Check Out Jack Cohen’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Cohen

Hi Jack, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
For a long time, I wanted to be an architect. My grandfather was an architect, and I loved building models with him. I was fascinated by the intersection of design and engineering. I was a STEM kid in middle and high school and loved engineering and physics. I would make silly little James Bond spoofs and short films with my friends in our backyards, but I didn’t think that would ever lead to anything. Then, I picked up photography in my junior and senior years of high school and saw the world through an entirely new lens. In addition to that, I took a cinema studies class taught by the late and great Ted Walch, which changed my brain chemistry and led me down the path of making and consuming film.
I then left LA and attended Kenyon College, a tiny liberal arts school in the middle of nowhere Ohio. I thought I would become a writer, but then I fell in love with directing and art history. I met some of my best friends there, and then Covid hit right at the end of our Sophomore year… Despite the terrible reality of COVID-19, my friends and I decided this would be the best time to start the production company we dreamed of since we met during orientation week. So we moved into a crumbling duplex in Columbus right on OSU’s frat row. Under the guise of an independent study, we drove an hour to Kenyon, fit all the film gear we could into our cars, and started making short films and music videos.
We returned to Kenyon to finish our studies and shoot our thesis films, and then we swiftly moved to LA to continue our work as a production company. My thesis film, a personal story about a theater actor battling his eating disorder and body dysmorphia, awarded me distinction in my program and garnered attention from festivals and industry professionals.
After two years of working on indie shorts, Halo eSports tournaments, and music videos, I applied to the American Film Institute for directing to meet and work with new, incredibly talented people and further find my voice as a filmmaker.
I am currently halfway through my first year at AFI and am incredibly fulfilled creatively, socially, and intellectually,

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Honestly, smooth or rough, I see this journey as just what it is. I’ve been on hellish productions, but have also had the luxury of making movies with my best friends. Every speed bump is just a part of the road. Things come and go, and that’s just a part of it. I wouldn’t be where I am now without everything that came before, the good and the bad.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’ve recently come to realize what makes a film I make a “Jack Beckett Cohen film.” I gravitate heavily towards stories about young people confronting their identities and traumas. My films have covered topics of male eating disorders and body dysmorphia, queerness and coming out, and mental health and PTSD. I thrive in the personal and want to empathetically depict authentic experiences of the struggles of today’s youth and young adults.

What does success mean to you?
If even just one person connects with and feels seen by a movie I make, my cup is filled.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tallglass__ofwater/