Jon Alston (born June 4, 1983) is an American screenwriter, director, producer and former professional football player.

[2] Prior to filmmaking, Alston earned a football scholarship to Stanford University which led to a career in the NFL.

[3] Alston later graduated from Stanford with a degree in Film and Media Studies before matriculating at USC's School of Cinematic Arts.

He first played organized football in his freshman year of high school at Loyola College Prep.

[citation needed] Alston was selected in the third round (77th overall) of the 2006 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams.

However, longsnapper Jon Condo directly snapped the ball to Alston, who ran it for 22 yards on a fake punt play.

Against the Chargers, Alston garnered a career-high of 11 total tackles including 9 on defense and 2 on special teams.

[3] Alston cites the works of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell as influences on the film.

Red Butterfly is a postmodern romantic tragedy in the style of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet and Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream.