As a cinematographer, producer and director, Jon Else has worked on hundreds of documentaries including The Day After Trinity, Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature and Last Call at the Oasis. He uses this expertise to direct the documentary program at the Graduate School Of Journalism at U. C. Berkeley. Among the many awards under his belt are an Academy Award, four Emmys, and several Alfred I. DuPont and Peabody awards.

Else received his B.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and his M.A. in Communication from Stanford.