Work Featured on New Story's Website
Work Featured on New Story's Website
Global Community building charity organization, New Story has featured one of our latest Projects That Matter Initiative Collaborations with Redwood Gives Back on their website.
We recently travelled to Haiti with Redwood Gives Back to document their mission is to build life-changing homes for families that have lost their homes in Haiti. To help accomplish this goal, they have partnered with an amazing charity called New Story who has figured out a way to build simple concrete block homes with basic sanitation, running water and electricity for only $6,500. New Story has partnered with local organizations to secure land, hire local workers and build with local materials. So not only are they building homes for families, but also helping rebuild the economy and increase jobs for the Haitian people.
Every penny of the money donated through Redwood Gives Back to New Story will directly fund a new home. Even better, New Story will show us exactly which families we’ve helped once their new home has been fully constructed (which only takes a couple months). That means we’ll see the faces and know the names of the mom, dad, and kids we help.
To donate and watch the documentary, click the button below.
Interview with Director Justin Jarrett featured on Fundera
Interview with Justin Jarrett featured on Fundera
Our Director Justin Jarrett recently had the unique opportunity to talk about JTwo and his opinions on running a successful small business with Fundera’s Eric Goldschein.
In the interview, Justin was able to discuss strategies he’s employed to run JTwo and his feelings on how to sustain success when running a small business.
Click the link below to read the full article.
JTWO's Incubator Project Brings you "Up On Mic"
Directed by Daniel Foster
After years of doing stand up comedy, Erin Dohony has become a popular stand up comedian in the Philadelphia area. While shooting this documentary, I was able to capture her creative process, along with the inner workings of open mics.
Project Breakdown
For my Jtwo project I wanted to try something different and chose to do a documentary project on stand up comedy. The idea of using the format was enticing to me, because I had predominantly on worked on narrative short films. I knew immediately that I wanted to try something new and give the doc my own spin and trademarks in order to make it different and unique.
After pitching the idea to JTWOS Creative Director, Justin Jarrett with my idea, he was supportive but concerned that my project did not have enough meaning to it and would just be a by the numbers documentary with talking head. I took this criticism to heart and tried to find ways of using my shooting style and narrative approaches in order to make the film stand out.
I spent the next few weeks in pre-production, storyboarding, writing, and collaborating with my subject in order to ensure the project was both personal and insightful. I had my subject answer her questions prior to filming and used what she wrote to map out a storyline for the piece. I found music, tested out gear, found visual references, and worked hard to ensure that I was entering filming completely ready.
Luckily, I was able to find a few inspirations on Vimeo and youtube. Vimeo was highly influential in how I would approach the documentary format, while youtube had numerous clips and videos from films that had a similar surrealist approach.
With pre-production done, I rushed off to film Erins weekly standup at ortlieb’s. My goal was to explore the inner workings of stand up from the creative process of telling a joke, to the mindset comedians have on stage. I opened the doc with a surrealist approach. I created a soundscape prior and had Erin record her breakdown of telling a joke. I was very proud of the opening, because it set up the documentary well and had a throwback feel to early stand up. The art of stand up has always fascinated me, so the opportunity to explore it was incredibly exciting.
I recording Erin doing a few sets, then moved on to her talking head. This was one of the biggest stresses for me, because I didn’t want it to be a simple by the numbers talking head. While in pre production, i decided to use one of my favorite trademarks and have the subject talk directly to the camera. I feel talking directly to the camera creates a more personal experience and further developed a fly on the wall feel for the doc.
After filming completed, I moved on to editing. The edit started out fine, with much of my prior layout working well with what was recorded, but as I continued I soon realized it was taking on a much different feel. Erin had a lot of information that I struggled to fit into the three minute time limit. A Lot of the talking head dragged and felt unnecessary. I soon felt a little lost in my footage and struggled to find a way of getting the project into shape. After taking a long step back however, I remembered why I wanted to do this project in the first place. What goes through a comedians head on stage? How do you get a group of strangers to laugh? These questions were what I wanted to explore and soon retooled the doc to focus on those parts.
After editing for a few more days, I finished the project and couldn’t be more proud of it. It was fun trying out documentary, but also fun to see how easily a project can change from pre-production to filming. I wanted to try something new and couldn’t be more happy that I did. I now have my first documentary under my belt and am more motivated to try new storytelling techniques in the future with the medium.
Meet the Director
Daniel Foster is an independent Philadelphia Filmmaker., with a passion in narrative/sketch comedy. I enjoy explore social issues through humor and creating a dialogue on topics such as race and politics. I hope to use my sense of humor in order to bring awareness to various social issues that are apart of our everyday life.
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.
JTWO Featured in Philly Ad News Magazine
JTWO CELEBRATES BIG YEAR IN FILM PRODUCTION
Philly Ad News
Philadelphia based film production company, JTWO is celebrating its seventh and most successful year to date. With recent wins at both the ADDY & Louix Awards, JTWO continues to establish itself as one of the premiere full-service production companies in the city. Collaborating with Ad Agencies from New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, DC as well as producing their own original projects that have taken them as far as Haiti, Kenya, and India along with seemingly every corner of the U.S. their small but nimble production team continues to expand their creative reach.
In the past year alone, JTWO has produced national commercials, short documentaries, brand films and directed projects with NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, Olympic Gold Medalist Simone Biles and worked with clients such as Bacardi, ESPN, Comcast, NFL Films, Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Men’s Health, IBX and Walmart. They also continue to expand their Projects That Matter Initiative that works directly with both national and international non-profit organizations such as the United Nations, Responsibility.org and the YMCA to bring their stories to life.
JTWO Produces Healthy Delaware Commercial
Our team partnered with AB&C Creative to create a :30 television spot for HealthyDelaware.org. The spot was created to inform Delaware residents of the link between Diabetes and Cancer as well as to encourage them get screened.
Our production team was responsible for coordinating casting, storyboarding, securing locations and permits as well as the actual production and post-production of the commercial spot. The spot was filmed on location in Delaware at a local baseball field and state park.
Behind the Scenes
JTWO's Incubator Project Presents "The Studio Life"
Created by Jake Price
Just another day at JTWO.
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.
JTWO's Incubator Project Presents "Relapse"
Directed by Jake Price
JTWO’s Incubator Project presents “Relapse”, highlighting the struggles for those battling with sobriety. Substance addiction doesn’t go away with sobriety. Recognize when you or a friend are still struggling with addiction, even if it’s a different substance.
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.
Introducing the JTWO [INC]ubator Project
Welcome to the Deep End of the Pool
We are proud to announce the launch 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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JTWO's Incubator Project Presents "One Day at a Time"
Written & Directed by Valerie Genzano
A young female tries to keep it together while dealing with her college finals and her mother’s cancer diagnosis from 100 miles away.
Project Breakdown
Nora Ephron, an intern, and a project assignment walk into a blog.
My first week at JTwo felt a little rough for me. I was a little rusty while going through JTwo-U, made some mistakes, and learned things that were totally new to me. I was the last intern to start this summer, so I had to catch up on meeting the others and had to get used to the workflow. Now, by the start of my fifth week, I have found my rhythm. Every morning I visit my favorite coffee shop, and I start the day bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I have officially started working on a few projects and am now finished the ever feared intern project.
This wasn’t an easy road for me. It took a few tries to get the idea right. When I told Justin I wanted to do a mini-doc, he said, “You and everyone else.” I explained that I didn’t know if I had it in me to do another narrative piece – well, it turns out I did. When thinking up ideas, I turned to my personal hero and creative inspiration, Nora Ephron. Ms. Ephron consistently wrote about ideas she was connected to or had lived through herself. Her greatest inspiration was true life. So, I sat down, and I wrote a few drafts of a narrative piece about my life. (Not my whole life, of course, that would be a really long, boring movie about someone drinking too much coffee and watching a lot of Twin Peaks.) The last month of this past semester, the end of my junior year of college, someone very close to me was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I go to school a hundred miles away from home, was in the middle of finals, and had no way out. It was one of the hardest times in my life and I wasn’t really sure how to cope.
And so, given this opportunity, I decided to make a movie about a girl trying to cope with her mom getting cancer during finals. Slightly on the nose, but it was an exploration for me of myself and of my situation. On top of ending up with a completed project, I’ve ended up with a better understanding of myself and saw what I was enduring through a different lens than I had seen it through before. The process of filming was difficult, but thankfully I had an amazing DP (@ Maria) and a wonderful actress, Jenna Lam. They really understood where I was coming from and each of them added so much to my first idea.
The second problem I had was that I was too tied to my idea. I ended up with around an hour of footage that I had to cut down to around 3 minutes. My first cut was around 6 minutes long, and after Justin gave me feedback, I bit the bullet and cut it down to around 3 minutes. It’s hard watching some of my favorite shots go, but I think everything turned out the way it was supposed to. I ended up with something that means a lot to me and that I am very proud of. I’m grateful JTwo gave me the opportunity to make this, because I know I wouldn’t have otherwise. I learned a lot and now I can move on with the new knowledge and understanding of creating and of myself.
Going forward with my internship here, I’m so excited to see what I have the chance to do. I’ve already started working on some assignments here and there, but mostly I’ll be excited to focus fully on doing what I can to help the company. Cheers to the next few months, I can’t wait to see what’s accomplished while I’m here. Until next time!
Meet the Director
Val is an undergrad at Towson University studying Film and Art History. Her focus in film is Producing and Assistant Directing and she has a love for creating experimental films as well as narrative shorts. In the next few years she hopes to attend grad school in Philadelphia and find work in the fields she loves.
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.
JTWO's Incubator Project Presents "Operation Save Our City"
Directed by Austin Smock
After Roz Pichardo lost her brother in 2012 due to gun violence, she knew that she had to take a stand and combat this growing problem in Philadelphia. Her way of doing this was by creating Operation Save Our City, an organization dedicated to bring awareness and justice to families, who like Roz, have lost someone due to gun violence.
Project Breakdown
When talking with the guys from Jtwo about the summer internship, I was really excited when I learned that I will have the ability to create my own project within the first few weeks of being there. When it came time to start my project I immediately knew I wanted to do something under their Projects That Matter Initiative – a program that works directly with Non-Profit Organizations since my focus is documentary film.
I find myself very interested in projects that place me in situations that I would have otherwise not been exposed to, or know nothing about. I tend to focus on short form documentary with a cinema verite style. With all this mind, I usually begin searching google for articles about people in Philadelphia that are doing something in their community or for a story that really catches my
attention.
The process of getting my subject locked down wasn’t easy and it seems to never really be that easy. I was constantly researching potential subjects and reaching out to people, while not having much luck getting someone locked down. I kept pushing and eventually found my subject.
I have heard about Roz, from other subjects I worked with, but for whatever reason really never thought to try and pursue a project with her. After reading a few different articles and hearing tragic life story I knew that it was the project I wanted to create. Roz, was a victim of an attempted murder, lost her boyfriend at the time to gun violence, and years later her brother was murdered. After a short phone call with Roz, I knew instantly she was the subject I wanted my project to be about.
http://www.phillyvoice.com/wake-violence-call-save-our-city/
When I approached JTWO’s Creative Director, Justin Jarrett with my project idea, he liked the project, but wanted to see me try something different from the normal style that I roll with for my projects. I decided to use Roz’s interview more as a narration and using the visual’s than to illustrate the story Roz is telling. I also knew I needed to have compelling imagery because there would be no talking head throughout the video, so I immediately began researching films on vimeo that utilized the same style I wanted to go with for this project.
Vimeo is a great place to find references and I also find it very easy to find films that I like. Another great thing that vimeo provides, is the ability to add a video to a “watch later” list, which allowed me to constantly revisit the videos that I wanted to use as references for my project.
Since 2006, more than 14,500 people have been shot in Philadelphia.
At first I had scheduled two shooting days with Roz. The first day I would go with her to a motorcade that she was participating in, that was organized to bring awareness to gun violence. I shot quite a bit this day, but was also really focused on doing a bit of pre interviewing so I was 100 percent ready for the day I would do the interview her. A few days later I would be filming the interview with Roz and the rest of the broll. Due to the days I spent researching references and working on pre-production I went into this shoot day knowing what I wanted. We went to the location where her brother was murdered, her brother’s gravesite, shot the interview and then shot some broll around her house. After reviewing my footage, I realized I needed more that would really illustrate what she is saying throughout the video. Luckily, there was an event happening the following week where families would lineup on the art museum steps with photos of someone they have lost to gun violence. After capturing this event I knew I would have what I needed to complete the film.
I got back to Jtwo and immediately started editing my project, I had shot a majority of this project in 60fps and right away made the decision of having most of my broll in slomo. I felt it gave this angelic feel that really worked well with Roz’s story. I also decided to use music that wasn’t overpowering and distracting when watching the video. I decided to open the film, with the footage of her brother’s murder and then eventually bringing the film full circle with Roz speaking about the creation of her organization.
The editing process is something I struggle with, mainly because I get married to certain things that really do nothing for the video. I found that the time I spent of pre-production really helped make the editing process much easier. The second I had all of my selects and interview cut I knew how I wanted to edit the video together. This was also the first time I would be implementing statistics into a video and this was something new for that I was skeptical about at first, but it proved to add a really nice touch to the video. Overall, I this project showed me the importance of being open to trying new things and the potential benefits they can provide.
This project was a great experience that really showed me how crucial pre-production is if you want up your chances of creating a successful project. After the completion of this project, I realized it is good to try new techniques because it is a great way to grow as a filmmaker. This project was a great way to kick off the internship and I can’t wait to get started on my next project.
Meet the Director
Austin Smock is a Philadelphia based film-maker with a passion for creating documentary films. I love exploring new places and the people that inhabit them. Through my work I hope to give voices to people that are usually left without one and showcase people that are fighting for social change.
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.