John Roberts was born on March 16, 1914, in Massachusetts. From an early age, he took an interest in the production of motion pictures and started taking 16mm films as a hobby when he was 15 years old. After high school and preparatory school, at his father’s suggestion, John worked an office job at the United Shoe Machinery Corporation. He worked here for over three years, but eventually chose to quit to concentrate on making films. He started showing his films to small clubs, usually for free, and doing paid videography work, such as weddings. In the late 1930s, John took up an interest in making ski films and made several advertising films for New England resorts. When the war came along, John was assigned to the Signal Corps Photo Center on Long Island, where he completed the basic course in motion picture. He was then sent to Wright Field to help make training films for the Air Force. During this time, John had the opportunity to work in the camera department, rear projection, sound, and eventually in production. Eventually, John was assigned as a motion picture instructor at the training school, where he served out his army time. Once discharged, John was sent to the Near East by Lowell Thomas to make a complete 16mm film for the Near East College Association. This project culminated in a one-hour film that was narrated by Lowell Thomas. In 1948, John went to Switzerland to cover the Winter Olympics and to make a ski film, where John met Clayton Ballou, who assisted John in the editing of the film. They worked as a team from that point forward. In 1950, John and Clayton travelled West to cover seven of the Major ski areas for another ski film. The film was well received, but they decided that the market for ski films was too limited, and they gave up making ski pictures. Being unknown and with no capital, John and Clayton struggled to get work. But they continued and began to experiment doing their own sound using a Magnacorder. It was around this time that they put together a 30-minute color short of Andrea Mead Lawrence, and titled it “Born to Ski”. After the success of “Born to Ski”, John and Clayton started on a television series titles, “American Profiles”. They completed 13 episodes that were 13-minute life-story capsules of interesting people. But with the quick growth of television, Clayton and John were not able to keep up. While producing “American Profiles’, John also worked on several assignments for Lowell Thomas. He spent several months with Lowell Thomas, Jr. in Persia, and then joined with Lowell Thomas Sr. for the first leg of their trip into Tibet. But John did not get a permit to enter Lahasa, so he returned to the United States through the Pacific so he could make films for Lowell Thomas in Calcutta, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Macaoe, Japan, and Hawaii. The following year, John went with Lowell Thomas Sr. to Alaska to film the work of the Juneau Icecap Research Project. In 1954, Clayton Ballou and John Roberts produced the full-length 16mm Cinemascope film for the lecture field called “Filmorama Adventure”. Filmorama road-showed with a lecturer coast to coast and was a great success. After the success of Filmorama, Clayton and John decided to make several more similar shows, adding live sound and interviews. Together, they formed Associated Film Producers Inc., and made their first film on New England, titled “This is New England”. They went on to make 18 more travel documentaries and produced commercials.