Meet Jesse Pickett | Screenwriter & Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jesse Pickett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jesse, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
Filmmaking can be such a complicated beast, I often find people don’t understand (or underestimate) how much work goes into it. A single scene, or even a shot, can take a day to capture. You have a team of people, with each department working on a single layer of the film. A lot of prep goes into it, with every department fine-tuning their story elements. Then you have to put all of those elements together and try to capture that moment perfectly. It can be very grueling, depending on the complexity of the scene, but also so satisfying when the camera’s rolling and everyone is firing on all cylinders. I guess that’s why they call it “movie magic”, because those moments really do feel magical and exhilarating.

Even a short film takes a lot of time and resources to create. It can take a year, or longer, before you finally see that concept on a screen at a festival.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Like most filmmakers, I’ve been making independent films since I was a kid. It started with filming little horror scenes in my parents’ basement, using a hi8 camcorder we’d borrow from my grandparents. I’d unknowingly tape over an important birthday party with scenes of my friends and I murdering each other. My process and interests have (thankfully) evolved in many ways over the years and will continue to evolve until I’m (hopefully) a very old man.

Before I left the nest, I worked at a camera store (McBain Camera) in Red Deer, AB, and learned as much as I could about how cameras and lenses function. I became very interested in photography, but craved more growth and community as a filmmaker. My mom learned about a film society in Calgary, called the Calgary Society for Independent Film, and I participated in one of their workshops on lighting. I continued to learn online and try to make independent films with friends, but I felt like I needed to shake things up a lot more to really impact my development.

I decided to move to Vancouver, BC, with some encouragement from family. I studied in Vancouver for four years and met some amazingly talented friends that would become my frequent collaborators. Since moving to Vancouver in 2011, I’ve directed 14 shorts and a shoe-string budget feature film called “Blue Hour” (2020). One of the shorts was a documentary in Lanzhou, Gansu, called “Still Turning” (2017).

I wish I could say it’s been easy, but there’s also never been a part of me that would consider any other calling in life. There’s something incredibly satisfying about completing something so challenging. It’s like having a giant puzzle that exists in your mind, and you have to verbalize it to a group of incredibly talented individuals who then help translate each piece of the puzzle into reality. There’s really nothing like it. To overcome the challenges, I always pushed myself to grow and learn new things about my craft. As well, I always pushed myself to continue making new films (applying new learnings to each subsequent project).

Here are a handful of lessons I’ve learned along the way:
1. Always be a student of your craft. Never stop being a sponge, even when you find success. There’s always something to expand upon and new ways of challenging yourself.
2. Keep refining the process of finding your voice as a storyteller. You’re going to grow and change over time and that voice should reflect those changes. Most importantly, that voice has to be unique to you.
3. Don’t let anyone be the gatekeeper to your existence. If a grant organization, film festival, or production company says “thank you for your submission. Unfortunately…”, you need to be prepared to make that film, to whatever capacity is possible for you. At the end of the day, you decide whether you are making that film or not.
4. On the previous note, write your unique story in a way that is achievable with little to no budget.

I’d like the world to know that I’m very relentless in my passion for filmmaking. I have two newly finished shorts that I wrote/directed, “Gesture” and “Golden Bear”, as well as a third that I produced, “Gone Fishing”, that will be sent out to festivals in late November. I’m developing concepts for about 10 features and 25 more short films and am excited to share them with the world too.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

If you’re spending any amount of time with me, we’re going to be having some pastries. This is a guarantee. We’d go for the Big Chocolate Chip cookie at LibertyBakery + Café, as well as donuts at 49th Parallel. I’m a huge fan of the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, so we’d stroll up Main Street and check out some shops (Welk’s, Red Cat Records, Neptoon Records, Lucky’s Comics, etc).

There’s a lot of delicious food in this neighborhood. Pizza Garden (Main Street location is my fav), Sal y Limon, The Fish Counter (best fish and chips in town), Peaceful, and Indian Roti Kitchen.

After a delicious meal, a nice walk to one of my favorite parks. Mount Pleasant Park, Jonathan Rogers Park, and Queen Elizabeth (picturesque gardens in the summer). At the QE Park there’s a really beautiful conservatory (Blodel) with tropical birds and plants. After a safe amount of time has passed, we’d go for a nice swim at Kits Pool—with a stunning view of the ocean and mountains.

At some point in the visit, we’d stop by Granville Island for some tea from the Granville Island Tea company.

On one of the evenings, we’d go check out a retrospective at the Cinematheque (probably Miyazaki or Tarkovsky). On another night, we’d go check out a film screening at Cineworks (a local independent film society). They frequently have screenings of independent and local films.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Definitely my mom—Tracy Pickett. When I was 14 or 15, she would drive me to the library and make me read grant applications. This is back before they were online and you’d have to read them from a big binder. She didn’t really have a lot of resources back then but was always trying to push me and connect me with some sort of community. She would drive me to bigger cities to rent some small piece of equipment or take me to a film society to try and meet like-minded individuals. She’s still very much like that, but she is now also focused on her own emerging visual arts journey.

My whole family is very supportive that way. My dad, mom, sister, and brother have all been a part of at least one of my films. Sometimes all of them on the same film.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/muskratpassproductions/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Muskratpassproductions

Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/muskratpassproductions

Image Credits
Cover Photo: Photo by Brigitte Patenaude – featuring Angela Chu Image 1: Photo by Brigitte Patenaude – featuring Jesse Pickett, Andy Maton, and Angela Chu Image 2: Photo by Brigitte Patenaude – featuring Angela Chu Image 3: Photo by Brigitte Patenaude – featuring Angela Chu Image 4: Photo by Brigitte Patenaude – featuring Angela Chu Image 5: Photo by Brigitte Patenaude – featuring Andy Maton Image 6: Photo by Brigitte Patenaude – featuring Angela Chu