"POLO PRODIGY" BY SARA LATTA
"POLO PRODIGY"
Director: Sara Latta
Chamoinix EQ’s “Work to Ride” program is transforming Philly youth into elite polo players while teaching the skill of horsemanship. The program provides a safe haven for kids who would otherwise have no positive alternatives for after school. The stuents learn to work as a team to maintain the stables while building their self esteem, learning the meaning of teamwork and mastering a new sport. Mosiah (Mo) Gravesande has been apart of the program for 10 years and is now a graduating senior. He reflects on Polo and Work to Ride as a whole and how it has changed his life.
GO DEEPER
Philadelphia is known for the Eagles, Sixers, Flyers and Phillies – all prime time sports in this city. What if I told you that right in Fairmount Park, in the heart of West Philadelphia, there are kids learning how to play polo?
Chamounix Equestrian Center started their “Work to Ride” Program in 1994 as a community- based prevention program to assist urban youth in developing new skills and open their eyes to nature. The program’s vision is to create a safe haven for youth that are in inflicted by poverty and help them to develop confidence, self-esteem and develop skills for chosen activities.
The horseback riding would in the media, is dominated as a place for rich affluent white people in which you rarely see African American or other Persons of Color (POC) in these spaces. However, in the Work to Ride Program, POC are made to feel welcome, and in a place where they belong.
I started riding horses when I was 6 years old. I remember instantly connecting with them and asking my mom for a pony and telling her we could just keep it in our small backyards in the Bronx. Since I am a “city kid”, I didn’t have much of an opportunity to ride all year long. However, I was privileged enough to be able to go to camp ever summer and live out my farm girl fantasies. When I found out about “Work to Ride” I was instantly interested in the program and the kids stories.
Every film has their set backs or bumps in the road. Mine was that it was my first time directing and having a very small but mighty crew in order to bring my vision to light. Being a photographer, I’m used to being solo. It was a challenge having to explain my vision and trusting that it didn’t get lost in translations. That on top of it being my very first time editing/coloring a project this big. I am proud of the end results.
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Sara Latta is an up and coming Digital Media Creator based in Philadelphia, PA. She studied photography at Drexel University and recently decided to bring her visual style to film. With help from JTWO Films and her [INC]ubator project, she was able to bring her first film project to 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.
"IN MOTION" By Isabella Medina
"IN MOTION"
Director: Isabella Medina
Julia is an extraordinary person, full of ambition, determination, and kindness. She is currently a D1 rower at the University of Delaware, a sport she had never experienced before trying out for the team as a freshman. In her sophomore year, she was awarded a full-ride scholarship due to her outstanding performance.
GO DEEPER
Being a D1, D2, or D3 rower comes with a lot of mental toughness. Rowing is a sport that utilizes every major body part, your arms, legs, and abdomen. A rower pushes with their legs and pulls with their arms. Rowing requires extreme endurance, strength, and pain tolerance.
My best friend, Julia, is a D1 novice rower and hasprovided me with a variety of knowledge about the world of competitive rowing. This information has allowed me to approach my film project with a unique perspective. As someone with a passion for sports and documentaries, I am excited to explore the world of rowing through the lens of documentary filmmaking. I believe that by showcasing the struggles, sacrifices, and accomplishments of athletes, I can inspire my audiences and create a deeper understanding and appreciation for the world of competitive sports.
I am dedicated to telling meaningful and impactful stories that resonate with audiences, and I believe that this project will allow me to do just that.
Julia’s endurance, strength, and pain tolerance are exceptional, making her an impressive athlete. Julia’s story is poof to the fact that with determination and hard work, anyone can accomplish anything they set their mind to. I would like to honor Julia’s journey and showcase her extraordinary athletic abilities while inspiring the audience to never give up on their dreams.
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Isabella Medina is a dedicated Film and Media Arts student at Temple University, located in the Philadelphia, PA. After years of hard work and dedication, Isabella is finally set to graduate this May. Throughout her time at Temple University, Isabella has gained a variety of knowledge and practical experience in the film and media arts industry.
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.
"LAID OFF" by Nikai Morales
"LAID OFF"
Director: Nikai Morales
When a disgruntled employee is laid off via a mysterious letter that states their company is switching to AI labor, they decide to go fight their former boss for the job back.
GO DEEPER
Erin Walshe lives in unprecedented times. AI labor related layoffs have tanked the economy. Companies have let go thousands of employees using mailed red envelopes.
Then Erin loses their job, just after moving into a new apartment. They decide not to go down without fight. Erin goes into their hastily vacated office. It’s empty aside from the nepo baby who got to keep his job.
But, when Erin’s boss hears their plea. He tells them that there is one open position Erin could be perfect for. Erin is then given a position as a janitor to clean up the mess left behind from all the former employees.
The poster depicts Erin in their former office as red envelopes fall from the ceiling. I opted away from highlighting AI in the title as to not hint too much at the plot of the movie.
The dark red filter over the image references the color of the envelope and symbolizes anger and desire over the lost job. The envelope covering Erin’s eyes also inferences being blinded by anger and acting before thinking.
While searching for an adequate setting, the perfect office location seemed to allude us until reaching out to a non-profit organization that the director was affiliated with. They allowed us to film in their offices.
While on set, the motion sensors around the office would keep beeping anytime we moved in the lobby of the office which would be difficult for capturing sound. With a bit of gaff tape, we covered the motion sensors and stopped the beeping without accessing the system.
During our office shoot day, we sent Ben (Zach) to get lunch as he was done shooting for the day and we needed an extra hand. Ben forgot the director’s meal and drinks at McDonald’s. Instead of using the car to go get the food, he ran to McDonald’s to pick it up.
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Nikai Morales is a 23 year old director and artist based on the east coast. They’ve always had interests in varying media and the way it affects everyday communication. Through their master’s Nikai had the opportunity to pursue research in social media virality. Attempting to learn how it affects the perceptions of people who have gone viral and people who have seen viral content. Nikai has produced 4 short films, and is currently working on an independent feature. They aspire to create narrative stories about interpersonal relationships and how they’re affected by the digital age of communication.
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.
"TRY" by Alyssa Capitini
"TRY"
Director: Alyssa Capitini
Try is a short film based around a struggling relationship between brother and sister as the brother is battling episodes of depersonalization disorder. Try analyzes the familial struggle when a loved one is struggling with mental illness and also seeks to provide the audience an experience where they can understand what it’s like to struggle with depersonalization from the brothers perspective.
GO DEEPER
As my internship comes to an end here at JTWO, I am reflecting on all that has happened these past few months. I truly believe I am a different filmmaker from when I first started. However, I feel this in ways I did not expect. I’ve learned quite a bit on a professional scale of what it’s like to work under other creatives and learning how to take criticism as well as standing up for yourself when it’s necessary. I’ve also been challenged in positive ways to be a more intentional writer, director, shooter, and editor. I’ve gotten to dip my toes in each of these areas and realize where my strengths fall and what I enjoy most.
It was definitely a lot of preparation leading up to the shoot, and if I had to fix how I did anything it would have been to think through some of my shots and block the actors better. I believe this project is just the beginning to my career path whether I choose to be a director or editor.
My final project was a rewarding experience for me as I poured my heart and soul into the final picture. Writing has always been a daunting task for me but with this project I wrote a story close to my heart and with the help of JTWO I was able to hone in the story and think intentionally on how I wanted to portray it. Through every step of the way I had guidance on my editing, sound, and color choices which pushed me to become a better editor. My favorite part of the final project was getting to take my quality of sound and color to the next level.
It was definitely a lot of preparation leading up to the shoot, and if I had to fix how I did anything it would have been to think through some of my shots and block the actors better. I believe this project is just the beginning to my career path whether I choose to be a director or editor.
I will take everything I learned and continue to build off of it as I continue. I hope I never get too comfortable, because there is always something to learn no matter what stage of life you are in.
MEET THE DIRECTOR
I’m Alyssa, I am a digital creative, and I love all things video production! Whether that be directing, editing, or shooting, there is a story to be told and I plan to tell it. I love working on all different kinds of videos whether that be short films, commercials, documentaries…etc.
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 [INC]ubator Project - "Barre None" Wins 3 Awards
Barre None Steals the Show
This award season, a former intern of ours, Maria Cantu, completely stole the show! High on cloud nine with her documentary Barre None, the soon to be Temple graduate took home 2 Gold ADDY Awards for Best of Show and Best Cinematography under the student category, along with Best Student Documentary at the 2019 Louix Awards.
In her short documentary, Maria tells the captivating and beautiful story of a young ballerina who is able to push through the harsh realities and overbearing pressures of the dancing world with unconditional love for the art.
Having carefully developed the [INC]ubator Project for over 3 years now, we are overjoyed to see an outcome like this for an extremely deserving intern and look forward to what future years will bring.
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 "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.