Christopher Jaymes’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Christopher Jaymes (born July 19, 1973) is an American musician in the band Bootstraps, a television and film actor, director, screenwriter and producer.

Early life

Jaymes was born in Long Beach, California and spent his early years in Huntington Beach as an only child. In his early teens, while working at a SCUBA shop as a Rescue Diver, he started having success as an amateur skateboarder which led him into the entertainment industry where he started working as an actor. He went on to attend Berklee College of Music studying piano and orchestration and toured with a number of artists, including Wanda Jackson, as a piano player.

Career

Jaymes’ entered the entertainment industry at the age of 17, getting a guest starring role in the hit show, Wings, which ended up getting cut out and rewritten prior to getting shot. Shortly, thereafter, he was cast starring opposite Helen Hunt in the CBS movie-of-the-week Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story and he then went on to appear on a number of other television shows including Lost, Party of Five, Profiler, Chicago Hope, NYPD Blue and Touched by an Angel. He played in a number of films as well including Ivan Reitman’s Father’s Day starring Robin Williams and Billy Crystal.

By 2000, he had directed a number of short films including The Reel and working as a script supervisor, editor and screenwriter until he starred and co-produced the feature film It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Trying. After which, he directed his first feature film In Memory of My Father where he starred alongside Jeremy Sisto and Judy Greer, as well as, produced, wrote, directed and edited the film which went onto receive critical acclaim and win a number of awards internationally, including the 2006 American Spirit/Best Feature Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Grand Jury Award at CineVegas, Best Debut Feature at Sonoma Valley Film Festival and Best Director at the San Diego Film Festival.

Over the next years, Jaymes worked with numerous companies in development, including Signature Pictures, ghost writing on six films including The Black Dahlia, Tristen + Leopold, and The Contractor, while also consulting through production and post.

In MySpace’s heyday, Jaymes was hired as a content producer, to help stimulate and develop MySpace’s homepage into a hub for video content, producing spots featuring artists and events, such as the Beastie Boys, Wyclef Jean, Colbie Caillat, Sundance, the Toronto International Film Festival, and many others. Concurrently, Jaymes produced and directed a number of commercials and web campaigns for companies such as Intel, Lenovo, Harper/Collins, FRS, NaturaPet, Nikki Six, and LiveBooks.com, while also focusing his efforts on a myriad of Non-Profit Organizations, including One Generation and Sweet Relief Musician’s Fund.

Jaymes published a book, entitled Boxing Day about his experiences working in the 2004 tsunami disaster relief efforts

In 2010, Chris Jaymes co-wrote and directed Making A Scene starring William Shatner, Dave Foley, and Jason Priestley, a one-hour comedy for television, which led to a string of shows for the CBC including Long Story Short a scripted comedy with Martin Short starring Robin Duke, Anne Murray, and Norman Jewison, and two pilots, including Late Night with Lang & O’Leary, and an entertainment news show, The Feed.

In 2011, he directed the feature length thriller, The Cottage starring David Arquette, Kristen Dalton, and Lorraine Nicholson, while also working with Levendis Entertainment and Nick Lambrou, developing the feature film action epic, Sons of Chaos, surrounding the Greek War for Independence.

In 2012, Jaymes was brought on as a producer for a Travel Channel show starring David Arquette and Mike McGuinness, while also directing a series for FOX/Netflix entitled Bad Samaritans with Andy Dick and Julianna Guill.

At the end of 2013, Jaymes became the piano player for Bootstraps, a band formed by his best friend and long-term writing partner Jordan Beckett, Bootstraps was signed to Capitol Records/Harvest and their first record was released February 2014. Throughout 2014, Bootstraps toured extensively and were featured in Rolling Stone Magazine and were touted as an ‘upcoming-band-to-watch’.

Beginning in 2012, Jaymes began working with the non-profit organization Island Dolphin Care, a facility where children with brain disorders and war veterans with PTSD, receive progressive therapy treatments working alongside bottlenose dolphins. His research and footage of IDC dolphins combined with news anchor Kerry Sanders’ (NBC) reporting, won the 2014 Michael Debakey Journalism Award, recognizing outstanding journalism that highlights the role of biomedical research that includes the humane and responsible use of animal models in recent medical discoveries and scientific breakthroughs. The story was about a dolphin named Sara who underwent an expansion of a somewhat collapsed airway; a procedure carried out by a group of specialists from across the country, that had never before executed on a dolphin and the surgery was a success.

Filmography

• The Cottage (2012) – Director, editor
• Misfits (2011) – Actor
• Shrink Me (2010) – Writer, director
• Bhutto (2010) – Cinematography
• Beyond the Mat (2010) – Editor
• In Memory of My Father (2008) – writer, director, producer, editor, actor
• It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Trying (2000) – producer, actor
• Max, 13 (1999) – actor
• Verses (1999) – actor, editor
• The Reel (1999) – writer, director, actor
• Little Savant (1999) – actor
• Some Girl (1998) – actor
• Father’s Day (1997) – actor
• Dogs of Wood’s Hole (1997) – actor

Television

• The Millionaire (1 episode, 2013) – director
• Bad Samaritans (1 episode, 2012) – director
• Mile High (1 episode, 2012) – producer
• Long Story Short (1 episode, 2011) – director
• Late Night With Lang & O’Leary (1 episode, 2011) – director, producer
• The Feed (1 episode, 2011) – director, producer
• Making a Scene (1 episode, 2010) – writer/director
• Lost (episode “LaFleur”, 2009) – actor
• The Fugitive (1 episode, 2000) – actor
• Chicago Hope (1 episode, 1999 – actor
• NYPD Blue (1 episode, 1999) – actor
• Vengeance Unlimited (1 episode, 1998) -actor
• Profiler (1 episode, 1998 – actor
• Party of Five (2 episodes, 1996–1997) – actor
• Touched by an Angel (1 episode, 1997) – actor
• Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story – actor (1991)
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1 episode, 1990)

Awards

• In Memory of My Father
  • 2006 Santa Barbara International Film Festival – Best American Film/American Spirit Award
  • 2006 Sonoma Valley Film Festival – Best Debut Feature
  • 2006 Santa Cruz Film Festival – Director’s Award
  • 2005 CineVegas – Grand Jury Award
  • 2005 San Diego Film Festival – Best Director
  • 2005 AOF FEST – Best Picture
  • 2005 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival – Spirit Award
  • 2006 Lake Forest Film Fest – Grand Jury Award

Nominations

• In Memory of My Father
  • 2006 Atlanta Film Festival – Best Actor
  • 2006 Marbella International Film Festival – Best Film
  • 2005 NatFilm Copenhagen – Best Feature
  • 2005 Starz Denver Int. Film Fest – Director to Watch – Chris Jaymes