Jamin Winans (born December 4, 1977) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is known for his short film ''Spin'' (2005) and feature films ''11:59'' (2005), ''
Ink
Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...
'' (2009), '' The Frame'' (2014) and ''Myth of Man'' (2025).
Early life and education
Winans was born in
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...
, and moved with his family to Denver, Colorado when he was five. Later moving to nearby
Evergreen, Colorado
Evergreen is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated town, a post office, and a Census-designated place, census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Jefferson County, Colorado, Jefferson County, Colorado, U.S. The CDP is a part of th ...
, he attended Bergen Elementary, and began making movies with pieces of string and cardboard at age 10. In an extended interview with Jason Heller of ''
Westword
''Westword'' is a free digital and print media publication based in Denver, Colorado. ''Westword'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...
Columbia College Hollywood
California College of ASU (Arizona State University) is a private college in Los Angeles, California. Until 2023, it was known as Columbia College Hollywood. It is one of only 20 film institutions in the United States that have been awarded fu ...
in Los Angeles before dropping out and pursuing filmmaking in Colorado.
Production company
Winans created Double Edge Films in 1998. Winans plays various roles in each film, most significantly as writer, director, and editor, and more recently composing scores; his spouse, Kiowa Winans, is intimately involved with the effort, in roles as producer, but also in art direction, and sound and costume design. Jamin Winans began showing
shorts
Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...
at film festivals around the U.S. in 2001.
Film career
Winans made his first short film, ''Blanston,'' (2003), a film depicting four people trying to pull an insurance scam on the company they worked for. His next, a short called ''The Maze'' (2003), is about a physicist trying to understand the science of the universe. Next, Winans released ''Spin'' (2005), the story of a DJ trying to fix a chain of events unfolding a city's downtown area, a film that has won multiple film festival awards, including Best Live Action Short and The Bruce Corwin Award at the 2006 Santa Barbara Independent Film Festival (and has >15 million hits at ''YouTube''). His first feature, ''11:59'' (2005), portrays a photojournalist trying to remember what happened in the last twenty-four hours of his life, and premiered at the 2005
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019. a film portraying the struggle of a father trying to save his comatose daughter, who is floating between dreams and nightmares. In the first week of its release, "Ink" shot into the Top 20 movies on IMDb due to being heavily pirated on peer-to-peer networks.
His next film, a 5-minute short, ''Uncle Jack'' (2010) relates the story of a desperate fugitive trying to narrate a bedtime story has several hundred thousand clicks on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.
In late 2014, Winans released his latest feature film, '' The Frame,'' which he wrote, directed, edited, and scored. "The Frame" is about two strangers colliding in an impossible way - taking on the very root of fate, destiny, and their own existence, they race through a maze of an ever-changing universe while being pursued by a demonic man determined to erase the world.
Winans released his first documentary "Childhood 2.0" in 2020 about the impacts of social media on children. A new sci-fi fantasy narrative feature, "Myth of Man" was announced on the Double Edge Films website, releasing worldwide on March 25th, 2025. In addition to films, Winans also works on commercials.
Musical composition
Winans also composes music for original film scores. Winans composed the musical score for ''
Ink
Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...
'' (2009), and his song, ''The City Surf'' from ''Ink'' was used in the 2011
Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...
wildreness survival film, '' The Grey,'' in conjunction with a score composed by
Marc Streitenfeld
Marc Streitenfeld (born 1974) is a German composer of film scores. He has frequently collaborated with director Ridley Scott. Streitenfeld has composed the music for many high-profile Hollywood features as well as critically acclaimed independent ...
''.''
Filmography
Short film
Feature film
Personal life
Winans is married to production collaborator Kiowa Winans, a native of Colorado whose family was originally from New England.