Instructor
Office: Communications Building room 100B
Phone: (409) 880-8153
Email: jhawa@lamar.edu
Jeremy James Hawa received his BFA in Graphic Design with a minor in art history, graduating Cum Laude from ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ University in 1997. Jeremy worked for several years as an art director, designer & illustrator in the Houston area.
He went on to receive his master's degree in directing and screenwriting for cinema/television at Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. While attending, he directed the music video “The Body and the Blood” for the national Christian recording artist, Janet Paschal, as well as "Hospitality," a short film that was part of the university’s student film showcase.
He also worked in the lighting and camera departments for Costal Video, the nation's premier producer of industrial films, and for New Dominion Pictures on their Discovery Channel programs "Justice Files" and "The New Detectives.”
Upon Graduating in 1999, he returned to Texas, settling in Fort Worth, where he served as a gaffer on the Dallas-based feature film, Pale Blue Moon.
Soon after, he was hired by the Movie Studios at Las Colinas, in Dallas Texas, where he worked with various notable projects including Eric Clapton’s “Reptile” national concert tour; the Dream Works comedy “Slap Her She’s French” starring Piper Perabo; “Walker Texas Ranger” and numerous other national commercial productions and children’s television shows including “Barney & Friends” and “Wishbone.”
In 2004 he was hired as the 1st assistant director and Associate Producer on the independent feature film “Noble Things,” starring Lee Ann Womack, Michael Parks, Ron Canada, & Ryan Hurst. After completion of principal photography in 2008, he moved to Santa Monica, California where he continued post-production work on “Noble Things” at Universal Studios.
He continued his duties as a producer on “Noble Things” until 2009, when the film made the national festival circuit, being selected as an “Official Selection,” for, The Nashville Film Festival, The Austin Film Festival, & The WaterFront Film Festival.
Jeremy returned to Southeast Texas, founding Light Strike Productions in 2011, a film and television production company that specializes in television production, commercial production, as well as marketing and industrial film.
To date, Light Strike Productions has garnered several prestigious awards, including the 2015 Cornerstone Pinnacle Award for Internet Media Production, the 2016 Cornerstone Pinnacle Award for national television advertising, the 2016 top honors for television advertising from the American Advertising Federation (“ADDY” Awards,) the 2017 National CUNA Diamond television advertising award (BEST IN CATEGORY,) as well as the 2018 TACVB award for top travel commercial in the state of Texas.
In the spring of 2017 Jeremy’s feature-length screenplay. “Raw Land,” was officially optioned by Greentrees Films and Oscar-nominated Producer Jack Binder who is recognized as one of the top 500 producers in the world and currently has the project in development. Binder is best known as Producer of ‘The Upside of Anger’ starring Kevin Costner and 'First Reformed,' starring Ethan Hawke. He assists fellow filmmakers via his production services company
In December 2022, Jeremy completed production of the 22-minute short film, “The Powder Horn,” which has been entered in over 30 national and international film festivals.
Jeremy maintains an active presence in the Texas film industry and in 2014 was recruited as a professor of film production and screenwriting by ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ University in Beaumont Texas. Jeremy resides in Beaumont, Texas with his wife Shanna and three daughters Kaia, Rocki & Ripley.