Directing
John Chester
John Chester is a distinguished filmmaker and television director, recognized with multiple Emmy Awards for his exceptional work. His recent short films for the Oprah Winfrey Network's Super Soul Sunday, including titles like Saving Emma, Worry for Maggie, and The Orphan, have garnered five Emmy Awards, showcasing his talents in directing, writing, and cinematography.
Chester's career began with the docu-series Random 1, which premiered on A&E in 2006, where he served as both director and star. The series laid the groundwork for his feature documentary Lost in Woonsocket, which debuted at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in 2007. He also directed Rock Prophecies, a documentary that profiles rock photographer Robert Knight; this film received three audience awards for Best Documentary Feature and was aired nationally on PBS in 2010.
One of Chester's most notable projects is The Biggest Little Farm, a feature film that tells the inspiring seven-year journey of Apricot Lane Farms, a regenerative farm he co-founded with his wife Molly in 2011. The film made its debut at several prestigious film festivals, including Telluride, Toronto, and Sundance in 2018 and was released in theaters across the United States in May 2019. Additionally, Chester embarked on a three-year book deal with Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan to create a children's book series based on the film, with the first book, Saving Emma the Pig, set to release in May 2019.
