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Brian Jude grew up in the '70's and '80's in the Jersey Shore area, then moved to northern New Jersey to attend Montclair State University, where he studied broadcasting, with minors in music and film.
When Brian completed college he began working on a variety of independent films. He soon worked his way up the production ladder into production office coordinator, A.D. and production manager working on a variety of independent films, commercials and music videos.

After several years, Brian decided it was time to do his own thing. He had been working on a screenplay called "Ride with the Dragons ," an '80's heavy metal homage to "American Graffiti" and "Dazed and Confused." The story was based on his senior year of high school, during which his step-brother, who was three days younger than him, had been killed in a car accident less than two weeks after his best friend committed suicide.
In 2001, his friend Richard Legon helped launch their production company, Dragon Rider Productions. They entered the script into the 2002 IFP Market, trying to shop it around to various producers, financiers, investors and distributors. "It was a great learning experience," says Brian. " However, we ended up learning the hard way that you should NEVER pay someone to raise money for you who can't even pay their own phone bill."
Brian and Rich soon came to the realization that the best way to really get the film made was to do it on their own terms. But in order to do so, they needed to rethink their approach, put "Dragons" on the shelf for the time being, and go after smaller, simpler projects. Brian began producing commercials, industrial videos and webcasts to keep the company running, while developing low-budget feature scripts and working on short film projects.
In 2002, Brian helped to form Exit 131 Productions. Within six months, three shorts were produced, "A Taste of Better Days," which Brian directed and cast his wife, Melanie Canter, as the leading lady, "The Interview," and "The Collector's Item," which Brian produced. Exit 131 has since evolved into an online networking outlet for New Jersey filmmakers. Brian is the moderator for the organization's Yahoo Groups and MySpace sites.
Through Exit 131, Brian met Jesse Kaye. Jesse asked him to produce his short, "Cruel to be Kind," in which Melanie also co-starred.
In 2004 Brian co-wrote, produced and directed a short called "The Last Days of Frank Whyte," co-written, produced by and starring Franklin Correa. After an extended

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