Eagle Pass Productions

Josh Veselka – Founder, Producer/Director/Development

 

Born in a small Texas town on the border of Mexico and raised from the age of seven onwards in New York’s Greenwich Village, Josh grew up in television.  Spending much of his childhood either on location or in newsrooms and edit suites.  During and after his abbreviated time at New York University he spent a number of years working in bars and restaurants trying to escape the business, but it was too late he had caught the bug.  Although he still occasionally harbours the fantasy of opening a small bar on some nearly deserted beach somewhere, but until then…

 

Josh's own career in television started in 1988 in New Orleans at the Republican National Convention where he was a runner for NBC news. From there he worked his way up the ladder from runner to PA, to researcher, to segment producer to one-man band producer/director/self-shooter to producing and directing his own half-hour and hour programs.

 

Veselka is most known for his work on the long running, unique and award winning series for Nickelodeon, Nick News with Linda Ellerbee, a show that built its reputation on the respectful and direct way it spoke to kids and youth about the important issues of the day. For that series he made nearly 30 half-hour documentaries covering a wide range of issues from AIDS, war, slavery, refugees, homelessness, natural disasters, the environment, immigration, poverty, persecution, and prisons among many others. 

 

And recognizing that not all programming needs to be somber in topic to engage and inspire he also developed, produced and directed lighter and more constructed fare – a youth adventure trip to the Amazon rain forest, a safari in Kenya, a river rafting journey through the Grand Canyon, a playful visit to a wild west dude ranch as well as profiling various young artists, athletes, dancers, orators, activists and the occasional celebrity along the way.

 

His work on that series earned him a number of awards and nominations including: 2 Emmy wins and four other Emmy nominations, 2 Namic Vision Awards, 2 Parent’s Choice Awards, A Banff Award as well as 2 Rockie Award nominations, an International Family Film Festival Award, the Adult Jury Prize at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival and most recently an Imagen Award.

 

Josh is comfortable and confident in almost any environment having produced and directed documentaries in a variety of locations from conflict and post-disaster zones to super cities, slums, extreme rural outposts, rainforests, and studios with extensive international production experience, having worked in the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Cuba, Mexico, Jordan, Ghana, Japan, Haiti, India, South Africa, Kenya, The Peruvian Amazon, Israel (including the Gaza Strip & the West Bank), Afghanistan and extensively throughout the US.

 

Prior to moving to London to set up Eagle Pass Productions, Josh served as Vice President of Production and Development for the New York based Lucky Duck Productions, an award-winning, critically acclaimed television production company renowned for producing children's programming, primetime specials, documentaries and limited-run series for broadcast and cable television.

 

Never willing to abandon his love for making documentaries himself, while in that role he continued to produce and direct, including the Emmy-nominated Studs Terkel: Listening to America, a documentary on the life and art of one of America’s most influential authors and media personalities, which he developed, sold and produced for HBO.

 

Josh currently lives in Kensal Rise, London with his wife, three chaotic boys and their cat, Tom.