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Impacting World One Doc at a time - The Standard Journal


JTWO HIGHLIGHTED IN THE STANDARD-JOURNAL

In a recent article, JTWO’s Justin Jarrett is highlighted for his journey from producing the debut documentary “For Aaron” 15 years ago, inspired by the loss of high school friend Aaron Klinger, to the success of JTWO Productions. The spotlight is on their latest achievement, the award-winning film “The Carnival: 125 Years of the Penn Relays,” which delves into the history of the iconic sporting event, featuring legends like Carl Lewis and exploring the impact of breaking down racial barriers.


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JTWO's The Carnival headed to Beloit International Film Festival

Beloit Film Festival Laurel The Carnival JTWO

Our latest feature length documentary, The Carnival: 125 Years of the Penn Relays is headed to Beloit, Wisconsin for the 19th year of The Beloit International Film Festival (BIFF).

The Beloit International Film Festival was founded on the respect for, and celebration of, the filmmakers who share their art with us. They feature more than 100 international and independent films.


JTWO Video Production Company teams up with Sin City Classic Las Vegas

JTWO Teams Up with Las Vegas Sin City Classic

We are thrilled to announce that we are teaming up with Las Vegas Sin City Classic, the largest LGBTQ+ sporting event in the world! Sin City Classic celebrates diversity with 24 sports with 30+ events, 500+ teams, and 10,000+ athletes. This month, we will travel to Las Vegas to document the week’s event as part of our Projects That Matter Initiative.

As we embark on this exhilarating journey with Las Vegas Sin City Classic, we are not just partners; we are storytellers, capturing the heartbeat of an event that stands as a beacon of acceptance and celebration. Stay tuned for the magic that unfolds in the heart of fabulous Las Vegas.


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JTWO Celebrates a Successful 2023

JTWO Celebrates a Successful 2023


JTWO celebrates another amazing year of creativity, growth, and unforgettable moments! Check out some of our favorites clips from 2023!

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PROJECT DETAILS

As a leading video production company, JTWO embarked on an exhilarating journey in 2023, traversing the nation and creating unforgettable memories along the way. JTWO remains at the forefront of the film industry, delivering exceptional quality and creativity as a full-service production company. Our unwavering dedication to excellence opened doors to remarkable collaborations with extraordinary individuals.

Reflecting on the past year, we are filled with gratitude for the enriching partnerships, the lasting memories, and the steadfast support from our friends, family, and partners. 2023 stands as a testament to the power of storytelling and visual artistry. We extend our sincerest thanks to all who contributed to this thrilling adventure.

We are excited to begin another year of adventures and collaborations in 2024! Here’s to the continued journey of creativity in the world of video production!


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"SOCIALIZING" BY SIENNA BIGELOW

"SOCIALIZING" 


Director: Sienna Bigelow

Hailey Bennett is excited by the prospect of a new crush. However, her interest and curiosity quickly distort into an obsession that flourishes through her social media abuse.

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“Sienna Bigelow, a senior at Drexel University and aspiring sound designer, wanted to tell a relevant story through sound. Her interest in social media addiction and observations about digital obsessions led her to write a story about the issues with getting to know people through social media. It’s impossible to see the whole picture when people only show the parts of their lives they want people to see.” 

I can’t believe my first day at JTWO was three months ago. The time I spent in the office and on set flew by, but it was a blast! When the [INC]ubator project was introduced, I was at a loss and was struggling to come up with any interesting ideas that would be within the scope of the project. All I knew was that I wanted to do a narrative and use sound as a major aspect of the storytelling. I came up with an idea that I liked, but didn’t really know if I could effectively communicate what I wanted to say in 3-5 minutes. Afterall, I’m a sound recording student and this would be my first short film ever. After deciding my first idea wasn’t the one, I started thinking about frustrations and challenges in my life. At some point, I started considering social media and how I have a love/hate relationship with it. On one hand, it’s a great place to share life updates and see some of the cool projects people are working on. On the other hand, it can be a platform that promotes superficial relationships and allows people to show others their “good side” while not giving an accurate picture of reality. Along with that, social media is a great place to feed delusions, especially in my generation’s crush and dating department. While I also feed into it (unfortunately), I strongly dislike some of the ways we flirt and “meet” people through digital platforms (even though I, too, am guilty of this). Because of this, I wanted to write a story about how easy it is to let the delusions and obsession take center stage in our lives. 

I got my pitch approved (yay), wrote the script (good dialog is hard to write), and started the pre-production process (I was so out of my element). I wanted to film one scene in a cafe, so I had to go talk to cafe owners which was scary, but huge shout out to GFG (Greek from Greece) on Drexel’s campus for letting us use their space! I had to make sure I had all the gear I needed, then effectively communicate the schedule to everyone involved. I had to balance my perfectionist tendencies with the situations and trust my crew to do their thing (they KILLED it!!). I had to do a lot… Through this process, I learned that directing is not my passion. I love how everything came out, but I have no desire to do the planning and organizing and gear-gathering thing again. I was super happy with the results from the filming days and the footage I had to work with, but there was a lot of stress and responsibility involved in getting there.

Once I got into the post-production phase, I was a lot happier. Stress was still a constant because I really wanted the overlay graphics to look good and feel natural (I’ve seen a lot of cheesy-looking social media short films) but with my limited After Effects experience, I knew there would be a learning curve. I also started editing and cleaning up the dialog, which was more difficult than I’d anticipated. It took a lot of time, but I got the overlays to a good place, got the final footage cut to my colorist, and then exported it. Finally, I could finish up the dialog and start the part of the project I’d been looking forward to: the sound design… except it was Wednesday and our final short film presentations were on Friday. And I had finals for school. The next two days were a blur of working on different projects BUT at 5am on Friday, I exported the final cut of my project, the posters, and my presskit! Then I went to bed. 

I learned a huge amount about the filmmaking process and I’m so grateful for the experience I got at JTWO. I’m very happy with how my short film, “Socializing,” came out (although I might do a director’s cut and make a few minor adjustments to the sound design and overlay graphics) and I can’t wait to show it to friends, family, and the world! Everyone around me during this process was incredibly supportive and I don’t think I can adequately express my gratitude for their help. I had so much fun, met amazing people, and discovered a lot about myself during this process. It was time consuming and took a significant amount of effort, but my time at JTWO was truly an unforgettable experience. Thank you all!


MEET THE DIRECTOR

Sienna Bigelow is a sound designer and audio post production assistant dedicated to bringing media to life through sound. Alongside studying recording arts and music production at Drexel University, she has worked on a number of films including Sparkle: A Unicorn Tale, Rittenhouse Square, and others. She is passionate about connecting with viewers through audio and media, and strives to perform at the highest level on all of her projects.

This project was created as part of the JTWO [INC]ubator Project. A semester long internship program built from the ground up to give young filmmakers, content creators, and all around hungry for a challenge individuals a place to stretch their creative minds while preparing them for the road ahead.

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"REFLECTIONS" BY JENNA WALKER

"REFLECTIONS" 


Director: Jenna Walker

A girl is picking out her outfit for a party but talks herself out of options due to rising insecurities about being afraid of what people may think of her.

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“This film started with alluding to a moment that everyone has gone through at some point. You’re trying on outfit after outfit and it seems like nothing is working. The frustration builds and you end up going with the first option just because you assume you’re overthinking it. 

As a young woman in college I have struggled with the feeling of insecurity when it comes to my appearance. Being a young woman in general in today’s world is extremely difficult due to the unrealistic beauty standards that have been set by society. More specifically, I’ve found that college party culture has caused me to compare myself to my peers and stress about how I look. With this film, I wanted to aim to show how insecurities can affect such small moments in our lives an dhow something as simple as wearing an outfit is a step closer to overcoming those insecurities. it was important to me to have my subject appear to overcome her anxious thoughts once she is surrounded my her friends, to show that it really was all in her head and people around her think she is beautiful no matter what. 

I hope ‘Reflections’ will help young women embrace the reflection they see in the mirror, despite their insecurities making them believe otherwise”

As my time at JTWO has come to an end, I’ve gotten to reflect on all of the amazing experience I got to have and all of the valuable lessons I’ve learned. Coming into this internship, I was so excited to have this opportunity but felt extremely nervous and had major imposter syndrome the first few weeks. As time went on and I got comfortable in the office, I felt a new level of passion for production that I’ve never had before.

In just come semester, I’ve done so many things that have helped me grow into the person I am today. I can say I’ve been on three professional commercial shoots, two overnight shoots, appeared in a commercial (as an elf!), and got to write and direct my own short film which I am very proud of.

Like any new experience, there were challenges along the way. One of my biggest struggles was the post production phase of my project. There were times where I felt lost because I didn’t know how to do certain techniques needed to capture my vision. Thorugh taking a step back, asking questions, finding tutorials, and getting feedback from others, I was able to get to a place where I felt confident in my edit.

Through completing the [INC]ubator Project, I learned a lot about myself as an aspiring director. When struggling to come up with an idea, I feared that I was not creative enough for this field. I believed that I could only think of ways to enhance the ideas of others and not be able to connect with my own. It wasn’t until shooting day that I really fell in love with my idea and felt extremely motivated to make it look beautiful on screen. I feel that I have achieved my goals that I had set for myself when beginning this internship. I got a taste of directing something I am extremely passionate about and there is no better feeling than that. JTWO was an experience I will never forget and I am so grateful to have this opportunity.


MEET THE DIRECTOR

Jenna Walker is a third year at Temple University and an aspiring director. With the [INC]ubator Project being her first internship program, this will also be her first short film. Jenna has always been inspired by the art of filmmaking and is passionate about making lasting impacts on her audience. She is heavily involved with Temple’s television station, TUTV, where she is the director of the late night show “Temple Tonight.” Jenna has also held other positions within TUTV such as Assistant Editor for the talk show “We Need to Talk” and a News Brief Editor for “Temple Update.”

This project was created as part of the JTWO [INC]ubator Project. A semester long internship program built from the ground up to give young filmmakers, content creators, and all around hungry for a challenge individuals a place to stretch their creative minds while preparing them for the road ahead.

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"WHEN YOU PIRATE THE GAME" BY OLIVER HOUGH

"WHEN YOU PIRATE THE GAME" 


Director: Oliver Hough

A dark comedy surrounding three friends who decide to pirate Thursday night’s game. Unexpectedly, the consequences are fatal.

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” I decided to make ‘When You Pirate the Game’ to exercise my creative abilities and production skills and to grow stronger as a content creator and a creative. I am constantly fascinated by the mundane, day to day, experiences people share, and adding a surreal twist can often times reveal the ludicrously of human nature and society. Of course, I also just like to make people laugh. Exploring a dark comedy was a project I just had to take on and I will continue to work in this genre for future projects. There is humor to be found inall experiences and I hope to continue making art that reflects how I feel about this whole life thing”

I am writing this blog post on my last day at JTWO, in a couple hours we will premiere our final projects to the team, and then I will head home from the studio for the last time. I will truly miss coming to work after this is over. The bosses asked me either if I was sad with it all being over, being me I played it cool. In all honestly though, I am sad. I will miss telling Koda to quit yapping, talking about movies at lunch, and of course learning as much as I did about this industry. I have grown a remarkable amount throughout this internship. My understanding of each department and the production process has completely evolved since before this experience. I endlessly thank everyone at JTWO who game me a shot. In the four months I have interned here, we have gone to professional commercial and documentary shoots, created a sea of content (including the academy award winning “My Fellow Intern”, and of course, directed our own short films.

After this is all said and done I am going to keep doing what I have started here, making content. I’ll continue exploring my voice and utilizing the skills and tools JTWO have provided me throughout this time. I have so many ideas that did not become my final project that I would love to see through that continue in the surreal genre I took a crack at with “When You Pirate The Game”. I have made connections with artists all over Philadelphia throught this internship as well, which I am forever grateful for.

To my fellow interns, thank you for collaborating with me on ideas, pushing me to be my best, and of course the laughs. Working with you guys has been a blast and I am so excited to see what you do in this crazy industry.

Overall, this internship has reaffirmed the path I have chosen for myself. I never wanted to wear suits to work everyday and talk about margins at the water cooler. I just wanted to be around creative people, doing exactly that, creating. This internship has shown me that is possible.

As Playboi Carti once said, “I ain’t feel like this in a long time”.

Best wishes to everyone at JTWO, I hope we work together again soon.


MEET THE DIRECTOR

Oliver Hough aka Olliedawizard is a director and editor from Philadelphia. “When You Pirate the Game” is Oliver’s directorial debut. Oliver graduated from Temple University in 2023, studying media production. He has a wide array of credits, including mixing and mastering on multiple Bell Tower Record Label tracks, producing “The Cherry on Top” and now directing, writing, and editing, “When You Pirate the Game”.

This project was created as part of the JTWO [INC]ubator Project. A semester long internship program built from the ground up to give young filmmakers, content creators, and all around hungry for a challenge individuals a place to stretch their creative minds while preparing them for the road ahead.

Learn More

THE CARNIVAL WINS GRAND HONOR AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN MILAN


“ SPORT MOVIES & TV 202 3 – 40 th MILANO INTERNATIONAL FICTS FEST” 

140 screenings (including 32 world and European premieres), 4 meetings, 4 exhibitions, 8 connected events, 106 national and international guests and the 6th Paralympic International Movies & TV Fest

The Carnival directed by Justin Jarrett took home the GUIRLANDE D’HONNEUR at the FICTS Film Festival in Milan in the Sport & Society Documentary Category. The FICTS Festival is the World Final of 20 Festivals (around the 5 Continents) of the “World FICTS Challenge” Championship of Television, Cinema, Communication and Sport Culture and is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.


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JTWO's The Carnival headed to the BCN Sports Film Festival

BCN Sports Film Festival Selected

Our latest feature length documentary, The Carnival: 125 Years of the Penn Relays is headed to Barcelona for the BCN Sports Film Festival.


My Dear Hanna Wins Special Jury Award at Top Shorts Film Festival

Our short documentary My Dear Hanna from Director Matt Sullivan and and Award-Winning Executive Producers Justin Jarrett and Travis Capacete took home the Special Jury Award at the Top Shorts Film Festival, 2023.

“My Dear Hanna” is the story of forbidden love between the granddaughter of one of Hungary’s most renowned Jewish industrialists and a rising star of Hungary’s Foreign Ministry, a Christian who was defiant in the face of his country’s alliance with the Nazis. The depth of their enduring love story is told by their daughter who found a trove of letters more than sixty years after they were written.