Biography | Jon Baas

Home

Biography

Filmography

Meet Jon

BIOGRAPHY :: Jon Baas

-

1980	I was born in Minnesota. My father (a former actor and theatre prop-maker) was studying to be a Lutheran pastor. My mother was a stay-at-home mom. I was the first child in my family, eventually becoming the eldest of six siblings -- three boys and three girls.
1984	When I was four years old, my father accepted a call to serve as the pastor at a Lutheran church in the small farm town of Union Grove, Wisconsin. It would be there, in the country -- surrounded by corn fields, rural roads, and open sky -- that I would spend most of my childhood.
1985	At age five, I started school -- kindergarten to be exact. I was a cheerful student, friendly, talkative and eager to learn. I also had a strong imagination, and a budding interesting in art.
1988	When I was eight, my family became part of the American Civil War reenacting community. We joined a Confederate group in southeastern Wisconsin. My father portrayed the unit's military surgeon, my mother portrayed a battlefield nurse, and I became the "little drummer boy". My siblings participated in character as well. Since realism and authenticity were an important part of historical reenacting (at that time), I soon gained a deep fascination with American history. I developed an interest in drums, percussion, and acting. I came to love the marching, camping in canvas tents, and the thrill of participating in live-fire battles.
1992	I loved living in southeastern Wisconsin, especially when it came to baseball. Like many young boys, the game became a passion for me. My father and I would drive north into Milwaukee, and attend Brewers games at the old Milwaukee County Stadium. I loved each opportunity, and I soaked up every minute of every game. On September 9, 1992, my childhood hero, Hall-of-Fame centerfielder Robin Yount, hit his 3000th career hit, and I was at the game when it happened. A year later, I wrote about the experience in a Minnesota Twins team essay contest, and won. Decades later, I am still a deeply devoted fan of the Milwaukee Brewers.
1993	In early January, my family moved from Wisconsin back to Minnesota. My father had retired from the ministry, and my parents chose to move to Minneapolis. The Twin Cities became my new home. For a small town country boy, it was a change that would take some getting used to. This was the year that I was in my first movie -- the baseball film, "Little Big League". I was 13 years old.
1994	In the fall, I enrolled as a freshman at St. Croix Lutheran High School in West St. Paul, Minnesota. It was here that my life-long love for art and acting came into focus. My professional future was starting to take shape.
1998	In the Spring of 1998, I graduated from high school. I had found the stage during my sophomore year (giving up my participation on the baseball team in the process), I won roles in most of the theater productions, and I had the opportunity to design, and build, some of the theater sets. I also gained recognition for my artistic contributions. I won a number of art awards, and I painted many of the large stage murals used by the theater department. When I graduated, an Academic Scholarship led me to Milwaukee, where I enrolled at Wisconsin Lutheran College.
1999	Wisconsin Lutheran was a small college -- roughly 750 students at the time -- but it had a great art department, and a promising young theatre program. I quickly became involved in both. A few months later, I had starred in my first college production -- the comedic, "All in the Timing" by David Ives, and I was well on my way to two more roles before the academic year came to a close. I eagerly buried myself in acting classes, I won first place in a regional art competition, and I worked in the college Admissions Office, recruiting prospective students into the theater and art departments.
2000	During the summer before my junior year, I returned home to Minneapolis. During this visit, I once again found myself in the movies. This time, it was the Hollywood film, "Sugar & Spice", starring James Marsden. When my junior year began, I returned to college and starred in the Arthur Miller classic, "The Crucible". I also started working as the graphic designer for the theater department, designing all of the promotional materials for each theater production. My promotional work was distributed around the country, and without realizing it, my professional career was off and running.
2001	During the second half of my junior year, I declared my major in art, while pursuing a minor in theater and acting. I continued to act on the stage, and I was cast in another film -- this time for NBC, a made-for-television movie titled, "In the Net", which aired across most of the United States in early 2002.
2002	This was my final year as an undergrad. I starred as Police Officer Welch in my last college show, the Neil Simon comedy, "Rumors". I put together the first gallery exhibition of my artwork, I continued designing for the theater department, and I worked in the campus library as a librarian's assistant. By Spring, I had officially earned my professional degree: a BA in Art. Upon graduation, I chose to remain in Milwaukee. I found an apartment, and was hired as a sales associate for a local Barnes and Noble book store.
2003	In early summer, I left Barnes and Noble and decided to become self-employed. My passions just weren't being satisfied in the book business, so I prepared to go the freelance route instead. Less than a month after leaving the store, I was cast in yet another Hollywood movie -- the Bernie Mac baseball film, "Mr. 3000". I spent a month working on the set, I met some fascinating people, and I even gained a little media attention.
2004	In the Fall, I starred in a stage production of the classic novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird", produced at Milwaukee's Sunset Playhouse. After over 20 performances, I officially wrapped production on my first post-college professional stage appearance.
2005	In 2005, I gained three more stage roles: Mr. Carrisford in a production of the classic story, "A Little Princess", the love-struck Florindo, in the 1750s Comedia del Arte production of "The Liar", and Edmund Swettenham in the popular Agatha Christie mystery, "A Murder Is Announced". On the art end of things, I had designed promotional work for theater/film companies, custom art for private clients, corporate logos, marketing materials, websites, detailed graphite portraits, and three pieces of commissioned art for a company that etched images into mirror and glass. This year alone, my artwork was printed, published, distributed, seen, and sold all over the world.
2007	This year, I decided to take things a step further. I launched Jon Baas designs, an online retail store featuring my artwork on a growing catalog of prints, posters, clothing, and housewares. I also gained the title of "entrpreneur" as I took on other creative projects along the way.
2008	In August, I moved to a new apartment in a suburb of Milwaukee. I also began dating my future wife -- Kelli. Although we rediscovered each other through mutual friends on Facebook, we had previously attended college together (for a short time) many years before.
2009	In January, I proposed to Kelli, and she said yes. We set a wedding date for summer 2010.
2010	In May, I starred in another professional stage show, "The Trip To Bountiful" -- a dramatic play by Pulitzer price-winning playwright Horton Foote. I played the male lead, Ludie Watts. In July, I married Kelli, and became a husband for the first time. A few days later, I moved out of my apartment in Milwaukee, and relocated 100 miles north to the small city of Brillion, Wisconsin. Kelli was the kindergarten teacher at the local Christian elementary school. I moved into her apartment, and settled into a new phase in my life -- once again, a resident of smalltown Wisconsin.
2012	Early in the year, I decided to branch out in my acting, and sought to establish myself in the area of voice-over work. I was soon cast in the online Star Trek audio series, Starship Excelsior. I also established a social internet series, "UFP: Starfleet Academy", which was set in the Star Trek universe, and retold the Dominion War from the perspective of those who worked at Starfleet Academy. This series gained popularity, as it made use of the social nature of a Facebook page to tell the story in real time (i.e., today's date being the same date in the future). At it's height, this series had a following of nearly 10,000 fans.
2014	Continuing my entrepreneur status, I refocused the format of my work, and began offering my creative services on the freelance website, Fiverr.com. By the end of the year, I had found my niche, and was building a brand for myself -- and others.
2015	In July, Kelli and I bought our first house. For the first time, we were no longer renters.
2019	In the early part of the year, I established a second social internet series, "USS Enterprise 1701-D" -- once again set in the Star Trek universe. This time, the story follows a creative alternate re-telling of the adventures of the USS Enterprise-D ("Star Trek: The Next Generation"), as told from the perspective of the officers who maintain the ship's Public Affairs office. Unlike my previous Domnion War story, this series has its own website, a deeper collection of resources, and a multi-year story goal. To date, this story also has a fan base of nearly 10,000 followers.
2023	In early summer, my wife took a call to teach at a different school, this time in Tomah, Wisconsin. We sold our house in Brillion, and moved across the state to start a new phase in our lives.
	If you would like to learn more about me, or what I do, please feel free to explore this website, read my blog (currently in hiatus), or follow me on social media -- facebook/jonbaas.