Jared Lee Masters is an American filmmaker, actor and author. He came on the scene in 2012 with The Pleasure Girl Gang, one of the few films in history to feature an all-female cast. He has since written and directed over a dozen feature films, including Slink (2013) and Ballet of Blood (2015). He has also appeared in numerous films and television shows, such as Ugly Betty and Saturday Night Live.
Masters was born in Georgia, but his father's stint in the Army kept the family of six moving to various cities across the globe (including Kansas City, Virginia Beach, and Portsmouth, in the US, as well as Germany). Masters was initially homeschooled by his mother before attending public and private schools in Richmond, VA. His interest in filmmaking began at age 14, when he directed and edited skateboarding videos and sold them to schoolmates. At 15, he taught himself classical piano, and later composed music for some of his films. Masters joined the Screen Actors Guild in 2007 and moved to New York City, where he studied acting and landed minor roles in major films and television. While living in New York he directed his first proper short film, 'The Umbrella' and the documentary 'Meet the Freaks at Dreamland'.
In 2010, Masters moved to Venice Beach, California, and made his first full-length feature film: Climb It, Tarzan! (2011), followed by 8 Reels of Sewage (2012). Both are period films set in the 1960s. Masters was nominated for two EOTM Awards for his feature film Slink: Best Director in a Horror Film and Best Scream Film. The EOTM Awards show was held at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California, on August 4, 2013. Masters won the 2013 EOTM Award for Best Horror Film for Slink. His film Teachers' Day was an Official Selection of the 2014 Shockfest and Mockfest Film Festivals, and was nominated for the Zelig Award, the highest honor from Mockfest. Deadly Punkettes won Festival Favorite at Galactic Film Festival 2014. Ballet of Blood won Audience Choice Award at the 2015 RIP International Horror Film Festival.
Some of Masters' filmmaking trademarks include: retro themes, female empowerment, society's underbelly, carnival and circus themes, as well as cinematic homages to 80's slasher films and B movies of the 1960s.
