Gonzales R. Joseph

I was born in Sept 1978 a lil coastal town with a mountainous back drop call Beu de Heune in a nation birth in blood and struggle till this day fighting for their rights to work and be paid their worth and not be forgotten in the annals of history. I was raised by a single black woman who sacrificed her youth to allow me to be able to do what I do today. Ever since seeing the first images on TV in I Haiti I was mesmerized and wondered, "Where can I go and do that?". At the age of 11, late December 89, Xmas eve I think it was, I arrived in Sunny Miami Fl but except it wasn't Sunny, it was cold, very cold. Bout as cold as Alaska, especially to an Island boy like my self. I was even more mesmerized with all the technology. Eventually my curiosity got the best of me once I learned and mastered the English language. But my spirit and soul was still in Haiti. I was depressed and saddened by the constant pictures and images of Haitian Immigrants piled on top of each other like sardines crossing the dangerous Atlantic to come to America in search of a better life. I was too haunted by the pictures I'd seen on television, knowing that's only one side of the story being told. I couldn't even really concentrate on school. I didn't follow the dream of becoming a big Hollywood actor or director. I was more interested in religion and the military, trying to come up with a solution to what I like to call the "Haiti problem", still Hollywood was calling. In 2001 after graduating from Deerfield Bch, High School and studying Theology and Communications at SouthWestern Adventist University(no degrees though), while serving at the end of 3 year Army enlistment our country was attacked. I was placed on Active Duty about 16 months later and shipped off to Ft Dix, NJ. Where I trained with the 42nd ID New York National Guard and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom III. Every other day I would run convoys down the dangerous streets of Ballad and Tikrit Iraq, wondering where the next bullet or IED would be coming from. When ever I was not on Mission I would be surfing the web and looking up news on my violent Home island of Haiti. Eventually I contacted the agent of a famous Hollywood Oscar nominated winning director by the name of Jonathan Demme and wondered if he would mind mentoring me as a young and up coming film director. About two weeks latter, I received a personal email from Mr. Demme himself offering to UPS me some good ol Haitian traditional food, along with some great reading material. Jonathan Demme is like one of the greatest man ever in my personal Humble opinion. One of the best to ever bless the world with his vision and magic by commanding the camera and directing a set. I got to see Jonathan direct first hand and be directed by Jonathan on the indie production of "Rachel Getting Married" Starring Oscar Nominated winning Actress Ann Hatheway. I was also an extra on the HBO Produced mini-series, "John Adams". All of this while I was serving on Active duty at Fort Lee, VA. Jonathan told me I had what it takes to make it in Hollywood and encouraged me to leave the military and either move to LA or New York but I told him I would try going back home first and so here I'm once more offering my talents to the American people and the rest of the world, except this time as an entertainer.