Jonas James Pate (born January 15, 1970) is an American screenwriter, director and producer. He wrote and directed The Grave, Deceiver, The Take, and directed Shrink.
Pate also co-created the USA Network series Good vs Evil, the NBC series Surface, and the Netflix series Outer Banks.
Early life Jonas Pate was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and is the twin brother of fellow filmmaker Josh Pate. Pate's parents divorced when he was young, and the siblings were raised through elementary school with their mother and step-father in Atlanta, Georgia, and through high school with their father and step-mother in Raeford, NC. He studied philosophy at Princeton University, and graduated in 1992.
Career In 1996, Pate started his career by writing and directing the thriller film called The Grave with his brother Josh. After a screening at the Sundance Film Festival, it received a wide range of positive reviews. The following year, they collaborated on the movie Deceiver. He subsequently co-created the fantasy action television show Good vs Evil (1999) alongside his brother. From 2003 to 2004, he served as co-executive producer on L.A. Dragnet, for which he also wrote an episode. In 2005, he co-created the science fiction series Surface, which aired until 2006.
As his filmography was already fleshing out, he took on several directing jobs on television series like Battlestar Galactica (2005), Bionic Woman (2007), Friday Night Lights (2007–2010), Chuck (2008), The Philanthropist (2009), Caprica (2010), Undercovers (2010), The Event (2010–2011), and Prime Suspect (2011). He continued his film career by writing the screenplay for The Take (2007). In 2009, he directed the independent film Shrink.
Pate is the director and executive producer on the Battlestar Galactica prequel entitled Blood & Chrome. He has also signed on to direct the independent crime drama film Way Down South, written by himself and his brother.
Pate is the co-creator and executive producer of Outer Banks for Netflix, a teen drama that premiered on April 15, 2020.
Personal life Pate currently lives with his wife, Jennifer, and two young adult children, Lilah and Cooper, in Wilmington, North Carolina.
In 2020, he was appointed by Governor Roy Cooper to the Governor's Advisory Council on Film, Television, and Digital Streaming.
His daughter, Lilah, has made several cameos on Outer Banks and several other Netflix and Amazon Prime Video series; such as The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer Producer 1996 The Grave 1997 Deceiver 2007 The Take 2009 Shrink 2013 Way Down South 2025 Driver's Ed
Television Year Title Director Writer Executiveproducer Creator Notes 1999–2000 Good vs Evil Wrote 3 episodes, directed 5 episodes 2003–2004 L.A. Dragnet Wrote episode "Abduction" 2005 Battlestar Galactica Directed episode "Colonial Day" 2005–2006 Surface Wrote 4 episodes, directed episode: "There's Something Strange Going on in the World's Oceans" 2007 Bionic Woman Directed episode "The Education of Jaime Sommers" 2007–2010 Friday Night Lights Directed 3 episodes2008 Chuck Directed episode "Chuck Versus the Sensei" Jen and Barb: Mom Life 2009 The Philanthropist Directed 2 episodes2010 Caprica Directed 3 episodes Undercovers Directed episode "Funny Money" 2010–2011 The Event Directed 2 episodes 2011 Prime Suspect Directed 2 episodes 2012 Battlestar Galactica:Blood & Chrome 2013 Deception Directed 5 episodes 2014 Believe Directed episode "White Noise", wrote 4 episodes 2015 Blood & Oil Directed 2 episodes 2015–2016 Aquarius Directed 7 episodes 2016 Good Behavior Directed episode "We Pretend We're Stuck"2017 The Arrangement Directed 3 episodes Chance Directed 3 episodes 2018 Iron Fist Directed episode "A Duel of Iron" New Amsterdam Directed episode "Every Last Minute" 2020–2026 Outer Banks Wrote 3 episodes, directed 30 episodes 2025 The Runarounds Wrote 6 episodes, directed 6 episodes
Music video Year Title Notes 2006 Best of Chris Isaak "Please"
Awards and nominations Year Title Category Title Result 1996 Mystfest Best Film The Grave 1997 Stockholm International Film Festival Best Screenplay Deceiver (shared with Josh Pate) 1998 Festival du Film Policier de Cognac Special Jury Prize
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