Joseph William Simmons

Joseph William Simmons was born at Bergan Mercy Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. He grew up in La Vista and attended public schools in the Papillion/La Vista School District, graduating from Papillion La Vista High School in 1999. After graduating he attended the University of Nebraska - Omaha for a couple of years as an undergraduate writing major before transferring to the University of Nebraska - Lincoln as a Film Studies major. He graduated from UNL in 2004 with a Bachelors in Film as well as receiving several minors and studying the Japanese language for two years. Using the resources of the Japanese Department at UNL he found a job in Japan as an English teacher through the JET Programme in 2006. He was placed in Nagasaki Prefecture and lived on an island called Shinkamigoto, which is two hours west of Nagasaki by ferry. He lived for three years in Arikawa town on Shinkamigoto. As a result of his Japanese education in school and living in Japan for three years, he became fluent in conversational Japanese. He also used his proximity to Asia during this time to travel Asia and Oceania, traveling to South Korea, Taiwan, India, China, and Australia. After his return to the United States Joe entered the University of Nebraska - Omaha's Masters in Creative Writing program, completing his MFA in Writing in 2013. He already published his travel blog of his travels overseas into a memoir, and used his writings in the MFA program to spawn and publish additional non-fiction works, centered around Omaha's history and culture. In 2013 he started a career in Industrial construction and joined Carpenter's Local 1306, graduating as a Journeyman Carpenter in 2018. In early 2019 he left for Wyoming and became a roughneck floorhand on an oil rig in the mountains, around an hour northeast of Casper. After almost losing his life by decapitation on the oil rig floor he traveled back to Omaha, joined Electrical Union Local 22, and has been engaged in multiple apprenticeships through Local 22 ever since. During his college years in the early 2000's Joe acted, produced, and directed several short films and music videos in Omaha and Lincoln, showcasing his works at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. Under the tutelage of Professor Sharon Teo through the Film and New Media department, he and a small team of student filmmakers formed and chartered Cinema 16, UNL's premiere film production club in 2004. Joe was Cinema 16's first President. Because of his travels around the world he took a break from filmmaking but began making local and independent films again in 2013, being involved with numerous productions in Omaha and Council Bluffs. As a writer and documentarian Joe is a gonzo journalist, reporting the truth as it unfolds. As an actor and producer, he is mostly involved with local Nebraska and Iowa B-movie comedies and the independent national horror film scene.