Los Angeles-based filmmaker Jeff Kaminski has always been interested in the visual arts and has been a storyteller since he could first talk. He grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. At the Savannah College of Art and Design, he earned a BFA in Film and created the stop-motion short, Polka Penguin versus the Space Threat. After graduation, Jeff returned to Atlanta and began working at various start-up production companies.
It was at IETV, a public access channel, where he met kindred spirits Jeff Grantz, Steven Teuchert and Ryan Presley. There they took risks and pushed the zaniness of their writing and filmmaking. Over the years, they served as the creative team on several short films. This included The Amazing Nerdiverse, a faux reality news sketch show, 12 episodes of which aired on local TV. They then decided to strike out on their own and formed KREJ Productions. (KREJ is JERK spelled backwards.) Over the next few years, Jeff wrote and directed several short films, including Tim and Katie: A Nice Little Love Story with Zombies.
After winning third place in the 24-hour film race with the short Better Late than Never, Third Place Productions was formed. With the advent of the 2008 recession, financing films became more difficult, but Jeff never gave up, and managed to make Dick Jokes and Jawffice. Work on his feature debut, Team P.R.O.O.F., began in 2007, beginning with a 10-minute pilot. Full production started at the end of 2014, and continued through March of 2015.
Jeff, working long-distance from Los Angeles, where he was based for two years, finally finished the film in 2017, with its world premiere at the Something Wicked Film Festival, on August 6.
He is married to costume designer Allegra Deneroff, who contributed to wardrobe and art direction on Team P.R.O.O.F. and played a cameo as a police officer.