Jonathan T. Baker is a two-time Emmy-nominated producer, artist, and coach. With his business partner Nnamdi Asomugha under their banner iAm21 Entertainment, he most recently produced the Amazon Studios’ jazz-era feature Sylvie's Love starring Tessa Thompson, Eva Longoria, and Nnamdi Asomugha, which premiered at Sundance 2020 and received a Primetime Emmy nomination. They also produced the Apple feature film The Banker, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, and Nicholas Hoult, directed by George Nolfi. JB is also the filmmaker behind the viral cult musical satire Manifest Destiny Down: Spacetime.
Other film credits include: Co-Executive Producer for Emmy-nominated documentary The One and Only Dick Gregory (dir. Andre Gaines), which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2021 and was picked up by Showtime; Executive Producer Crown Heights (dir. Matt Ruskin), starring LaKeith Stanfield (Short Term 12, Atlanta) and Nnamdi, which won the Audience Award at Sundance in 2017 and was bought by Amazon Studios; Co-Producer Basmati Blues, starring Donald Sutherland, Tyne Daly, Brie Larson and Scott Bakula; and Executive Producer of Halfway, starring Quinton Aaron (The Blindside).
On stage, he produced The Harder They Come recently at The Public Theater.
Before producing independently, JB worked at Sony Pictures Entertainment, first in television research, then at Screen Gems and TriStar Pictures as Marketing Manager. He helped release over forty major theatrical films, of which ten achieved #1 at the box-office. Some noteworthy films include Closer (dir. Mike Nichols), Adaptation (dir. Spike Jonze), Big Fish (dir. Tim Burton), Boogeyman (#1 at the box office), Underworld (#1 at the box office), In The Cut (dir. Jane Campion), You Got Served (#1 at the box office), the Resident Evil franchise, and Exorcism of Emily Rose, Lords of Dogtown (dir. Catherine Hardwicke), Oliver Twist (dir. Roman Polanski), Running with Scissors (dir. Ryan Murphy), and Silent Hill. He also Co-Produced the documentaries Fang vs. Fiction (AMC), The Real Exorcist (A & E), and Real Premonitions (A & E).
Prior to moving to Hollywood, JB worked on Wall Street at Salomon Brothers Asset Management in Institutional Sales, and on Broadway at The Nederlander Producing Company of America. He worked with Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones, Dionne Warwick, Neil Young, Paul Simon, and many other legendary artists. He produced documentaries that starred Lea DeLaria, Geoffrey Holder, Liliane Montevecchi, and Julie Wilson.
JB has made many short films. He received a Best Actor award for his performance in Thank You for Not Smoking, an official entry in the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. He composed, directed, and performed in the musical short film, Naked: A Guy’s Musical, distributed by Shorts International, in 2007. He produced, co-directed, and composed the score for the short Harper Finch in 2014.
JB is an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Masters of Entertainment Industry Management program in the Heinz School of Public Policy and at GIOCA, a graduate program at the University of Bologna, Italy. JB studied Musical Theater at The Boston Conservatory of Music and The University of Michigan School of Music. He studied directing and acting at the University of California, Los Angeles Extension Program under Don Richardson. He is a member of the Producer’s Guild of America.
Leah Silberman has been with JB for seven years, and worked on Amazon’s hit film Sylvie’s Love and as an Associate Producer on Manifest Destiny Down: Spacetime. As Creative Executive she supports Nnamdi and JB overseeing development on all projects and servicing their first look deal with Amazon Studios. Leah graduated from University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music with high honors with a Bachelor of Science in Music Industry. Prior to USC, she attended Berklee College of Music as a Vocal Performance and Music Business double-major. As an artist, you can find her as Leah Capelle on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and all other music streaming and social media platforms.