JTWO's [INC]ubator Project brings you "Park Avenue"
GO DEEPER
I always wanted to tell stories that mattered, and I feel like I was able to do exactly that here. I pitched the idea of creating a short documentary about a prison reentry center, which essentially helps people adjust back into society after getting released from incarceration. It started off slow. The initial reentry program that I was going to base my film around conveniently bailed on me the day after the pitch. After running around Philly like a chicken with its head cut off trying to find another reentry program to focus on, I ran into The Center for Returning Citizens (TCRC). I was put in contact with a man named John Thompson who was a current employee at TCRC and had been incarcerated. I knew I wanted to include him talking about his life, wrapping up with reentry programs helping released prisoners.
After we established a date to meet up in person and film, I decided I wanted to take John to the neighborhood he grew up in. He told me it was going to be his fourth time back in his old neighborhood since being locked up for 37 years. Other interns, Chris and Viveka, joined me to help create the film. We began the day with an interview at his office. I chose not to record video the interview to avoid ever using any “talking head” footage (this was a questionable choice, but I’m glad I made the decision). I believed that it would take away from the story. After the interview, just shy of 50 minutes, we began to film him in his office, in Center City and finally in his old neighborhood in North Philadelphia.
As we filmed, I was able to talk to John 1-on-1 more about what it was like for him to grow up, serve time and now help people who are released from prison as well. We connected and I learned to appreciate his story and his personal growth. After we said our goodbyes, we gathered our last bit of broll of Philadelphia to move onto the next phase; editing.
My first cut of the film that I showed to JTWO was five minutes long. That didn’t go well. There was a cycle: I got feedback, I improvised my own edits, my improvisions didn’t work, got more feedback, made more improvisions, improvisions still didn’t work and repeat. Eventually I ended up at a 3 minute 22 second cut that myself and the company agreed on. I created 18 different sequences on premiere and spent the last week staying after and coming in on my day off until the cut was done. It’s just part of the grind.
In the end, I am happy with the outcome of my project. I was able to capture an important story of someone who was given a second chance and able to turn his life around. These are the stories that I want to tell, and I was glad I was able to do exactly that through this internship.
Overall, this has not been what I was expecting. The whole time we were all very handsfree and on our own to complete our projects (minus the times we showed cuts and got feedback on our films). Everything was in our control and I was happy about that because it allowed us to be the creators that we are. I already want to get going on the next.
What’s next for me is working with JTWO on their sets and learning more about their style of filmmaking. I was able to hop on one set already and it was a great experience. I loved to see how everyone interacted with each other and how even with a small crew, a high quality piece was created. After this summer ends, I’ll be able to go back to college confident with new experiences under my belt that only help me grow as a filmmaker.
Meet the Director
Jordan Brown is a filmmaker from Lebanon, Pennsylvania who is passionate about social justice. He creates narrative and documentary films that address issues across the spectrum. Jordan is currently studying film at Ithaca College and plans to write and direct his own films which he considers to be realistic fiction.
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.
Credits
Director – Jordan Brown
Cinematographer – Chris Tocchet
Sound – Steven Layton
Story Supervisor – Omar Alqahtani
PA – Viveka Galindez
JTWO's [INC]ubator Project Brings you "Dibs: Solving the Problem of Waste in Colleges"
Solving the Problem of Waste in Colleges
by Derrick Kim
Upon knowing that I had to create a project for my internship, I immediately had an idea in mind. After watching a lot of the previous intern projects, I knew I wanted to do something under the Projects That Matter initiative. Right away, I thought about my friend Ken and a project he’s been working on to reduce waste in colleges. This project is called Dibs.
Over the next couple days at JTWO, I spent a lot of time working on my pitch. I read over Dibs’ project development documents as well as Haverford College’s blog posts that spotlighted my friend Ken. I slowly began writing up the vision I had for telling Dibs story. For inspiration, I watched a lot of videos from Great Big Story, Vice, and Vox. With everything put together, I pitched my idea to Justin and got it approved. Justin gave me some suggestions regarding a good way to pose the initial question of waste within colleges.
The next couple days were focused on the logistics. I rented out equipment, planned out shooting days, confirmed actors, and all that good stuff. Now here was the hardest part. Finding shooting times with my friend Ken and Ahmed, the co-founders of Dibs. As full time students, there was almost never a time where our schedules overlapped. When I was free, they weren’t. When they were, I wasn’t. It was the most difficult part of this whole project, since our availability was so limited. In the end, we made it work. I also have to give a big shout out to Omar for helping me with audio throughout the interviews.
Editing was probably the most rewarding part of this project. Through a lot of trial and error, and mixing and matching, I created a flow I felt told the story well. Once it was finished, I showed Justin and received good feedback. He told me the story was good and gave me minor suggestions on how to make the video more professional. For example, since I used white for my fonts, it was hard to read when it overlapped onto Ken’s shirt in one of the interviews. Justin suggested I use a drop shadow, something I had never heard in my life. He also told me that a good rule of thumb for words on screen is around four seconds. I incorporated his feedback and finalized my intern project.
Overall, I am extremely satisfied with the final result, especially given the time limitations with school, midterms, the lack of my friend’s availability, and more. With this project, I’ve improved so much in regards to production, storytelling, and editing. I’ve looked back at this final cut, and said to myself, “Wow, I actually made this”. Not only was this a rewarding experience, but it was one that tested my limits and ability as a filmmaker/storyteller. In a sense, Ken was my first client. The best part was seeing Ken’s reaction when I showed it to him. He couldn’t stop watching it, and thanked me a million times for my help. Thanks JTWO, for giving me this opportunity to tell his story.
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 [INC]ubator Project Brings you "Safe Sex Now"
Safe Sex Now
by Omar Alqahtani
I went through a lot of ideas when deciphering what to pitch to Jtwo for my first film made under the Incubator Project. My first idea got put down because it involved smashing Justin mug. Also it might be because the idea was not very well thought through. But, sometimes it’s more fun to live in denial. After the failed pitch I became a lot harsher on myself when coming up with ideas. I shut down some fun ones like, involving intense, slow-motion, homoerotic baseball, or a dramatic mockumentary about razor scooters. I eventually settled on a comedy about chlamydia. I was a little iffy on the concept at first, but the pitch went through without many questions asked, so I decided to run with it.
I spent 1 day writing the script, and three days fixing up the typos. I was able to cast it pretty quickly, but got a little nervous because I didn’t really have time to rehearse. The short required the actors to react to each other in real time while in different locations, but also needed to feel lightweight. Getting that kind of timing and tone correctly seemed like it was going to be a daunting task, but I was lucky enough to surround myself with lighthearted people, that picked up on the tone pretty quickly, and were nice enough to listen to me agonize over minor line delivery.
We were able to have a light and fun shoot. It felt more like I was hanging out with friends than it was an actual shoot. In the end, I was able to capture all the footage that I wanted, but I still had this little nagging feeling that it wouldn’t work. The shoot went too well, I’m still not sure whether the scenes were timed 100% correctly or not, and it was kind of a weird concept with a weirdly planned execution. I kept thinking about every single way the edit could come out wrong.
Turns out, none of the things I was worried about became true. The problems that unraveled were ones I didn’t really think about. My first cut came out a little dull. Even with all the funky editing tricks I tried to use it still felt a little dead. When I showed my first cut to Justin, he suggested I find a way to get rid of all the negative space, maybe use some colors here and there. “Use some color” was the advice I carried when re-editing the movie. Other than the colors in the background, I tried to add little bits of life in every part of the video. Scene too quiet? Put in some music. Joke isn’t landing? Maybe if I cut between two background colors. Hospital scene a little dull? How about I add a frame of a literal pool of blood and some horror synth. I still wanted the short to feel breezy and deadpan, but adding little bits of life here and there, if done cleverly, can enhance the tone of a film rather than detract from it.
I understand that “less is more”, but sometimes, “more is more”, and other times “more makes less feel more like less”, and sometimes but rarely “less is less than more but more is less so less becomes more than what you wanted”. Art isn’t a science, add some color and see what happens.
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 Welcomes Omar Alqahtani
The Good Kind of Stress
by Omar Alqahtani
I was filming my first narrative short outside of a 7/11. One of the characters was smoking a cigarette. We were stopped by a couple of strangers asking saying that they did not have cash for cigarettes but they had a personal bottle of Grey Goose that they didn’t want. I was 19 at the time so I was pretty excited.
While working on a different movie, I called a casket supplier to ask for permission to film at his store. There was a scene where a grandma has to pick out a casket and I wanted it to be as visually compelling as possible; caskets hanging up on the wall felt like they would get the job done. The owner of the store was actually really cool about the whole thing. He gave me a tour around his little factory. He showed me his patented casket technology for people who only want to rent caskets, he explained to me how different types of caskets work, he even showed me how bodies get cremated. He has this giant machine that just sets bodies on fire for several hours. He showed me a can of ashes with leftover body modifications, such as braces, metal teeth, metal bones. It was all wonderfully morbid, but by far the weirdest part of that whole interaction is that he did not seem to mind my pretentious man bun.
For one short summer I worked with online media content company, so they send me on all kinds of weird prop runs. One time was especially different. They sent me out to carry a $10,000 chair through the busy streets of Manhattan. They half-assed the wrapping of the chair and made it my responsibility to return it without any scratches. I’m a pretty clumsy guy, and I did not want them to know that, which led to the most stressful 10-minute walk of my life. It was only 4 blocks, but it felt like 27.
All of those experiences lead to recorded moments on video. I would plug all those experiences onto a computer, and I would have to reappropriate all those memories to create a compelling narrative. To me, this is the beauty of filmmaking. The fact that the making of a narrative is a story within itself. Yes, for the audience, the narrative o the screen is completely divorced from the experiences that formed it, and for the sake of the art, it should be that way. However, the making of a movie leaves me with a lot of stories that I get to carry with me, and be able to tell my friends, family, maybe even grandchildren. I can’t think of many other professions that leaves you with so many stories to tell. That’s why I chose this profession. That’s why I took the internship 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 Welcomes Derrick Kim
An Unlikely Path to Film
by Derrick Kim
If someone told me three years ago that one day I would be interning for a film production company, I would’ve laughed at them. Growing up in the Los Angeles area, I always had a passion for sports as a kid. I played one year of AYSO soccer and then absolutely fell in love with baseball through Little League. In fact, in first grade, my dream was to become a professional baseball player for the Dodgers. My love for baseball continued to grow until it hit me. Literally. I got hit in the face with a baseball and fractured my nose. It really sucked and I stopped playing.
However, in middle school I discovered that I was really good at volleyball where in 8th grade, I lead my team to its first ever league championship. I was hungry for volleyball and moved up to the varsity team by the end of my freshman year. That summer I worked incredibly hard, training and practicing to become a better outside hitter. I even went to open gyms before the season to get extra reps in. Hard work pays off right? Yes it does! But…I got hurt again. This time, I fractured my left ankle. I was never back to my normal self but, I embraced my passion throughout the next 3 years of varsity volleyball.
I did well academically, but felt like I never gave myself the chance to explore my creativity through classes. But, I did indirectly. During high school, my friends and I loved to go out and explore LA, Whether it was finding the best taco truck or nighttime view, we lived for adventure. We started going to spots like Griffith Observatory and Joan’s on Third to take pictures and try new foods. It was really the first time I was documenting my adventures through a visual medium and enjoyed it. So for my senior trip to South Korea and Taiwan, I bought a Canon Rebel T6i DSLR. This was my first camera and surely, I discovered a new passion for content creation and storytelling.
I packed this passion in my backpack and brought it all the way to the east coast to attend Haverford College in Philadelphia. To many’s surprise, I am majoring in economics and minoring in visual studies. Now that my playing days are over, I help out as a student assistant coach for the women’s volleyball team. Last summer, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to make creative content for places such as Hatch Yakitori, The Pie Hole, Alfred Tea Room, and more. It was my first time getting real world experience and I loved every bit of it. The best part was all the complementary food I received. It really reminded me of my high school adventures.
Fast forward a couple months, and here I am with this incredible opportunity to intern for JTWO Films. Although I’ve definitely gotten better over the years, I have so much more to learn and am at no better place. Hopefully, I won’t get hit by any camera equipment and fracture anything because this time, I think I discovered my real passion.
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 Brings you "In Coexistence"
In Coexistence
by Elle Chernaskey
Well, it’s finally uploaded. After many weeks of trial and error, my intern project has come to an end. Although there have been some very stressful moments, I am so grateful for all that I learned.
Some key lessons that I’m taking away from this project: really focus in pre-production to avoid being totally flustered on the day of the shoot, be cognizant of background noise that could may just ruin most of your audio (wind ugh), don’t forget to turn the mic back on (worse than the windy audio), if you suck at post-production like me — become friends with Youtube videos – they are so helpful, kill your darlings (big thanks to Ian) sometimes you just have to get rid of some stuff your clinging to, and most importantly make sure there is a story. I still feel like I did not capture a sufficient story but it was my first film from start to finish and I’m happy with where I started.
I feel good about most of my shots and I think I know where the subpar ones need improvement. Shooting was the most exciting part of this project. I woke up at 6 am the day of, got my coffee, and studied my storyboard. I felt like a lot of what I visualized came to life which is a great feeling.
Learning more about Premiere was a great experience. I feel like I now have a solid baseline knowledge of the application and can continue to learn with skills that I didn’t have before. Thanks to Maria Cantu for always answering my questions even when you were busy — you’re the coolest.
Audio was the most difficult part of the project. In some of the early morning recordings there’s a lawn mower that I didn’t even notice because I was so focused on the shots. Luckily, I was able to include other audio that surprisingly worked. I had to come back another day to record audio. I recorded in a rush (the subject needed to get to a surprise party — another lesson for me — plan ahead better) and it came out pretty poorly. I also had to use someone else’s computer since my hard drive had recently crashed. In the end, I made some adjustments to the audio that made it workable. I definitely could have spent more time fleshing out the script but time was dwindling. I got lucky with some things that I was underprepared for.
This internship so far has been wonderful. Now, I am ready to improve on my shortcomings, learn as much as I can about gear and applications, and hopefully get on set more. I am so excited for my next film and to incorporate the knowledge I have gained. Thanks to everyone at JTWO for the support!
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.
Former Intern Wins Best Documentary in Bucks Fever Filmfest
"Barre None"
We are proud to announce that our former intern, Maria Cantu, won Best College Documentary along with Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction in the 2018 Bucks Fever Filmfest for her documentary “Barre None” created under the JTWO [INC]ubator Project.
In this 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 her unconditional love for the art.
JTWO's Incubator Project Brings You "Fandom"
Directed by Rich Owens
I love sports. I always have. And I’ve always had a borderline unhealthy emotional connection to the teams I root for. Why? I have a couple theories. Thus, this seemed like a logical question to explore in a film. The only problem? How could I possibly explore sports fandom in sufficient detail in only a few minutes? And what happens if I don’t actually come to a satisfactory conclusion? Well, it’s in those moments of maddening indecision that it’s most important to be decisive. So I went for it.
While I have some directing experience, I’ve never been so responsible for every facet of making a film. From being behind the camera, to planning a shoot, to editing, color correcting, interviewing and writing…it was all on me to ensure the final product was up to standard. I’m very thankful for the help I had along the way from my fellow interns and the crew here at JTWO, but the sheer control I had over the direction of the project was both enthralling and terrifying. Let’s call it ‘territhralling’.
I find it hard to like anything I’ve done after tinkering with it for 40+ hours and thinking about it every possible hour (yeah, I saw it in my sleep) but I’m proud of the final product. It tells a complete story that I sincerely hope people are able to connect with.
I learned more than I possibly could have hoped for working on this project over the past couple weeks. While I’d love to go back and do this film again—incorporating several critical lessons learned—that’s what the next project is for, right?
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 Brings you "Lost in Fear"
Directed by Greg Fry
In most creative situations, one of the toughest parts for me is developing the first steps of an idea. This project was no exception. I struggled for nearly a week, unable to think of a plan that I was happy with. As my time was running short, I finally came upon the idea of creating a action based commercial. My plan was to tell a story about a man conquering his fear with the help of an energy drink.
When I arrived on location I felt fairly confident in my ability to shoot good looking video, but when it came to telling a story through that video… that was a different story. I got all the shots I needed in about three hours and packed up for the day. Now, it was time for editing. I quickly laid all my clips out but began to realize that I failed to bring a true cinematic element to the video. Most of my shots looked the same and one didn’t stand out or seperate itself from another. I attempted to trim the video in order to get to the point faster but even then, I don’t think a great story was ever achieved.
Looking back on the project, I was very pleased with how the sound design and color grading turned out. Having never used Davinci Resolve before, I was excited to work and be somewhat successful with a new program. I wish I would have planned out my shot choices just a bit more, not only to create the more cinematic shots… but also to tell a more engaging story. Overall, I liked my project, but with some more planning ahead of time I think it could have been exactly what I imagined.
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.