Area Director to Debut 'Do It or Die'

From DeAnn Lubell-Ames, Public Relations:

Aspirations, wish-lists and bucket-lists can be fulfilled at any age, or in the case of one feisty individual, the very young-at-heart 86-year-old Jorn Winthers, who, within a few months, will be making his first dream-come-true directorial film debut with the motion picture premier of Do it or Die.

Winther comes into his movie career with an impressive background as an award-winning producer/director/writer with more than five decades of experience collaborating with the world’s most distinguished talents. Winther’s breadth of work includes MOW, drama, variety, comedy, specials, news, sports, documentaries, videos, game shows and commercials. Among his career highlights, he mounted the iconic news program 20/20, produced and directed the Reunion of The Beatles, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, and the original Frost/Nixon tapes Nixon for which he was recently interviewed by Larry King. Winther’s experience involves every facet of the news production and entertainment process. He has created and sold programs, written and edited dramatic scripts, created story lines, headed story meetings with writers and has been creatively responsible for the final product. He is one of the few directors in U.S. whose theatrical background enables him to communicate with actors.

Winther’s acting/director workshop sessions are sought out and immediately filled. As a producer/director, he has been responsible for more than 1,000 hours of prime time television, more than 300 dramatic hours in daytime television, and numerous stage plays. He was the producer/director for California Jam 1 & 2 with Deep Purple, Emerson, Lane & Palmer, The Eagles, Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith, etc. (Each event had 14 cameras & over 200,000 fans), as well as the 1978 Canada Jam (100,000 fans) with Doobie Brothers, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Village People, Kansas, Commodores, etc. Other individual bands such as: The Beatles, Kiss, The Who, Hearts & Ted Nugent, etc.

And now, at the tender age of 86, he can add movie making to his list of credits.

Winther insists that although this is a huge accomplishment, he has already lived his dream through his many life achievements. He, instead, graciously gives accolades and credit to his actors, crew and staff, but especially to his co-producer, Denise Dubarry Hay, who reached out to the entire Coachella Valley of business connections, friends and family to, “push this truck up the hill.”

“It was an honor working with Jorn on his feature film debut,” said Dubarry-Hay. “It's rare that an 86-year-old has the vision, the passion and the energy to make a film. I was impressed with his ability to block the action and intensify the drama of each scene. We all learned a lot working with him. The story in the film depicts the strength and determination of the kidnapped victim and the story behind the scenes is a great one showing that it's never too late to make your dreams come true.”

Winther agrees. “It is tough to predict how the film will do, but I am proud of it. We no doubt will get accepted to prestigious festivals. Don’t forget, there is another director still working at my age of 86 who happens to be Mr. Clint Eastwood. I plan to be the first 100-year-old director and presently several other projects have come my way.”

Photo courtesy of DeAnn Lubell-Ames, Public Relations