1978 - J.Wiltz is conceived in Hawaii during his parents’ second honeymoon.
1979 - J. is born in Biloxi, MS, on May 25.
1987 - J. receives his first writing award (a sticker) after penning a Halloween poem entitled “Fright Night”.
1988 - J. begins work on his first screenplay - “a Godzilla-esque monster movie about a creature that shoots toxic butter from its hands” – at the age of 9. Sadly, funding for the project fails to materialize. The film goes unmade.
1992 - J. takes first place in a writing contest sponsored by the Modern Woodmen of America.
1993 - J. enters high school and becomes a founding member of the Victims of Small Town Boredom, a sketch comedy group made up primarily of J. and his friends. Over the course of the next four years, the VOSTB make a number of “camcorder classics”, including: a monster movie trilogy, a foul-mouthed children’s show, a mock-Hong Kong action flick about a clumsy ninja, and the tragic fairy tale Little Prep Riding Hood. During this time, J. also writes for the Sun Herald (South Mississippi’s leading newspaper) and Indian Etchings, a school publication. He contributes the introductions to his father’s two collections of Cajun humor (Pelican Publishing).
1995 - J. meets Crystalynn “Cryssie” Billings in early March. Over time, the two develop a complicated friendship and Cryssie comes to play the role of confidante, critic, personal historian, and muse. During the summer, he forms the Brass Tacks - self-proclaimed “greatest garage band this side of the Potomac” – with close friend Michael Lujan. Recordings of their songs remain in circulation on the Biloxi indie music scene to this day.
1997 - During his senior year, J. is president of the Biloxi High School Drama Club. He is voted Wittiest by his graduating class.
1999 - J. enrolls at the University of Mississippi and pursues a degree in English.
2000 - After spending a semester in the dorms, J. moves into the legendary Apartment 86 with friends McLean Anderson, Nat Bomar, and Garrett Magee. Apartment 86 Productions is formed and a new series of films (including the cult classic “Powerwalkin’” featuring Oxford legend Jim Ciscell) is launched. In April, he makes headlines after faking a wedding engagement with his friend Wendy Bell.
2001 - In February, J. takes first place in a Worst Dating Story writing contest sponsored by DIPUC.COM and is awarded a trip to Phoenix. Upon his return, he begins serious work on Pink. During the summer, he becomes the chief writer and co-host of WUMS Radio’s award-winning Keith and J. Show and writes the short play “Do Not Collect $200”.
2002 - “Do Not Collect $200” is performed for the first time as part of Oxford, Mississippi’s Double Decker Ten-Minute Play Festival. The script is published as part of the play anthology Ten Minute Plays from Oxford. J. begins writing a weekly column (“A Day With J.”) for The New Standard, an alternative campus newspaper edited by Keith Sisson of Y’all Magazine.
2003 - The script for “Do Not Collect $200” is used as a screenplay for the independent film Exile (Nautilus Films). J. graduates in May and moves to New Orleans.
2004 - J. takes first place in the Roald Dahl Sequel Writing Contest sponsored by the Australian website: www.roalddahlfans.com. “Do Not Collect $200” is performed by the University of Vermont and a theater group in Pennsylvania.
2005 - Four years after its creation, Pink is produced by Kelly Barry and Gregg Jones of Sweeters Productions. It is made into a full-length independent film, which J. directs. In August, Hurricane Katrina strikes New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, forcing J. to uproot himself and settle back home in Biloxi.
2006 - A high school in Palos Verdes, CA, performs “Do Not Collect $200” as part of the Fullerton College Drama Festival. They take 2nd place out of about 140 entries. JWILTZ.COM is officially launched.
2007 - "Do Not Collect $200" is performed by a number of high schools throughout California. In April, it is staged by the Bishops School as part of the California State Thespian Conference. It takes top honors in the "Scene" Division and is performed in front of over 2500 thespians, making it the play's most successful performance to date. In July, J. is hired to work as a writing instructor in the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University in New Orleans.
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