Here is the biography of Jeff Kirkendall:
Jeff Kirkendall is an independent digital filmmaker and actor from Upstate New York. He has been passionate about making and promoting independent films since 1996 and has acted in over 80 movies to date. His first acting credit was in the 1994 feature Black Easter, which starred indie film luminary Debbie Rochon and Hammer movie legend Veronica Carlson.
Kirkendall is a longtime fan of cinema. He studied studio and field video production using analog (VHS) cameras and linear editing decks as part of a Communications degree program at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. He then began investing a substantial amount of time in self-study, training in non-linear post-production editing programs such as Adobe Premiere & Encore.
After graduation, Kirkendall set out to produce his own independent shot-on-video (S.O.V.) movies. His early productions include the action/horror movie The Temptress and the comedy Of Theatre & Bikinis, both produced entirely in the Capital Region of Upstate New York utilizing local talent.
In addition to his own directorial projects, Kirkendall has served as Associate Producer & Editor on movies produced by other area filmmakers, including the features Project D: Classified, The Edge of Reality, London After Midnight and Bruce G. Hallenbeck's The Drowned. He was also featured in the independent documentary Every Pixel Tells A Story from Times Union writer Peter Hanson, which includes interviews with several leading Capital Region filmmakers shooting in the groundbreaking digital video format.
Kirkendall has been involved in promoting area filmmaking for many years by organizing events such as the Area Filmmakers Fantastic Film Festival and Shocktoberfest, both held at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY. He was a featured filmmaker at the 2005 Dead of Winter Free Film Festival and the 2006 Independent Film Festival, both held at the New York State Museum in Albany, NY.
As an actor, Kirkendall has appeared in over 70 movies to date, including Project D: Classified, The Drowned, Bloodlust, and several from Polonia Brothers Entertainment (PBE) directed by indie filmmaker Mark Polonia. Some of his notable films include Amityville Exorcism, Cocaine Werewolf, The Girl Who Wore Yellow Lace, Amityville in Space, and Sharkula.
Kirkendall has collaborated with Mark Polonia on several projects, including the feature film Return to Splatter Farm, a sequel to the Polonia Brothers 1987 cult horror classic Splatter Farm. He has also appeared in several new PBE features, including Yule Log, Jurassic Shark 3: Seavenge, Cocaine Shark, Saurians 2, Teddiscare, and Cocaine Werewolf.
In 2023, Kirkendall collaborated again with Mark Polonia to produce the feature film The Stalking, based on his original script. The movie premiered theatrically in Albany, NY in November of that year, and has an anticipated 2024 national release.
In 2024, distributor SRS Cinema released Kirkendall's directorial debut Terror of the Master on DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming. The movie, a vampire feature, was originally produced in 1996 on VHS video.
Kirkendall has received praise from colleagues and fans alike, with quotes such as:
* "I consider him to be a significant figure in the horror genre, on the regional basis at least, and probably on the national level too." - Mary Alice Molgard, Professor of Communications at The College of Saint Rose
* "There's something of the Ed Wood about Jeff Kirkendall..." - From the Blogosphere
* "Jeff is highly professional, completely focused on his work and always does a great job. He's a pleasure to work with." - Bruce Hallenbeck, Pagan Film Productions
* "If you ever produce a film, you should consider casting Jeff Kirkendall. Not only is he a great actor, but I have yet to see any actor who consistently promotes the films that he has been involved in to the degree that he does." - Michael Alan Fitzgerald, Independent Filmmaker
