Following the launch of Armoury’s award-winning, BAFTA nominated director, Jesse Lewis Reece, and with the 2021 BAFTAs fast approaching, we decided to delve a little deeper into the life of their exciting new addition for Lemonade’s first ever Spotlight.
Hailing from Brighton and a graduate of the Bournemouth Film School, Jesse now resides in London and is already making waves. His thought-provoking short Eyelash has already won five Gold Screen Awards at the Young Directors Awards 2020, four Golds at Berlin Commercial and is now nominated for the British Short Film Award at the 2021 BAFTAs. It was also officially selected at other major festivals such as London and Aesthetica Short Film Festival and the BFI Flare LGBTQ Film Festival. Even Jesse’s graduation film ‘Bleach’ won a record four Royal Television Awards at the RTS Nationals. These included Best Drama and a Special Judge’s Jury Award.
Following his Sky Sports commercial, Jesse is keen to make a name for himself in the commercial world of TV and Film and with two commercial jobs already under their belt together, Armoury are really excited to be working with the rising star.
Jesse, it’s so great to chat to you! Let’s just dive straight in and talk about your multi-award winning, BAFTA nominated short film Eyelash. What inspired you to make the film?
So, it’s an adaptation of Neil Hilborn’s slam poem which went viral. I saw it a few years ago and thought the words were so powerful. I felt it could work well as a short film and that even more people could connect with it through film. It’s like when someone does a cover of a song and interprets it differently, I wanted to give it a different tone, a different pace and as Neil’s American, I wanted to adapt it for a British audience.
It always stuck with me because of the way it touches on mental health, I think that if you can be progressive in that subject and shine a light on it, that’s the best way to use your art. I’ve always been conscious of what projects I want to do based on what I care about. The poem stayed with me since I saw it in 2013, I didn’t have the tools or the knowledge to make a film at the time, but it’s burned in the back of my brain ever since, so I figured that it was “the one.”
Do you relate personally with the subject matter?
In some ways, but I really loved the unique perspective of the poem on the subject of OCD. It’s more emotional and less gimmicky than much of what’s been seen before. Even though it’s a very specific lens, it also feels very universal. I think everyone goes through relationships where at the start, everything is great and people have those “things” which are endearing and which you love about them, and then often those exact same “things” unravel in relationships and cause it to end. It’s kind of a short, succinct experience of everyone’s relationships.
So talk us through your approach when making a short film. What’s your process?
First I have to find the core material – whether it’s themes, or something that presents itself as emotionally moving or powerful, or important in my eyes, that’s what usually drives the idea and informs the process. The form then comes from the idea – for example, I’d love to work on multiple projects, from TV series to documentaries, but with Eyelash the poem was perfect for a short film.
Then I get together with my collaborators, many of whom I went to film school with at Bournemouth University. My cinematographer, composer, producer and editor are also close friends in the industry. We all did our final project together at University, so it was great to relive that experience with Eyelash. I love working with each of them as we all make our way through the industry, but equally as open to working with new collaborators.
And how did you fund Eyelash?
Eyelash was a completely self-funded, low budget production. I quit my 9-5 day job as an editor because I was frustrated that I was losing sight of wanting to be a director, so I used my savings to fund the project. A lot of my friends were already working in commercials, so I had to persuade a few of them to turn down some paid work to help me out, but luckily my network is really supportive.
So, the million dollar question… How did it feel to get nominated for a BAFTA!?
It’s been absolutely mad, just trying to let it sink in! I’ve had so many nice messages. When you’re trying to pursue filmmaking as a career, you might get into certain festivals or do certain things when you’re trying to PR yourself, and people are happy for you but they might not know what you’re talking about… but with BAFTA, everyone’s ears prick up a little bit so everyone in my family has been texting me!
You’ve now begun working in commercials, how does your filmmaking process inform your commercial work?
I’ve definitely come from more of a feature film/filmmaking background so I’m very much still coming to grips with the commercial world. I guess I still try to be influenced by that style of filmmaking to inform my commercial work. So for example, if I’m making a sports ad – which I’ve done a couple – I tend to look at films which are shot similarly, like a sports based film and look for visual themes. I still try to funnel it through a “film sieve”, which could inform camera angles, approach etc. I’m still very much figuring it out, but a few people have said before that I have “a style” and I’m not even sure if I can see that myself yet. I guess I’m always trying to refer back to what makes something look cinematic and filmic and as I move forward, I think I’d definitely want to do more emotionally impactful, storytelling type commercials.
You mentioned your collaboration with your composer friend Oliver Mapp for Eyelash. What’s your approach when it comes to music?
I’ve noticed that coming into commercials, music was often thought about after the edit, which is the complete opposite of how I’m used to working. I did a job recently where I had to take the reigns a little and show it was better to sometimes work with music along the way. Myself and the composer for Eyelash, Oliver, for example have been friends since school, so we’re always working together from the pre-conceptual stage. Music is often the first thing I go to – sometimes even before I go to my DoP, which I guess is maybe unique because not everyone knows composers, so I guess it’s just luck. With Eyelash, I already knew the tone before the shoot, we had samples going back and forth and I think it helps build the tone of the world I try to create. I think it’s quite a valuable asset to have a composer to work with closely.
I also think it’s important to have a good relationship with your composer. We actually changed the whole score for Eyelash after screening it. I had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right, I felt like the music wasn’t serving the story as much as it could, it felt a little detached. And honestly when we changed the instruments, everything changed. I can almost pinpoint the moment when we changed the music and the film started to get picked up by festivals. The music really lifted the piece and it was only due to that close relationship that I could change the music last minute.
So if you could sum up in one sentence the importance of music in film, what would you say?
I think music has a way of emotionally charging people even without film, and I think when you marry it with the right images and storytelling, it creates something really powerful.
Do you have much say as a director in commercials as to what music is used?
It depends project to project. I think as the director you’ve always got to try and give your opinion on what you think drives the story or the commercial and how music informs that, but at the end of the day, it’s also important to understand that commercials are different to filmmaking and you’re doing a job for a client who has certain needs. I think you’ve just got to collaborate and have an open discussion.
You have a really clear sense of style in your films, it’s cinematic and beautiful. Who or what are you inspired by?
Anything that makes an emotional impact on me – whether it’s a film, commercial, short film, TV. If it affects me emotionally, I’ll go back and analyse it and figure out why and what tools the filmmakers used to make that storytelling so impactful – whether it’s script, dialogue, cinematic approach, sound, music etc. I like to revisit those things and then put that into my own work. But anything can inspire me; art, photography… images can sometimes just jump out at you and you can latch on to that image and build another image from it and before you know it you’ve got a whole idea.
I’m also really excited by other up and coming and young filmmakers breaking into the industry, for example Charlotte Regan. She’s done quite a few short films which are really emotionally impactful and beautifully made and now she's done a few commercials which are exactly that. She’s a similar age to me but further in her commercials career and she’s someone I look up to as much as any big, household name. I get really excited by seeing other people doing great work who are from a similar background.
Matt Hichens at Armoury has described you as an “special talent and one to watch” and your work as “inspiring, brilliantly crafted and beautifully considered,” how did your relationship with Armoury come about?
Everything’s weirdly intertwined but at the time you don’t even realise it’s happening. I was working in Brighton at a production company as an editor, but felt I wasn’t pushing myself forward, which is when I left to make Eyelash, but at the same time I decided to move to London as well and “do the London thing.” This was obviously before the pandemic when London was still spinning! I was obviously a bit naïve to it, because I was struggling a bit – I didn’t know that many people, I was getting spat out and I wasn’t finding as much work as I was when I had a secure job so I just reached out to a few companies and Armoury happened to be one of those companies. They were nice enough to invite me in and watched a rough cut of Eyelash and even helped me finish it. They offered out their edit suite for free and said feel free to come in whenever you want – so I finished the Eyelash edit there before any real relationship had been made. I got to know people more and more as I came in, including Matt Hichens and over a small period of time built a relationship with the team over the last year and helped out with a few projects. Eyelash finished and then I worked on a few commercials with them as a director. So it evolved over time and feels really nice, it feels like friends and family.
Thanks for speaking to us Jesse for our first ever Lemonade Spotlight! The 2021 EE British Academy Film Awards kick off this Sunday and we wish Jesse all the luck in the world for Eyelash in the British Short Film category. In the meantime, you can check out more of Jesse’s work here.