Biography

Since childhood, PJ Leonard was fascinated by the entertainment world. PJ got his start as an associate producer with the Off-Broadway production, Dreamstuff, in 2005. He later founded Other Side of the River Productions in the hopes of producing his own feature films based on the stories from his life growing up in the working class of New Jersey. The Immaculate Misconception was the first project brought to life by his company, followed quickly by the acclaimed short film, "The Hit" and feature film, The Fallen Faithful, which has won several awards at film festivals all around North America. PJ was asked by Ryan O'Nan to join the production team Chu & Blossom staring Oscar winner Mercedes Ruehl, Tony winner Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) and Annie Potts (Ghostbusters) plus familiar faces Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men) and Richard Kind (Spin City). He also wrote and starred in his Short Film, "Speculo" which Emmy Winner Obba Babatunde directed. He also was a producer on Mysterious Circumstances: The Death of Meriwether Lewis starring John Schneider, Evan Williams, and Sonny Marinelli. PJ has also been influential in building the film program at Itawamba Community College (ICC). ICC is a community college in Mississippi which has three campuses, in Fulton, Belden, and Tupelo, Mississippi. Working alongside seasoned producers, actors, and other production professionals the students experience the hands-on direct and practical way of learning. Mississippi Minute, which is PJ's directorial debut is the ICC film students first production brought to fruition. The students developed the story, wrote the script, and did the pre-production work before joining in the production. It is PJ's plan along with ICC instructor and fellow producer Morgan Cutturini to involve current ICC film students in Mississippi Scholar as production assistants. ICC alumni are already penciled in the crew list.
- IMDb mini biography by: Ellen Hourigan