ABOUT Jon Barton
Jon Barton has been an active player in the film and television industry, off and on, for over 10 years. He moved to Manhattan from California at 17 to enroll in the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and completed their intensive 2 year program for acting. Realizing acting wasn’t as fulfilling he joined the Marine Corps.
Jon Barton's combat experiences in Operation Nobel Eagle and Operation Iraqi Freedom have positioned him to give him a competitive edge over the competition in modern warfare and combat technical advising. Still working for the Marine Corps, Jon is able to keep up-to-date on modern war fighting techniques. Jon is currently the lead tactical firearms trainer / advisor for the CBS series “Criminal Minds”, where he has had the privilege of working with the cast and crew for all 4 seasons.
In 2004, Jon Barton created GUNMETAL in response to the need for a higher level of military authenticity in Hollywood. Since then, GUNMETAL has become the industry standard in military advising and professional actor training, and has worked on: The Mentalist, Chuck, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Jericho, 24, JAG, Threshold, Invasion, CSI Miami, and many more!
Realizing that Hollywood needed more focus on exclusive action content, and less focus on old, outdated military advising and consulting, Jon created TACTICAL MEDIA and TACTICAL MEDIA PRODUCTIONS, to replace the aging, outdated philosophies within GUNMETAL. Armed with new personnel, and a new business philosophy, Jon is leading the charge into the next decade of action based content for television, film, the internet, and video games.
In 2008, Jon was hired by Lexi Alexander as the lead combat trainer, military advisor, and weapons consultant / trainer for “Punisher: War Zone”. On PWZ, Jon was responsible for all nine principle actor’s and 22 stuntman’s firearm training as well as transforming Ray Stevenson into a modern Punisher. He helped design the new Punisher armor, and was responsible for all the new weapons and ammunition for the main character. For more info visit Jon’s interview with director Lexi Alexander’s website.
CURRENT EVENTS:
Jon is currently the lead handgun and tactical movement trainer for the CBS series “Criminal Minds” starring Shemar Moore, Joe Montagna, Thomas Gibson, Paget Brewster, and Mathew Gubler.
Currently Jon and TACTICAL MEDIA are co-producing the feature "Cross" with Patrick Durham and Tim ABELL, starring Michael Madsen and Brian Austin Green. “CROSS” is currently on the web as a graphic novel and can be found at www.morningstarfilms.com .
Recently, Jon has teamed up with Kathleen Kennedy and 430Entertainment (www.430entertainment.com) to co-write the feature length drama “A Plague of Consciousness”, a story about a biological event on a biblical scale that pushes two unlikely heroes into the abyss of a world pandemic outbreak.
Jon is also teaming back up with Lexi Alexander this summer to assist her in her new independent project that focuses on a Marine dealing with coming home. (www.lexialexander.com)
He is also working closely with Julz Chavez who has created and co produced with Make it Happen Productions (www.mihp.tv) on their new reality TV series "Ultimate Shooter”. Ultimate Shooter puts real video gamers and real military members into situations that will crown the “Ultimate Shooter”
Jon has just finished filming the teaser for the first of his trilogy of films entitled “The AURILLIUM Saga”. AURILLIUM focuses on a squad of US MARINES 50 years from now, who discover a new enemy in a demilitarized zone in Chinese occupied Iran. AURILLIUM is unique because it is written in complete authentic military verb age to show a “slice of life” of modern combat.
Jon also founded the ADVANCEMENT of MILITARY in MEDIA ORGANIZATION (A.M.M.O.) this year. AMMO (www.ammo.org) is dedicated to the placement of military veterans into various jobs in the film and television business based on their qualification. Its current roster includes over 100 military actors, jet pilots, stuntmen, and weapons trainers.
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