seeks God's will for his life. Yeager gained 35 pounds and shaved his head for the lead role of Lloyd. He won Best Actor at the Delray Beach Film Festival in 2004. Billy Yeager and his wife Anais spent the next 7 years making the film trilogy "Jesus of Malibu." The film follows the characters Mindy and Jesus on their quest for truth. The Yeagers filmed in over 13 states, and completed their film without a film crew. Yeager lost 30 pounds dropping his weight from 182 to 152 and grew his hair and a beard for over 2 years for the role of Jesus. The film will only be screened in the desert for Mindy's Wish and Foundation. The Yeagers next movie, "Sebastian Beach One Fine Day," premiered in 2012 at the NYC Surf Film Festival. Drew Kampion the former editor of Surfer magazine, Surfing, and Sufer's Path, stated, "The wonderful thing about this creative product of the combined wills and imaginations of Anais and Billy Yeager is how profoundly it succeeds in quietly crystallizing an alternative reality in the here and now." In 2013 Maltese Productions produced the documentary film called "The Film That Changed The World" directed by Michael Kirk. The documentary tells the story of the Yeagers' desire to create a transcendental film. "The Film That Changed The World" (the making of the film "Jesus of Malibu") won the Most Inspirational Movie Award at the Red Dirt International Film Festival in 2015. The Yeagers continue to create art, music and films to change the world. Their mission is to raise consciousness and help those who cannot help themselves. Billy is the nephew of Bunny Yeager who is known as the legendary 1950's pin-up and photographer, who made Bettie Page famous. Billy taught film acting from 1998 to 2001. He established the nation's first on-camera, on-location acting class. Yeager used real film scripts, lights, sound, and film cameras to teach his film acting method. Yeager also created the first acting demo reels.