John Sotolongo spent his boyhood constantly on the move, his early years finding him coaching football and later opening a chain of DVD stores to embrace his early passion for movies. He finally settled on the idea of making a docu-drama film about football, combing his two passions. John sold out his stores to purchase a movie-making arsenal. While in pursuit of a script, he developed a working relationship with cinematographer Roger Budge and film director Shawn Welling. Sidetracked from the football film idea with a unique opportunity to test out his newly purchased grip truck, full of every Indie filmmakers dream, the three set out on a new filmmaking venture.
ONE YEAR LATER, WITH HIS FRIENDS BUDGE AND WELLING, HE COMPLETED THE MESSENGER (360 DAYS OF BOLIVAR) (2009), A FEATURE-LENGTH DOCU-DRAMA, CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON AMAZON INSTANT VIDEO. SOTOLONGO'S NEXT PROJECT WOULD BE HIS FIRST NARRATIVE FILM, ALTHOUGH BASED ON A TRUE STORY, "PROJECT AETHER," (2011) A MULTI-AWARD WINNING CONTROVERSIAL SCIENCE FICTION FEATURE. CREATED AGAIN BY THE TRIO OF WELLING, BUDGE, AND SOTOLONGO, JOHN STEPPED IN TO PLAY THE LEAD, A TOUGH, TIME-HARDENED FBI AGENT. JOHN WOULD RETURN TO FILM WITH THE CHRISTMAS ROMANTIC COMEDY SHORT "LOVE FOR ALL SEASONS" (2015), AND RETURN TO PLAY AN FBI AGENT IN THE FILM "TOXIN: 700 DAYS LEFT ON EARTH" (2016).