back JOE KIPIKASH - Director Originally from upstate New York, Joe Kipikash, also known as "Kip" to friends and colleagues, currently resides near Tampa, Florida and juggles directing and producing with his role as an active parent. He pursues projects he believes strongly in, which can reach out to touch hearts. Kip has worked in many capacities relating to radio, television and film production. As an NBC affiliate promotions manager, he created promotional tie-ins for the movies Arachnophobia, Dick Tracy and the re-release of Disney's Jungle Book. While in Washington D.C., he devoted three years to helping the C-SPAN group of networks promote their programming line up, and as part of the C-SPAN team, shared in the prestigious Golden CableAce Award for the network's School Bus Project. Kip was a contributing producer for TNT's Ace Awards with Larry King, produced televised segments for the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and has produced political background segments for film & television productions such as Bullworth, My Fellow Americans, News Radio, Murphy Brown, and HBO's Larry Sander's Show. He has created documentary-style informational videos for members of the United States Congress, Cable in the Classroom, and the C-SPAN Board of Directors, which is comprised of executives from the nation's top cable providers. His productions helped to raise nearly a million dollars in funding for the second C-SPAN School Bus project, an educational outreach effort designed to teach children and educators about the workings of the United States government. Kip is the recipient of many local and regional awards for excellence in his field, including the Telly award. He has written numerous screenplays and is an accomplished producer, director and editor. Through the creative application of European digital technology, he produced and directed The Boy and the Bubble, which debuted at the International Family Film Festival. He studied Theatre in Binghamton, at the State University of New York and is certified by the Hollywood Film Institute in the areas of Feature Film Producing, Line Producing and Cinema Directing. Credits and clients include Walmart, Sam’s Club, Music Video Production for Kung Fu Records in L.A. and a variety of corporate clients. As an offshoot of the Descansos project, he recently teamed with Producer Eric Polins to launch RoadsideTributes.Org, a free posting service for friends and family members who would like to create tributes to lost love ones, not on the roadside, but on the Information Superhighway.