Smile Now, Cry Later

Legendary tattoo artist FREDDY NEGRETE is best known for his pioneering black-and-gray tattoo style, honed while he was serving time in the Preston School of Industry correctional facility for a gang-related firearm incident in the 1970s. Freddy’s “joint-style” designs found their way out onto the streets of East LA and caught the eye of other body art pioneers, and, under the mentorship of tattoo legend Ed Hardy, Freddy created a “back piece” that earned him a Tattoo Artist of the Year Award in 1980. After a youth mired in gang life, bouts of drug addiction, and a ten-year period of renouncing his tattooing success in favor of bible study and becoming the pastor of his own church, Freddy eventually returned to tattooing in 1990 to find that he had become a tattoo superstar during the decade he had been away from the life. Freddy has been featured in the History Channel’s Marked series, in the documentary Tattoo Nation, on Spike TV’s Inkmaster as a guest judge, and in numerous print, online, and video publications. Having suffered the ravages of drug addiction for many years, Freddy is now also certified to work closely with young addicts at Beit T’Shuvah in Los Angeles, a treatment center based on Jewish spirituality and Twelve Step principles. Freddy lives in Hollywood with his son Isaiah, who is also a successful tattoo artist.

STEVE JONES is a commissioned screenwriter and playwright. His first play, Cracked Eggs, was staged at the Finborough Theatre in Earls Court, London; Jones later co-produced Cracked Eggs as a short film featuring Jared Harris (Lane Pryce in AMC’s Mad Men series), which screened at the Austin, Boston Underground, LA Shorts, and London Independent film festivals. Steve’s subsequent plays Baloopa’s Journey and Hero & Zero were awarded arts council grants in England, Austria, and Lithuania. Steve is a member of the Society of Authors, UK. (www.stevejoneswriter.com)