Simon Tarr made his first movie at the age of eight. The strip of film was fashioned from sandwich bags taped together, with spaceships drawn on it. The projector was a shoebox with a lamp in it, the lens was a magnifying glass on the end of a toilet paper tube. The film premiered on the wall of his bedroom, where the film melted after a few seconds.
Since then, Simon Tarr's films have been screened on every continent (yes, even Antarctica) in hundreds of film festivals.
Tarr has taught cinema production at Ithaca College. He has served on the Board of directors of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers, and as a Trustee of the University Film and Video Foundation.
He has been guest editor of the Journal of Film and Video, (Harvesting the Surface: Handcrafted Film at the Turn of the Centuries).
He presently teaches at the University of South Carolina.