Her high school photography class planted the seeds that were eventually going to bloom into an adventurous and fulfilling career as an underwater filmmaker. Jody's photography teacher steered her towards the Brook's Institute of Photography, complimenting Jody for her natural, photographic talents. Pesapane loved playing on the sea, but upon viewing a Brooks’ undersea video, Jody knew from that moment on how she was going to live her life. She would combine her love of the ocean world with her fledgling passion for the film arts. Pesapane wasted no time in preparing for her future.

She entered Brook's Institute and received her scuba diving certification in 1993. Three years later Jody graduated with a multimedia major. With her newly acquired degree, she set off for Australia where she spent six months working on boats, diving, traveling and filming sharks and marine mammals. Before returning home, Jody was really happy to have accomplished her goal: to produce a promotional shark reel that she could use to sell herself as an undersea media arts professional.

When asked why she is so attracted to the undersea world, Jody responded that it's an environment that is extremely challenging, very mysterious, and very surreal. Jody experienced all of these things while she was employed by the Discovery Channel to travel and film sharks three to five months out of each year for three years. Aside from continuing to work as a freelancer, media arts professional and diving instructor, Jody was also hired by a nonprofit, shark research institute operating in Honduras and La Paz, Mexico, as a guide for eco-tourists who were interested in having the experience of interacting with whale sharks. She also tagged sharks and presented slide shows and lectures to educate people about the importance of maintaining healthy whale shark populations for conservation reasons and also as a means to create a tourist industry that focuses on marine life.

With 2,300 dives under her weight belt since 1993 and half of those with sharks, Jody H. Pesapane is focused on the future to continue her own, two personal projects as a documentary film producer. The first film is about the history of abalone diving and the other film is about how people with spinal chord injuries can participate in the sport of scuba diving and not be dependent on any special adaptations. The ocean with its flotation properties acts as a healer for anyone, paralyzed or not, thus creating a sense of equality for all.

To view Jody's website, please go to www.liquidbluemedia.com