JASON C. GARES
DOCUMENTARY FILM & SERIES PRODUCER, MARKETER, GRAPHIC ARTIST & AUTHOR
Born in 1971 and raised in Milwaukee, WI Jason grew up going to movies and watching science fiction television shows. Based on his love for what he saw on both the big and little screens, he eventually found the world of drawing, cartooning and model kit building as a way to take those beloved characters and vehicles that he saw and make them part of his surroundings.
Graduating from high school in 1990 and earning an Associates Degree in Graphic Design in 1992, Jason decided to become a freelance teacher of the arts to many people both formally and informally throughout the years. From teaching disadvantaged inner-city children to seasoned professionals, Jason has taught many people from many walks of life and continues to do so to this day through his extensive library of Video Workbench instructional videos.
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Throughout his 20's, Jason did commission work for everyone from friends to independent film makers. Fine-tuning his artistic model kit building skills to the point of being ready to compete against some of America's greatest modelers.
In 2004 he entered his first model kit building competition, a HobbyTown USA show. This was the first time he was being judged by fellow model builders on his building and painting skills. At the end of his first competition, Jason took home first, second and third place prizes for his various efforts.
One of his proudest moments was when his “Terminator” model was showcased in the FineScale Modeler Publication of Great Scale Modeling 2008 from an entry in the 2007 Wonderfest competition in Louisville, KY as one of the Best in Show for that publication.
From 2004 to 2007 he competed in many modeling competitions and won many awards. In total he won 15 Merit awards, 9 Blue ribbons, 12 Red ribbons, 3 White ribbons, 7 medals, 9 First Place Trophies, 4 Second Place Trophies and 3 Third Place Trophies. Finally, judged by a closed panel of professional IPMS judges going by their strict guidelines and rules, his coveted Science Fiction Vehicle Best in Show plaque at the 2007 IPMS Mad City Modelers show and competition for his rendition of the Time Machine prop from the 1960 movie.
In December of 2020 Jason won "Best Paint" in the HobbyTown USA national online contest for his R2-D2 & C-3Po vignette diorama. This came as a surprise to Jason, as only one photo of the diorama was submitted. Jason later learned to his surprise, the photo of his R2-D2 & C-3Po diorama was up against 300+ other submissions and again looked over by a closed panel of IPMS judges. Making this award his 2nd coveted IPMS win.
In 2021, Jason released his first instructional how-to book featuring his award-winning R2-D2 & C-3Po vignette diorama titled Building Large Scale Sci-Fi & Fantasy Models which is distributed in eBook format by the Australian company KLP Publishing.