This article is presented in collaboration with Rabbit holes.
Jay Ellis is a busy man. Star “Insecure” and “Top Gun: Maverick” is a common on Sundance Film Festival, but this year he only had time to dive into a whirlwind 48 hours thanks to a schedule containing two new shows that are coming out this year (Netflix’s “Running Point” and Peacock’s “All Her Fault”) and a theater game in New York this summer. But Ellis still finds time in the packed slate to mentor the next generation of filmmakers.
Without a movie playing at the festival he was on hand to participate in Indieview chili party and talk about his commitment to Rabbit Hole’s Creative Spirit Challenge. The Premium Spirits brand, which has long been a supporter of independent film, has launched a pitch competition where first filmmakers can win the camera equipment needed to make their first short film. Three winners will get Canon EOS R5 C cameras, but the big prize is a mentoring session with Ellis, who plans to share filmmaking wisdom he has gathered during his career.
Ellis spoke to IndieWire over Zoom after the festival and explained why he felt compelled to participate in the competition.
“This is a cyclical thing. You have to give back to it. You can not only take from the machine, you also have to give it so that it can continue to grow and the medium can grow and stories can grow, and other people who may not have a chance to tell a story can tell a story, ”said Ellis. “As a brand, Rabbit Hole really defends artistry in every single thing they do and every single bottle they do. They also wanted to support it in filmmaking. “
Elli’s career has seen him work at virtually all levels in the entertainment industry, from large budgetary series and studio blockbuster to indie projects with the first time filmmakers. He explained that the diversity of perspectives he has encountered leaves him well positioned to help artists with strong voices who want to break in.
“I have been lucky enough to be around some fantastic, fantastic filmmakers from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and Joe Kosinski to Melina Matsoukas and Prentice Penny. And I’ve got to work with some really, really, really cool people, ”he said. “And then I’ve had to go out and direct myself, obviously. And so I hope that all the experience I have soaked from these people, I can only OSA into this winner, to this person I am going to mentor. ”
Making a card that was played at prestigious film festivals was once seen as the default path to break in as an independent filmmaker – but in a fast -developing industry the drawing for success feels rarely so simple anymore. Ellis understands it, but he offered a personal anecdote to explain why shorts are still an important part of the filmmaking ecosystem.
In 2019, I produced a movie with Blumhouse and Amazon, and it was a thriller, and we were looking for a filmmaker and we had a hard time finding someone. Amazon wanted to support the first time filmmaker for this slate of movies as they did. And it took us for a while to find someone, he said. “We got cards from a young man, his name is Emmanuel (Osei Kuffour Jr.). He directed this movie ‘Black Box’ that I talk about. Emmanuel who graduated from NYU. All he had was his short film, his dissertation, and it was fantastic. And we saw it and we met him and we liked him … Emmanuel finally gets that job. He is directing his first movie, which ends premiere in October 2020. And it was a huge thing, and lots of people looked at it at Amazon and got lots of viewership. And fast forward four years later, Emmanuel now has a complete television career. He just directed an Emmy -nominated section of ‘Shogun’, which is a section of $ 30 million. His life changes completely because of that short film. ”
Ellis summed up his thoughts by explaining that the Creative Spirit competition is at the intersection of stories and professional development, with the potential to produce some fantastic narrative shorts that stand on their own and at the same time start a new wave of filmmakers.
“I think shorts play a very, very important role in career development as well as just stories,” he said. “When you are at the festivals and see different views and you see stories from all over the world from different voices that only enrich our film community at large.”
