Jarrod Crooks is a Wausau, WI film director who has been filming since the age of 12, first starting out by recreating classic stories such as "Faust", "The Man in the Iron Mask" and "The Purloined Letter". He eventually began creating his own stories like "Ice War" and "The First Mission". Crooks later added martial art fight scenes to his films(after he saw his first Jackie Chan movie) which started with "Make My Day" that would someday compare to some of Hollywood's biggest actions stars.
In 2006, Crooks premiered "Deal With It" to a sold out audience at Cedar Creek Cinema. Then 3 years to the date he released the feature film, "Thieves Like Us". It was back in 2003 that Crooks first had the idea to do a thief movie, but the writing process would not take place until May 2007 when he was acting in Ric McCloud's "Unholy Reunion." There he was able to network with a group of talented actors including Shannon McDonough, Dan Quaile, Ric McCloud and Phil Berbig who all have major roles in "Thieves Like Us".
In 2011 he directed short films including "Hostile Possession", a Horror film, "Bitch Slapped", an action/comedy. "Nowhere to be Found" a Detective cop Drama, "Taken Blind", a western shot in the Badlands, South Dakota, and "Blunderlust" a romantic/comedy filmed in St. Paul, MN.
Shortly after Blunderlust he started work on a show with producer Greg Kuper. The show "Casting call" followed a number of filmmakers on the journey to the completion of their films. Crooks did his own film for the show in 2012 called "Broken Home", about a little girl who took care of her dysfunctional family.
Also in 2012 Crooks produced a film about a husband who was struggling with the idea of being a father for the first time. The film "Love, Lust and Emily" featured a very pregnant Nora Romness who auditioned for Crooks' "Blunderlust" in 2011.
After a number of short films Crooks started production in August 2012 on his fourth feature film "Dispatched". He would spend the next year on it. The film features a number of actors from his short films through the years and also introduces some new talent. The film is scheduled to release March 29th 2014.
