ABOUT

J.C. Khoury

Shoot First Entertainment is a production company owned and operated by writer/producer/director J.C. Khoury that creates original, cutting-edge content for film, television, and the Internet.

J.C. Khoury is an alumnus of the NYU Graduate Film Program where he studied under Spike Lee and wrote, produced, edited, and directed the short films Model Chaser and Michael Bell. The former won best short film at the 2002 Hamptons International Film Festival and Zoiefest. The latter depicted the quirky misadventures of a recent college grad and was a hit at the Slamdance Film Festival, winning the coveted Anarchy award. Based on the success of his shorts, J.C. was commissioned by StudioNext to write and direct a web series titled Dealing with Michael Bell that garnered praise from MSNBC, Streaming Media Magazine, and The Silicon Alley Reporter. With an ambition to continue telling longer format stories, J.C. edited the critically acclaimed feature documentary The Outsider about maverick filmmaker James Toback and starring Robert Downey Jr., Harvey Keitel, Neve Campbell, Brooke Shields, and Woody Allen. The film premiered at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival and was sold to Showtime.

J.C. Khoury has directed dozens of commercials, receiving an AICP award in 2006 for his Mountain Dew Foley spot and subsequent inclusion of his commercial work in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection. Other recent accomplishments for his commercial and branded content work include three gold ADDY awards and a place in the 2006 edition of SHOOT's highly prestigious New Directors Showcase. J.C. Khoury's keen eye for subtle, sophisticated humor led him to direct the Comcast Star Wars promo Nerf Herder (I Don't Wanna Be No) through AKQA which aired in front of the first HD broadcast of the Star Wars films on Cinemax and became a viral phenomenon, a campaign for Time Warner Cable via Ogilvy, two Avaya campaigns via R/GA, a viral film for Aquafina through Tribal DDB, and numerous spots for clients including Cotton, Swiffer, First Interstate Bank, Western & Southern Financial Group, Optimum Autos, and The Washington Post.

In the summer of 2010, J.C. began production on The Pill, his debut feature film starring Noah Bean (Damages, Morning Glory), Rachel Boston (500 Days of Summer), Anna Chlumsky (In the Loop), Al Thompson (The Royal Tenenbaums), and Dreama Walker (Gossip Girl). The Pill will be completed in 2011.

J.C. Khoury holds a BA from Columbia University and an MFA from New York University. He currently resides in New York City.