Jon shot nearly all of Ross Perot’s 1996 bid for the Presidency and most of his 1992 bid after he returned to the Presidential race. In fact, during the last three months of the 1996 race, Jon did nothing at AMS but shoot infomercials and commercials for Mr. Perot, with only three days off in that time period! Jon also designed and built, as well as lit, all of Mr. Perot’s studio sets. He also dressed the sets, and in one infomercial, Jon’s dog, Kristi, is featured in a photo on a shelf behind Mr. Perot.
During Mr. Perot’s 1996 run for the presidency, Jon was the only person on the planet allowed to light Mr. Perot, as Mr. Perot had a squint in his right eye that needed to be lit in a specific way to create the most flattering look on camera. After Jon left AMS in 1997, a flustered DP called him from CNBC’s headquarters to request a lighting diagram. He was about to light Mr. Perot for an interview, and Mr. Perot would not allow the DP to light him without first getting a lighting diagram from Jon so the lighting would be right.
As an interesting side note, Jon’s daughter Hayley, who was one-year old at the time of the campaign, became Mr. Perot’s poster child as “a baby born this year will pay an 80% tax rate in 30 years…” Hayley was featured on commercials Jon shot as well as in print in many of the nation’s largest newspapers. As a side note, her name was changed to “Amanda Perkins” for the advertisements and commercials.
Jon has also shot spots for many District Judges, State politicians, US Congressmen and Senators as well as governors. He covered the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis in 2016 for PBS. Here is a partial list of politicians he has interviewed:
Politicians:
George Bush II (TX Governor & )
Dick Cheney (vice president)
Ross Perot (presidential candidate)
Walter Mondale (vice president)
Shawn Duffy (US senator WI)
Jim Doyle (WI governor)
Haley Barbour (former governor Mississippi)
Michelle Bachmann (US Representative MN)
Gaylord Nelson (US Senator WI)
Dave Obey (US senator WI)
and MANY more I’ve long forgotten…